Before December 1, 2006, GS 20-16.3A set forth requirements governing impaired driving checkpoints but not other types of checking stations and roadblocks. While non-DWI checking stations and roadblocks had to satisfy the strictures of the state and federal constitution, no specific statutory procedures governed their establishment and use. The Motor Vehicle Driver Protection Act of 2006 (S.L. 2006-253), rewrote G.S. 20-16.3A to govern all motor vehicle checking stations, and to require, among other things, that checkpoints be conducted pursuant to a written policy that provides guidelines for the pattern pursuant to which vehicles are stopped. It seems likely that questions will arise regarding whether a court may or must suppress evidence obtained from a checkpoint that is not conducted in compliance with statutory requirements. The answer with respect to at least one statutory requirement is no. G.S. 20-16.3A(d) requires that the placement of checkpoints be random or statistically indicated and that agencies avoid placing checkpoints repeatedly in the same area. Subsection (d) specifies, however, that a violation of "[t]his subsection shall not be grounds for a motion to suppress or a defense to any offense arising out of the operation of the checking station." No such statutory direction is provided with respect to the other requirements. Cases decided under previous iterations of G.S. 20-16.3A may, however, provide some guidance. In State v. Barnes, 123 N.C. App. 144 (1996), the court considered whether stopping and detaining the defendant at a checkpoint established by the state highway patrol to "detect driver's license and [...]
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