Drunk Driving Law
July 16th, 2009 at 09:02pm
Under Drunk Driving Law
Over the past few decades there have been many preventive measures implemented to reduce the risks of drunk driving. The courts and motor vehicle departments have used traditional countermeasures such as fines, jail terms, and license suspensions to control drunk driving offenders. Now there are instruments like the ignition interlock device (IID) that are being used as punishment. However, the question that lawmakers have been asking is: How effective is the IID? Has it indeed lowered the reoccurrences of drunk driving in repeat offenders?
IIDs are instruments installed in automobiles that measure the alcohol on a driver’s breath. The driver provides a breath sample and if the IID detects alcohol, the car will not start. IIDs were developed and have been researched since the 1960s, however, it wasn’t until recently that these instruments have been used and accepted by the courts. California was the first state to enact legislation that authorized judges to order DUI offenders to install IIDs. California was also the first state in which the ignition interlock program was evaluated.
There have been a few studies in various states to determine whether or not IIDs are effective in reducing DUIs. The results of these studies have been mixed, although most of the results suggested that IIDs have reduced DUI reoccurrences in offenders. That’s only if the instrument remains in the car. However, once the IID is removed from the car, the chances of another DUI incident occurring goes back up. This suggests that IIDs are not going to actually change people’s behavior. It only prevents them from driving their own car when they’re drunk. They’re going to continue to drink whether or not the instrument is installed.
In September 2005 a study released by the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in California concluded that IIDs can be effective at reducing the occurrence of subsequent DUIs. Unfortunately, judges have not always ordered DUI offenders to install an IID in their car. Technically, the IID is effective, but it’s the actual program that is not effective.
Based on the results of this September 2005 study, the researchers offered these recommendations to improve the program:
1. An improved monitoring system for DUI offenders ordered by judges to install an IID. It’s important for the courts to be consistent because installing the device does have a significant effect in reducing DUIs.
2. Allow second DUI offenders the chance to reinstate their driver’s license if they install the IID in their vehicle. This gives repeat offenders incentive to put in the device if the court does not mandate it. Another way to encourage offenders to install an IID is to reduce the period of license suspension.
3. Impound the vehicle of a person who is caught without an IID in their car. This applies to those people restricted to driving an IID-equipped vehicle.
4. Investigate the barriers to the use of the IID and find more effective programs to implement these devices. The DMV should have the responsibility of leading this task force and finding the resources to fund it.
5. Do not emphasize the use of the IID for first-time offenders. Currently there is no evidence that the device is effective at reducing the reoccurrence of a DUI in first-time offenders.
6. Continue to support the law that requires judges to order DUI offenders to install the IID in their vehicle.
The ignition interlock device is not going to be the key to completely wipe out drunk driving. However, preventative measures combined with consistent action is a step in the right direction.
Maria Palma is a freelance writer dedicated to helping people find a
San Diego DUI lawyer. Get help and information with your
San Diego DUI.
By Law Article
July 16th, 2009 at 03:02pm
Under Drunk Driving Law
Andatech, the industry leader in alcohol detection breathalyzers who pioneered the consumer market for breath alcohol testers, introduces an affordable portable breathalyzer aimed at reducing binge drinking and drunk driving incidents.
The Andatech AL6000 Pro ensures an accurate breath test each and every time. It is the first personal handheld semiconductor breathalyzer to undergone rigorous testing for quality and accuracy and to earn the Australian Standard AS3547 certification. The alcohol testing device has also received FDA, CE and DOT approval for personal, workplace and law enforcement use.
The Andatech AL6000 Pro is recognized as having the highest accuracy rate, guaranteeing a 99.99% BAC accuracy. The battery operated portable device has a response time of five seconds, one of the fastest in the industry.
With its lightweight design, the Andatech AL6000 Pro can conveniently fit into a purse, glove compartment, or pocket, making it conducive to bring along to any social setting. It is also easy to use by inserting a mouthpiece into the personal breathalyzer and blowing into the opening until the device stops beeping. The BAC reading appears within seconds. The Andatech AL6000 Pro is built with a bright LED display for easy reading in all lighting conditions, including dimly lit places or during nighttime hours.
Priced under $200, the Andatech AL6000 Pro is the world’s first and only breathalyzer with dual testing modes. The normal alcohol tester mode measures blood alcohol concentration, while the detector mode can be shared among more than one person to test the presence of alcohol. This unique feature is especially useful during a night out among a group of friends to determine who is capable of safe driving.
With responsible drinking on everyone’s mind, the Andatech AL6000 Pro is designed to save lives by preventing drunk driving accidents and reducing the dangers of social drinking. Headquartered in Australia, Andatech is the industry leader in personal and professional breathalyzer distribution.
