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checkstop
DCHP-2 (Aug 2012)
Spelling variants:check-stop, CheckStop, Checkstop
n. — Transportation, Administration
a roadside stop by police to check primarily for drunk driving violations.
Type: 1. Origin — Checkstop is the name of a program used to combat drunk driving that originated in Alberta (see, for example, the 1976 quotation), but is now used in many provinces and not just to target drunk driving. The term is virtually restricted to Canada (see Chart 1) and used throughout the country (see Chart 2).
See also COD-2, which labels the term "Cdn (Alta.)".
See also COD-2, which labels the term "Cdn (Alta.)".
Quotations
1976
One way to get at these drivers would be a system of random spot-checks. Calgary has tried such a program, called Check-Stop, with good results.
1981
EDMONTON (CP) - No changes will be made to Alberta's check-stop program until the Court of Queen's Bench hears the matter, Attorney-General Neil Crawford said yesterday.
1982
During the bikers' rally last year, about 160 police conducted a large checkstop campaign aimed at the bikers and laid 137 charges against them for various offences, which were later dismissed in court or withdrawn.
1997
At the time, they mustered officers in patrol cars, on horseback and in the air to man a checkstop that handed the bikers tickets for illegal helmets, broken tail lights and littering.
2007
TONIGHT marks the main attraction for the police service's annual program to combat drunk driving.
Officers are ready to hit the streets with its Checkstop patrols to deter New Year's Eve revellers from getting behind the wheel after drinking alcohol.
2007
"We do exactly that kind of thing: The more formal kind of checkstop or scheduled vehicle inspection stuff, but there have also been occasions where SGI vehicle inspectors, who basically really know the requirements, will go out with people in our traffic section ...," said city police spokeswoman Elizabeth Popowich.
2008
It's not that there hasn't been considerable effort put into curbing drinking and driving already -- the CheckStop program, for example, and ongoing awareness programs in newspapers and TV -- but for some people, the inconvenience of taking public transit or a cab home after a night of drinking is enough to get them in the driver's seat when they know they shouldn't.
References
- COD-2
Images
Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 22 Jan. 2014
