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Drunk Driving Deterrence Becomes

FOXNews.com - Views News - Straight Talk - When Drunk Driving Deterrence Becomes Neo-Prohibition SEARCH E-MAIL STORY PRINTER FRIENDLY FOXFAN CENTRAL When Drunk Driving Deterrence Becomes Neo-Prohibition Thursday, October 06, 2005 By Radley Balko ARCHIVE This fall Mothers Against Drunk Driving marks its 25th anniversary. The organization certainly has much to celebrate: Deaths from drunk driving are down more than 35 percent since the early 1980s. We no longer chuckle at the bumbling drunk who can barely get his key into the ignition — we scorn him. Hopefully, we arrest him, too. Unfortunately, MADD has come to outlive and outgrow its original mission. By the mid-1990s, deaths from drunk driving began to level off, after 15 years of progress. The sensible conclusion to draw from this was that the occasional drunk driver had all but been eradicated. MADD's successes had boiled the problem down to a small group of hard-core alcoholics. It was at about this time that MADD began to move in a different direction, one not so much aimed at reducing drunk driving fatalities but at stripping DWI defendants of basic criminal rights. MADD also seemed to expand its mission to one of discouraging the consumption of alcohol in general — what critics call "neo-prohibition." MADD's biggest victory on this front was a nationwide blood-alcohol threshold of .08, down from .10. But when two-thirds of alcohol-related traffic fatalities involve blood-alcohol levels of .14 and above, and the average fatal accident occurs at .17, this move doesn't make much sense. It's like lowering the speed limit from 65 to 60 to catch people who drive 100 miles per hour. In fact, the U.S. Government Accountability Office reviewed all the statistical data and concluded "the evidence does not conclusively establish that .08 BAC laws by themselves result in reductions in the number and severity of crashes involving alcohol." (Story continues below) ADVERTISEMENTS Advertise Here Indeed, many critics of the .08 policy predicted that the new law could make matters worse by using up scarce law enforcement resources to go after these new "drunk" drivers who don't pose much of a threat to highway safety. This is primarily done through the use of highly-publicized roadblock sobriety checkpoints, in which 12 to 20 police officers stop every passing car to make sure the driver hasn't been drinking. The Supreme Court gave its OK to the road blocks in 1992, despite conceding that they may violate the Fourth Amendment. Former Chief Justice William Rehnquist wrote that the threat to public health posed by drunk drivers was reason enough to set aside concerns about searches without probable cause. Given that they're usually publicized, the primary effect of these roadblocks is to deter social drinkers. The hard-drinkers, the real threats to highway safety, know to avoid them. Sure enough, after former President Clinton signed .08 into law in 2000, drunk driving fatalities began to inch upward again — after two decades of decline — suggesting that the real drunk drivers were successfully avoiding the roadblocks. Thankfully, fatalities fell again last year, but that hardly proves MADD correct — deaths continued to go up in those states that employ sobriety roadblocks. The corresponding fall in fatalities in states that refuse to use the roadblocks more than made up the difference, suggesting that, freed from roadblock duty, law enforcement was able to work more effectively to catch drunk drivers. Many local police departments have noted the inefficiency of roadblocks and given up the practice, despite the prodding from MADD and the federal funding that comes with them. Of course, many states and municipalities still use roadblocks. But they use them under the guise of looking for drunk drivers, then ticket motorists for a variety of infractions, only a small percentage of which involve driving while intoxicated. In other words, they've become revenue generators. A newspaper account of one recent North Carolina checkpoint, for example, found officers ticketing motorists for more than 45 infractions. Only three involved driving under the influence. That's actually high. Nationwide, less than .02 percent of motorists stopped at road blocks are arrested for DWI. MADD has also worked to undermine the criminal protections of accused drunk drivers — protections routinely granted to accused murderers, rapists and other felony crimes. MADD, for example, has pushed to impose tougher penalties on motorists who refuse to take roadside breath tests than on those who take them and fail — effectively turning the Fifth Amendment on its ear. The organization also favors "administrative license revocation," which means the revocation of the driver's licenses and, in some cases, the confiscation of the vehicles, of those accused of drunken driving before they're ever given a trial. The organization is also pushing the widespread use of ignition interlock devices, in which a driver must blow into a tube to start his car, then blow again every 20 minutes or so while driving. Washington state recently passed