Several U.S. senators sent a letter to Apple, RIM and Google asking the companies to remove apps that allow drives to avoid police checkpoints.

[ad#Google Adsense 300×250 in story]Senators Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.), and Tom Udall (D-N.M.) said the apps were a public safety hazard, according to ABC News.

“We know that your companies share our desire to end the scourge of drunk driving and we therefore would ask you to remove these applications from your store unless they are altered to remove the DUI/DWI checkpoint functionality,” the Senators wrote in the letter.

The letter quotes Capt. Paul Starks of the Montgomery County Police Department saying “If people are going to use those, what other purpose are they going to use them for except to drink and drive?”

However, Joe Scott, CEO and founder of PhantomAlert said the Senators are overreacting.

“We’re doing exactly what the police departments are doing — putting up PSAs and letting people know there are checkpoints — to deter people from drinking and driving.”