By Law Article
July 16th, 2009 at 09:02am
Under Drunk Driving Law
Most drunk driving cases start out with a contact between the driver of a motor vehicle and a police officer. While the police have the right to approach and speak with any citizen, they do not have the right to detain and investigate a citizen unless they have “probable cause”.
Probable cause is the legal reason an officer needs to detain and investigate. If the dui attorney can show to the judge the officer did not have probable cause, the case can be dismissed.
Most detentions begin with the officer pulling over a driver who has committed a vehicle code infraction. The common reasons alleged by the police are based on poor driving – speeding, weaving within or outside the lane, running of a stop sign or red light. However, faulty equipment (head light, tail light, muffler) or expired registration will provide the necessary reason to pull a driver over. A driver involved in an accident or in a car blocking the roadway may also give the officer the right to detain and investigate.
It is therefore important to discuss with the dui attorney the manner of driving. If the driver was acting legally, or if the officer did not see the driver actually operate the vehicle, the case may be dismissed. Not only does the officer need probable cause to detain and investigate, there must also be a legal reason to arrest. The officer will make his decision to arrest based on two or three factors: his observations, the field sobriety test, and in some jurisdictions, a breath test conducted in the field.
For this and more information on criminal law and drunk driving go to:
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By Law Article
July 16th, 2009 at 03:03am
Under Drunk Driving Law
A 29-year-old woman was killed in a suspected drunk driving accident in Crescent City, California over the weekend. On Sunday night, 38-year-old Michael Jones, and the victim Jolynda R. Peters, were in Jones’ Honda Prelude, with Jones in the driver’s seat. The car collided with a Ford Ranger which was attempting to make a right turn into a driveway. Jones had apparently been speeding at the time of the car accident. The force of the impact pushed the Ford off the road, and into a ditch. Both Jones as well as the driver of the Ford, 59-year-old Ivan Beckendorf, were injured in the car accident. Peters suffered major injuries, and was later declared dead at the scene of the accident.
Both the injured men were taken to the hospital for treatment of their injuries, and were later transported to a Redding hospital. Tests revealed that Jones was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the car accident. According to Times-Standard, he was arrested for vehicular manslaughter, and for driving under the influence of alcohol. The California Highway Patrol is continuing to investigate the case.
Statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration place the number of dead each year nationwide in drunk driving accidents at 17,500. Apart from the people who are killed, there are thousands of others who are injured. This in turn, leads to high expenses for medical treatment, inability to work, and other effects that have an impact on our society.
California has some of the strongest drunk driving laws in the country, and they have been used with great effect by the CHP and drunk driving accident lawyers to bring down the statewide number of drunken driving accident fatalities. According to the laws we have here, it’s not just the person who’s behind the wheel in a drunken state who can be held responsible for injuries sustained as a result of the car accident, but possibly also the establishment that was responsible for serving him the alcohol.
By Law Article
July 16th, 2009 at 03:02am
Under Drunk Driving Law
As an update to a story we carried last month in our California drunk driving accident lawyers blog, a former Stockton police trainee has been arraigned in an accident case that killed one of his passengers.
According to the Modesto Bee, 27-year-old Ryan Honnette has been arraigned on charges including driving with a blood alcohol percentage of 0.08 percent or more, driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury, and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. The accident that he has been charged in relation to took place on October 18th. Honnette was driving a Ford Excursion with four passengers inside. As he approached the Highway 132-Lake Junction, Honnette seems to have lost control of the vehicle. He tried to get the vehicle back on track, and over-corrected. The SUV rolled over. 25-year-old Matthew Miller, who was sitting in the back seat, was thrown out of the SUV. He suffered severe injuries, and was taken to the hospital where he died a while later. The other passengers in the car escaped with minor injuries. Honnette walked away without any injuries.
Honnette was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving. His blood alcohol level was apparently 0.15 percent. He was just a few months away from finishing his police officer training, and was placed on paid leave as a result of the drunk driving accident. He is currently looking at a sentence of more than 10 years, if convicted.
This is a classic example of a man throwing his life and career away in one instant of lunacy. You would expect Honnette to be more aware of the dangers of drunk driving. As a police officer in training, he likely had access to DUI offenders who were looking at punishments ranging from license suspension to prison time. Yet, he chose to get behind the wheel too drunk to drive anyway. His blood alcohol levels were almost twice the legal limit, which makes you wonder what exactly he took home from his police training program.
This sort of behavior would be intolerable from an average motorist – from a man of the law, it’s completely unacceptable. Honnette deserves the strictest punishment he can get for his negligent behavior.