a law allowing judges to mandate the devices in the cars of people merely accused of drunk driving, not convicted. And the states of New Mexico and New York have both considered legislation that would require the devices in every car sold in-state. The New Mexico bill is stalled in the state senate after being passed by the house. The New York bill was initially killed, but it gains more votes each time its determined sponsors reintroduce it. MADD is also pushing its agenda onto family laws, including a zero tolerance policy for divorced parents. Under the bills MADD is trying to push through state legislatures, a parent caught consuming one beer or glass of wine before driving could face penalties that, according to MADD , "should include, but are not limited to" — "incarceration," "change of primary custody," or "termination of parental rights." This means that if you take your kid to the game, have a beer in the third inning, then drive home, you could very well lose your rights as a father. Even MADD's founder, Candy Lightner, has lamented that the organization has grown neo-prohibitionist in nature. "[MADD has] become far more neo-prohibitionist than I had ever wanted or envisioned ...," Lightner is quoted as saying in an Aug. 6 story in the Washington Times. "I didn't start MADD to deal with alcohol. I started MADD to deal with the issue of drunk driving," she said. Unfortunately, the tax-exempt organization has become so enmeshed with government it has nearly become a formal government agency. MADD gets millions of dollars in federal and state funding, and has a quasi-official relationship with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In some jurisdictions, DWI defendants are sentenced to attend and pay for alcoholic-recovery groups sponsored by MADD. In many cities, MADD officials are even allowed to man sobriety checkpoints alongside police. On the occasion of its 25th anniversary, perhaps its time Congress revisit the spigot of federal funding flowing to MADD, and consider revoking the organization's tax-exempt status. Clearly, MADD isn't the same organization it was 25 years ago. It has morphed into an anti-alcohol lobbying organization. There's nothing wrong with that — it's certainly within MADD's and its supporters' First Amendment rights. But taxpayers shouldn't be forced to subsidize them. Radley Balko maintains the The Agitator weblog. Respond to the Writer E-MAIL STORY PRINTER FRIENDLY FOXFAN CENTRAL SEARCH ADVERTISEMENT

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What now? First: You only have a limited time to request a hearing with the Department of Motor Vehicles to avoid automatically losing your license. In California, that time limit is 10 days from the date of your arrest to request a DMV hearing. Other states have different deadlines. It is critical that you contact a qualified DUI or DWI lawyer in your state as soon as possible to avoid the automatic loss of your driving privileges. In California, if you miss that deadline, you have waived your right to a hearing, and your license will automatically be suspended after 30 days, period. Do not miss this deadline! By filing the hearing request (and I do it by fax for all my clients, to prove it was done on time) , your driving privileges are not suspended after 30 days. Instead, you are allowed to drive as if the DUI arrest never happened , until and unless you lose the DMV hearing, which will be scheduled for months away; this loss may not happen at all, as a skilled DUI lawyer will generally win better than half of their DMV Hearings. If a loss at the DMV is unavoidable, a lawyer can help with the timing of any suspension so it is least disruptive to your life, or help you get a restricted license to drive for work. Next: do not assume all is lost. The issues that win cases are not always known at the outset. They require investigation, and you may not necessarily know what to look for. A good DUI lawyer will. Just because a breath test result is a .12, or a blood test result is a .15, don't assume that your case is not worth fighting. For example, in any case involving a breath test, I will obtain the calibration records, maintenance history, and accuracy checks of the machine that was used to test my client. If there are problems in any of these areas, the results may be excluded. If it is a blood test, I insist upon obtaining a "split" of the blood sample for independent testing. There are certain requirements about how these blood samples are to be taken and preserved. If there is an inadequate level of preservative or anti-coagulant, the blood may actually ferment and produce its own alcohol, rendering the results completely meaningless. In our justice system, the prosecution bears the burden of proof , meaning that in order to earn a conviction, the prosecutor must convince the finder of fact of your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. In California, where I practice, that means that all 12 jurors must be convinced in your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. If even one juror votes "not guilty" , the jury is hung, and more often than not, the case is dismissed. So how does