Helen, Georgia Roadblocks

THE FIRST FRIDAY OF OKTOBERFEST. THEY ALWAYS DO A COUPLE DURRING THE FESTIVALS. THIS ONE WAS RIGHT AFTER YOU TURN THE CORNER,,,,BAM. ASKED FOR LICENSE. THEN I WAS DONE.

Roadblocks are a regular activity at different locations between the two cities which spans both White and Habersham counties. The most recent being at the intersection of hwy 17 and 105 with a strong show of force and little warning (no flashing lights) by the Habersham Co SO. It’s so common here the residents have probably complained about the flashing lights but the flashlight was barely visible and would have been hard to stop had I not been expecting there to be a roadblock.

I’ve encountered around 25-30 roadblocks on this road, on weekend nights, over the last 8 years. Sometimes they are closer to Helen, sometimes closer to Clarkesville. When closer to Helen, they are typically reasonable – requesting a quick breath-alchohol test, without leaving the car (no embarassing field sobriety tap-dance). However, when closer to Clarkesville (Habersham County S.D.), they tend to require an embarassing, time consuming, and sometimes demeaning field sobriety physical test in addition to the breath-based BAC test.