By Law Article
July 15th, 2009 at 09:03pm
Under Drunk Driving Law
By Law Article
July 15th, 2009 at 03:02pm
Under Drunk Driving Law
The facts about driving drunk include consideration of consequences: Punishment for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) or Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) or driving drunk, will vary, based on geographic locale and law in that state or county as well as which country you find yourself in. The potential consequences will depend upon whether or not it is the first offense, and whether various punishment enhancements may apply.Generally, for a first offense DUI or DWI, penalties will include a fine, possible jail time or community service, a driver’s license restriction, and mandatory attendance at an alcohol and drug education program.Why Drunk Drivers Are Dangerous: Imaging studies of the brain when it is under the influence of alcohol reveal that different areas of the brain are impaired under high and low levels of alcohol, according to a Yale study published in Neuropsychopharmacology.”What we found is that when people were really intoxicated, they drove like they were really intoxicated and in a real vehicle,” Pearlson said. “They speeded up, especially on corners, where most people slow down, and crashed more often into other vehicles.” When mildly intoxicated, but below the legal alcohol limit, he said, the drivers seemed aware of the fact that they were impaired and corrected for the deficit. The researchers also found that alcohol had a profound effect on some, but not all, brain circuits activated in sober driving.The highest blood alcohol level was 0.1 and the lowest was 0.05. Drivers are considered legally drunk when their blood alcohol level is 0.08.Here are some helpful drunk driving facts:• One person is killed every half-hour due to drunk driving• Each year approximately 16,000 are killed in alcohol related crashes• Alcohol is a factor in almost half of all traffic fatalities• Every other minute a person is seriously injured in an alcohol related crash What Are Some Examples of DUI Penalties?DUI punishment varies from state to state, so you’ll need to check with your lawyer to see what may apply in your particular state. Using California DUI penalties as an example, first offenders who are denied probation can expect the following:1. 48 hours of jail time minimum.2. 6 months driver’s license suspension3. $340 fineAs you can see, DUI penalties are fairly harsh, even for a first offense. There are things that can factor in to a first time offense, depending on your state. Driver’s license suspension may be part of the package, but if you get probation, your state may allow you to keep your license provided you meet certain conditions set by the court. These can include rehab counseling, safe driver classes, and community service. Your lawyer will have more information, but make sure you understand what you are committing yourself to under a probation agreement. Violation of probation is taken quite seriously and can result in automatic driver license suspension and jail time.
By Law Article
July 15th, 2009 at 09:02am
Under Drunk Driving Law
“Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) was founded in 1980 by Candy Lightner, whose daughter was tragically killed by a drunk driver who was a repeat offender. The goal of MADD was to reduce drunk driving traffic fatalities and the organization has been highly effective in raising public disapproval of drunk driving. The proportion of traffic fatalities that are alcohol-related has dropped dramatically, in part because of MADD’s good efforts. MADD is a single-issue non-profit anti-drunk driving organization in the United States and with a branch in Canada (see MADD Canada). MADD is based in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex suburb of Irving, Texas.
MADD’s Goal: Is it Neo-Prohibitionist?
Mothers Against Drunk Driving stigmatizes light or moderate alcohol consumption, even when it isn’t associated with either being underage or driving. For example:
1. MADD sells a graphic showing two empty glasses of alcohol surrounded by the words assault, drowning, burns, rape and suicide.
2. MADD sells a graphic that equates beer with heroin by depicting a beer bottle as a drug syringe.
3. MADD sells a television ad insisting that “”if you think there’s a difference”" between heroin and alcohol, “”you’re dead wrong.”"
Mothers Against Drunk Driving has clearly become not simply anti-drunk driving or even anti-impaired driving, but anti-alcohol. MADD’s temperance orientation expresses itself in many ways, as seen in Is MADD Neo-Prohibitionist?
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) began with the admirable goal of reducing drunk driving traffic fatalities by educating the nation about the devastation caused by drunk drivers. For the first 15 years, this strategy paid off: MADD’s public relations campaigns played a key role in changing the nation’s attitude about drunk driving, resulting in a huge drop-off in drunk driving deaths. MADD was so successful that it reached its goal for 2000 (to reduce alcohol-related deaths by 20%) in 1997.
MADD’s campaign to make adult beverages more expensive through drastically increased taxes is another major tactic in their war on responsible drinking. MADD says these tax hikes are a way to reduce underage drinking — but lacks real evidence that taxes are more likely to reduce underage drinking than moderate consumption by responsible adults.
MADD founder Candy Lightner has broken ties with the group. In 2002, she told the Washington Times, “[MADD] has become far more neo-prohibitionist than I had ever wanted or envisioned … I didn’t start MADD to deal with alcohol. I started MADD to deal with the issue of drunk driving.”
In the 1980s, MADD had success in helping change public attitudes and laws regarding driving under the influence (DUI). Since 1980 (the year Mothers Against Drunk Driving was founded), alcohol-related traffic fatalities have decreased by about 44 percent, from over 30,000 to under 17,000 and MADD has helped save over 300,000 lives.