the prosecution go about its business of trying to prove guilt? There are four distinct aspects to the case that a prosecutor will use: driving pattern , physical appearance , Field Sobriety Test performance, and chemical test results. The case is like a table with four legs; if one of those legs is broken, the table cannot stand. Likewise, if there is reasonable doubt regarding any aspect of the case, an accused should be acquitted. The driving pattern that police officers typically report is incomplete, and one-sided. They only jot down those things that the driver does wrong. A trained DUI defense lawyer will point out the many things their client does right . By pointing out the ways in which a driving pattern is consistent with sobriety, a DUI lawyer can rebut this aspect of the prosecution's case. Physical symptoms may appear at first glance to be damning evidence of guilt; they are usually an opportunity to point out what a lousy job of investigation was done by the officer. Police will point to red, watery eyes as a symptom of impairment, but never even bother to ask if someone is fatigued, has allergies, has been around cigarette smoke, or if there is any other reason for red eyes. An odor of alcohol on the breath may sound bad at first blush; how silly the officers look when they are forced to concede that it is the mixer in the beverage that has an odor, and not the alcohol itself. If you have any question about this, drink a 6-pack of non-alcoholic beer, and compare the strong "beer breath" to the odor following a couple of vodka martinis, which have nearly no odor. Field sobriety tests can likewise be debunked by a skilled lawyer. How many of us performed physical agility exercises to get our licenses? None. What do these random, unfairly administered physical exercises have to do with driving skills? Nothing. Juries understand that agility suffers when an already nervous person is forced to perform roadside gymnastics after armed, uniformed police officers have forced them out of their car in the middle of the night. Chemical testing is the fourth "leg" of the prosecution's table. Keep in mind that before the results are accepted, they must first be proven to be accurate and reliable. If the machines are working properly, if all the regulations regarding testing were observed, if the numbers are indeed accurate, then there are still issues relating to the alcohol level at the time of driving , for this is the crux of a DUI case. It is not illegal to have a .12 back at the police station; that number is only relevant to the extent that we are able to use it to look back and determine the alcohol level at the time of driving. It is quite possible to scientifically demonstrate that someone who is a .12 at the station was really a .06 while driving, once drinking pattern, stomach contents, absorption rate, time of drinking, time of driving, and time of testing are considered. I hope this information has been eye-opening, and not overwhelming. The point is this: things are not always what they appear to be in a DUI case, and they are never open-and-shut. Put your case in the hands of a trained professional, and you will be gratified with the results. Written by Attorney Darren T. Kavinoky Read more ... Drunk driving laws vary from state to state, and cases are handled differently in different areas within a state. That's why it is so important to find an experienced DUI defense lawyer near you. Click here to find one now. :: top :: | Site map | Terms and Conditions | Legal Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Contact us at 1 800 DUI LAWS | 1 800 DUI LAWS. All rights reserved.

Intoxicated driving is incompatible

Drunk Drivers - The Hardcore Facts Drunk Drivers -- The Hardcore Facts by HM1 Alvin Grant, USN Hardcore drunk drivers can be defined as individuals who drive with high blood alcohol concentrations (BAC's) of .15 or above. They do so repeatedly, as demonstrated by having more than one drunk driving arrest, and are extremely resistant to changing their behavior, despite previous sanctions, jail, treatment, education or disciplinary efforts. Terms like "subsequent offender," "problem drinker/driver" and "unfit/unsafe driver" are definitions used to alter the true perception of the drunk. A drunk under the influence never becomes a felon without involving some fatal or serious injury. They know the law, because to manipulate any system, you must understand how it works. Intoxicated driving is incompatible with the maintenance of high standards of performance, military discipline, personnel reliability, and readiness. Any person who engages in intoxicated driving, regardless of the geographic location of the incident, has demonstrated a serious disregard for the safety of themselves and others. There are approximately 3.3 million licensed drivers and the average BAC level of offenders arrested is approximately .17, well above the national BAC limit of .08. A Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) is the percentage by weight, of alcohol in a person's blood as determined by blood, urine, or breath analysis. Percent of weight by volume of alcohol in the blood is based on grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood. Suspension of driving privileges is mandatory based upon an arrest report or other official documentation of the circumstances of an apprehension for intoxicated driving. On government installations the legal BAC limit is .05. However, keep in mind, there is zero tolerance for alcohol abuse at all times. If an individual refuses to submit to a lawfully requested BAC test, when there has been a conviction, nonjudicial punishment, or civilian revocation or suspension of driving privileges for intoxicated driving, regardless of any prior administrative determination; suspension of base driving privileges for one year is mandatory. Did you know that it is your responsibility to notify your command of any DUI or DWI within 24 hours? This is in your best interest. We are here to assist in education and to help get the free medical treatment you require for your level of abuse. For those individuals who have received multiple DUI/DWI citations and or convictions, your original one-year suspension may be increased by two years after a hearing. Exceptions to the mandatory suspension provisions may be granted under regulations concerned on a case-by-case basis. Such exceptions may be granted only on the basis of mission requirements, unusual personal or family hardship or with respect to a person who has no reasonably available alternate means of transportation to officially assigned duties. A limited exception shall be granted for the sole purpose of driving directly to and from such duties. This does not authorize the person to drive on a military installation, but allows for exceptional situations where public transportation, carpool, and taxi services are unavailable. There are several enforcement techniques used to detect and apprehend drunk drivers, but some drunk or drugged drivers may appear to never get caught. Sobriety checkpoints, blanket patrols, enforcement blitzes with media campaigns, standardized field sobriety testing, and mobile video-taping all provide the sooner or later apprehension of all drunk or drugged drivers. One way is the sharing of information across state lines so that out-of-state offenses are included in an offender's driving history. Uniformly this is not being done. It has a direct impact on the identification of the hardcore offender who, without cross-state record keeping, can easily move his license to another state to avoid being identified as a multiple or repeat offender. The Driver License Compact (DLC), an agreement among 47 states, is another attempt to prevent offenders from skirting the law. It's one driver license and one driver record concept, which requires the surrender of an out-of-state driver's license when applying for a new one and requirement that complete driving records be maintained in the driver's state of residence for 10 years to determine driving eligibility. This would include cross state reporting of all traffic violations, convictions, license suspensions and revocations to the home state licensing agency and treatment of offenses committed in other states as though they have been committed in the members home state. Or would you prefer the loss of your friend or family member? << Return to Self-help Main

DUI LAWS › DUI

Hawaii DUI Law › Free Consultation Find a DUI LAWS Lawyer :: Select Your State :: Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington DC West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming › About 1800 DUI LAWS › DUI Laws by State › DUI Arrests by State › Drinking and Driving › Your First DUI › DUI Drugs › DUI Laws Dictionary › BAC Calculator › Field Sobriety Tests › Driver License › The Science › Breathalyzers › Jail Alternatives › Ignition Interlock › Criminal Courts › Designated Drivers › DUI Insurance › DUI Schools › Tell a Friend //-- › Order Your DMV Record › Link to DUI LAWS › Contact Us › Why Expungement? › Expungement 101 › Felony Expungement › Rehabilitation & Pardon › Case Evaluation › Traffic School Info › About The Content › About The Quizzes › About The Final Exam › Student Comments › DUI Chat › For Attorneys Only › Website Development Hawaii DUI LAW Choose your Hawaii county to locate a DUI LAW Lawyer in your area. :: Select a County :: Hawaii County Honolulu County Kalawao County Kauai County Maui County Hawaii counties - map view Hawaii DUI arrests trigger two separate cases: the Hawaii DUI court case, and the Hawaii DUI drivers license case. It is URGENT that you act quickly by contacting a Hawaii DUI defense attorney to protect your driving privileges. Failure to act immediately will result in severe Hawaii DUI consequences. Hawaii DUI laws (which are also called OVUII laws, for Operating a Vehicle Under the Influence of an Intoxicant) call for a DUI prosecution in District Court, as well as a driver’s license suspension from the Administrative Driver’s License Revocation Office (ADLRO) . It is the Administrative Driver’s License Revocation Office that seeks to take immediate action against your driver’s license. Hawaii DUI laws are such that even if you were in Hawaii for vacation or temporary military assignment, and hold a driver’s license from