Schumer wants DWI checkpoint apps pulled

Android and iPhone applications that show the location of drunken-driving checkpoints may soon be yanked if Sen. Charles Schumer has his way. He doesn't want people to avoid getting ticketed for driving while intoxicated.

Apple and Google said they will review the drunken-driving checkpoint applications available through their mobile app stores after Schumer called the apps' legality and morality into question at the first hearing of the Privacy and Technology Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to a Schumer news release.

Apps such as Trapster, DUI Dodger and Checkpoint Wingman alert iPhone and Android users of nearby police checkpoints for people driving while intoxicated.

Schumer said the apps could be used by drivers trying to avoid the checkpoints.

"Apple and Google shouldn't be in the business of selling apps that help drunk drivers evade the police, and they shouldn't be selling apps that they, themselves, admit are 'terrible,' " the senator said in a statement.

In March, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion pulled similar apps from its online store.

"BlackBerry has done the right thing by removing these dangerous apps, and today Apple and Google took a step forward by agreeing to review them and report back within a month," Schumer said.