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By Law Article
July 15th, 2009 at 03:02am
Under Drunk Driving Law
The majority of the drunk driving accidents that occur in Los Angeles, California each year result in injured motorists, injured bicyclists, and injured pedestrians. More and more drunk driving accidents are occurring here everyday, and you may have become the latest victim of the growing problem. The increasing amount of drunk drivers on the roads makes it important for you to know where to turn for proper consultation in case of an injury. When choosing a reliable and reputable Los Angeles lawyer to help you get a fair settlement as a result of your accident injuries, you need to ask yourself this question: What are the most important qualifications I should be looking for in the attorney who will represent me and my claim? The most important qualification your Los Angeles lawyer should possess is experience. The most qualified and proficient legal representatives have a sufficient amount of real-life experience in the courtroom defending clients who have been victims of drunk drivers and drunk driving accidents. Though some Los Angeles injury victims receive adequate settlements outside of the courtroom, many do not, making it crucial for you to find an assertive attorney who will fight for you and the settlement you deserve. Finding a lawyer than specializes in drunk driving accident cases in Los Angeles is another crucial qualification to winning a fair settlement. These lawyers will have an ample amount of past experience in court representing a number of victims in situations similar to yours. Your Los Angeles drunk driving accident attorney will also have the knowledge and background necessary to know how much your claim is worth and how to get it for you as quickly as possible. Finally, it’s important to find a lawyer who you can trust to care about your case. Getting involved with an attorney who isn’t as empathic and passionate about your trial as you are can result in poor counseling, shoddy representation and a less-than-fair settlement. Don’t settle for an attorney who isn’t confident in his or her ability to win your case; determination and resolution are two of the best tools a lawyer has to offer when representing a client in court. If you’ve been injured in a drunk driving accident in Los Angeles, you need to know how to find the best lawyer available to you. Experience, specialization, and determination are the key qualifications you should look for in your search for a dependable attorney or law group to represent your claim for drunk driving accident injuries. After you’ve received the medical attention you need for your injuries, contact an experienced and knowledgeable Los Angeles lawyer or law firm who will be determined and aggressive in helping you win a fair settlement.
By Law Article
July 14th, 2009 at 09:02pm
Under Drunk Driving Law
“One out of 10 children ages 12 and 13 uses alcohol at least once a month. In a single year, 522 children under age 14 were arrested for driving while intoxicated, (113 of them were under 10 years old). 70 percent of all teenagers drink alcohol. 60 percent of all teen deaths in car accidents are alcohol-related.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, over 17,000 people were killed in alcohol-related traffic accidents in the United States last year, a rate of one person every 30 minutes. Even more alarmingly, almost 1/3 of the 15- to 20-year-old drivers killed in motor vehicle crashes in the U.S. had been drinking.
Statistics show that approximately 70% of all teenagers drink alcohol, including 1 out of 10 children between the ages of 12 and 13.
Safeguards against Underage Drunk Driving:
Parents and older siblings must be aware that they are role models to younger family members, and should be cognizant of what kind of examples they set in regard to both their driving and drinking habits.
Restricting access to liquor and automobiles at home may be an effective preventative measure in the short term, but it is even more advisable to confront your son(s) and/or daughter(s) about the serious risks involved with underage drinking.
Whether driving or riding as a passenger in a vehicle, always wear a seatbelt!
If you see vehicles that are speeding excessively or swerving, try to get a license plate number and call your Sheriff’s Office, the local or state police.
If a person has too much to drink and insists on getting behind the wheel, do not get into the vehicle.
If you are going to an event where alcohol will be served, take public transportation like buses or taxis, if possible.
Regardless of your age, if you believe you may have a drinking problem, consult a school counselor, health professional, or an alcohol support group (for example, Alcoholics Anonymous).
In reaction to teenage drunk driving statistics, states have enacted harsher penalties to punish teens that drink and drive. Most states have adopted zero tolerance laws which make it a crime for a teenager to operate a motor vehicle under the influence of any amount of alcohol. In addition to harsh penalties for teenage drunk driving, it is also a crime in most states for a minor to drink, possess, transport, buy or even try to buy alcohol. Parents can be penalized for furnishing alcohol to minors, especially in cases where teenage drunk driving was involved.
Teenage drunk drivers also face some serious legal consequences that will harm them into their adult lives. They face revocation of their driving privileges, stiff fines, probation, alcohol education and treatment, and community service not to mention potential jail/prison time for a severe offense.
If you have been involved in a teenage drunk driving incident, you may wish to speak to a qualified attorney who can advise you of your legal rights and options in a case. Because the laws vary by state and circumstance, a knowledgeable attorney can best help protect your interests in a teenage drunk driving case.
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By Law Article
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