another state, it is critical that you protect your Administrative Rights here. Because of the Interstate Driver’s License Compact , any action taken against your driving privileges because of a Hawaii DUI will be reported to your home state, and will result in a suspension or revocation there. top Hawaii DUI laws allow for criminal court prosecutions on one of two theories: either that the person is impaired for purposes of driving, OR that the person violated Hawaii DUI laws by driving with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .08% or higher. The latter is called Hawaii’s "per se" law, and most states have a similar DUI law. Hawaii DUI law prosecutions based on impairment typically look to four areas to prove that the driver was under the influence of alcohol. These areas include driving patterns, the driver’s physical appearance, field sobriety test results , and chemical test results . The job of a skilled Hawaii DUI defense lawyer will be to establish reasonable doubt in one of these areas to defeat the Hawaii DUI prosecution. Hawaii DUI law prosecutions can also be based on violation of Hawaii’s "per se" law. This DUI law declares it a crime to drive with a blood or breath alcohol content of .08 or higher, without regard to whether the driver is actually impaired. This Hawaii DUI crime is based purely on body chemistry. Hawaii DUI law provides for a five-year "lookback" period, meaning that if there is a prior conviction for DUI that is more than five years before the present offense, the present offense will be treated like a first-offense DUI. If, however, there is a prior DUI conviction within that five-year period, the punishment for purposes of both court and the ADLRO driver’s license suspension dramatically increase. A fourth-offense DUI is a felony, and can mean a prison term of up to five years. top Hawaii DUI convictions for first offenders include the following punishments: A fourteen-hour minimum substance abuse rehabilitation program, including education and counseling, or other comparable program deemed appropriate by the court; Ninety-day prompt suspension of license and privilege to operate a vehicle during the suspension period, or the court may impose, in lieu of the ninety-day prompt suspension of license, a minimum thirty-day prompt suspension of license with absolute prohibition from operating a vehicle and, for the remainder of the ninety-day period, a restriction on the license that allows the person to drive for limited work-related purposes and to participate in substance abuse treatment programs; Any one or more of the following: Seventy-two hours of community service work; Not less than forty-eight hours and not more than five days of imprisonment; or A fine of not less than $150 but not more than $1,000; and A surcharge of $25 to be deposited into the neurotrauma special fund. These DUI sentences do not include legal enhancements, such as second-offense DUI or third-offense DUI, which involve much longer jail sentences and more severe punishments. This information also does not take into account various statutory enhancements, such as being DUI with children in the car, DUI with a blood alcohol level of .20 or higher, DUI while driving recklessly, and others. If you or someone you care about has been arrested for Hawaii DUI, drunk driving, or related charges, please don’t wait. Contact a qualified DUI defense lawyer at once to protect your rights. :: Previous page :: | Site map | Terms and Conditions | Legal Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Contact us at 1 800 DUI LAWS | 1 800 DUI LAWS. All rights reserved.

DUI Insurance

Washington DC DUI Guide: Car Insurance Everything You Need to Know About First Offender DUI / DWI, Drinking Driving and Drugs Home | State By State Help | DUI Lawyers | Insurance Help | Breath Testers | DUI Videos Other States Washington DC Topics Washington DC DUI Washington DC Car Insurance Washington DC DUI Lawyers Google Search Results Washington DC Auto Insurance Since 1993, InsureMe has helped countless consumers save money on their auto insurance. Fast, easy and free. With our free service, enter your information once and you are instantly matched with the most competitive companies in the business. You'll get back up to five quotes so you can compare and save. At InsureMe, we shop your insurance so you don't have to. Your privacy is important to us. At InsureMe, we use the highest level of security available to safeguard your personal information. We hate spam just as much as you do, so we'll never sell or rent your email address for mass marketing. Why not get started today? Get Quote Now Home > State By State Help > Washington DC DUI > Car Insurance DISCLAIMER : This website provides only general information intended for those charged with drunk driving offenses. The information and news items on the site are for information only. This information is not legal advice, nor is it intended to create any binding advisory relationship. Do not take action based upon this information unless you consult with an attorney or other specialist. © 2005 Drivers Research Institute   All Rights Reserved   Send eMail   Advertise With Us