Posts Tagged ‘drunk driving’

No refusal” DUI checkpoints could be coming to Tampa

January 4th, 2011 | Author:

Source: 10 News

Adam Freeman

Dec 31st

With New Year’s Eve only days away, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration expects this to be one of the deadliest weeks of the year on the roads. But now a new weapon is being used in the fight against drunk driving. It’s a change that could make you more likely to be convicted. “I think it’s a great deterrent for people,” said Linda Unfried, from Mother’s Against Drunk Driving in Hillsborough County.

Florida is among several states now holding what are called “no refusal” checkpoints.

It means if you refuse a breath test during a traffic stop, a judge is on site, and issues a warrant that allows police to perform a mandatory blood test.

It’s already being done in several counties, and now Unfried is working to bring it to the Tampa Bay area. “I think you’ll see the difference because people will not drink and drive. I truly believe that,” she said. Not everyone is on board, though. DUI defense attorney Kevin Hayslett sees the mandatory blood test as a violation of constitutional rights.

“It’s a slippery slope and it’s got to stop somewhere,” Hayslett explained, “what other misdemeanor offense do we have in the United States where the government can forcefully put a needle into your arm?”

The federal government says Florida has among the highest rates of breathalyzer refusal.

“Now you’ve got attorneys telling their clients, don’t blow, don’t blow! Because we know from the results from these machines that they’re not operating as the state or the government says they’re supposed to operate,” said Stephen Daniels, a DUI consultant and expert witness.

Supporters, though, say you could see the “no refusal” checkpoints in the Bay area by October. “We don’t want to violate people’s civil rights. That’s the last thing we want to do, but we’re here to save lives,” Unfried said. She adds that this type of checkpoint would be heavily advertised, with the goal of deterring any drunk driving. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has recently said he wants to see more states hold similar programs.

Posted in DUI, Florida Alcohol News | Tags: drunk driving, dui, dwi, florida, owi | Comments Closed

‘Super drunk’ drivers face tougher punishment with new Michigan law

October 28th, 2010 | Author:
Source: mlive.com
Published: Sunday, October 17, 2010, 6:59 AM

Starting on Oct. 31, there will be two kinds of drunken drivers in Michigan: standard and “super.”

Standard are those with blood alcohol content of 0.08 to 0.16 percent. The super drunk, a new category under state law, are first-time offenders who test at 0.17 or above.

The designation confers no special powers, just super-high penalties and super-stiff fees.

Fines and other costs could top $8,000, some defense attorneys predict. Alcohol treatment is mandatory, possible jail time is doubled, and driving is forbidden for 45 days.

The penalties include another first for Michigan: a requirement to install an in-car breathalyzer.

To resume driving after 45 days, first-time super-drunk offenders must buy an ignition interlock, which works by testing a driver’s breath and allows the car to run only if the driver is sober.

The change is part of an effort to toughen drunken driving penalties, by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Michigan joined more than 40 states when the Legislature passed the standards with virtually no opposition at the end of 2008.

The technical term is “high blood alcohol content enhanced penalty law.” ”We don’t really like calling it the super drunk law,” said Anne Readett, spokeswoman for the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning.

Critics of the law, including defense lawyers, question its effectiveness.
Advocates call the measure positive but not enough – “a disappointing step in the right direction,” said Michigan MADD’s executive director, Homer Smith.
For example, state lawmakers set the blood-alcohol standard at 0.17 percent, bucking a trend toward tougher 0.15 thresholds preferred by MADD. And at least a dozen states require interlock devices for all convicted drunken drivers.
“The Legislature had an opportunity to do something that would significantly deter drunk driving,” Smith said. “Unfortunately, they chose to do less than the optimum.”

Michigan still considers 0.08 percent to be legally drunk, and the new law does not affect repeat offenders or people who face a felony for causing death, injury or damage.

About one-third of Michigan drivers whom police suspect of driving drunk test at the enhanced penalty levels.

Interlocks have gained in effectiveness and acceptance since 2007, when federal traffic safety officials began a campaign urging judges to require the devices.

A device costs the driver about $100 a month to maintain. Other costs to violators come from state driver responsibility fees and attorney fees.
First-time offenders who meet the super-drunk standard are looking at $8,000 to $10,000, according to defense attorney Gerald Lykins.

He is unconvinced the law will be effective.
“I’m not sure that penalizing someone who blows a 0.17 rather than 0.14 will prevent people from drunk driving,” he said. “The driver responsibility fee was supposed to reduce bad driving, but that hasn’t worked.”
MADD counters that enhanced penalties are working in other states. New Mexico, for instance, has had a 20 percent reduction in alcohol-related crashes since its law was passed in 2005.

Kalamazoo County Assistant Prosecutor Aubrey Sharp said the new penalties treat offenses in proportion to one another.
“You have a person with a 0.09 blood alcohol level who is punished the same as someone with a 0.32,” Sharp said.

Others take a wait-and-see approach. Kent County Prosecutor William Forsyth said penalties already are harsh.

“It’s still drunk driving and I don’t see how it’s really going to change,” he said.
Grand Rapids Assistant City Attorney Mike Tomich calls the law “a useful tool for public safety.” But he said he is not certain the provisions will change behavior overall.

Grand Rapids District Court Judge Jeanine LaVille, who oversees sobriety court, said the added mandatory penalties take more discretion from judges, who have crafted sentences based on individual needs and offenses.

“We’re already doing what the Legislature suggests,” LaVille said.

Attorney Lykins said if the state wants to prevent drunken driving, lawmakers could consider taking the law to its logical conclusion.

“We could demand that car manufactures have interlock devices as standard equipment,” Lykins said, “just like seatbelts.”
Posted in Alcohol Consumption, Michigan Alcohol News | Tags: alcohol consumption, Alcohol Vendor Protection, drunk driving, laws, overconsumpsion, preventing intoxication, Social Host Liability, super drunk | Comments Closed

Delaware alcohol division head faces DUI charge

October 13th, 2010 | Author:

LEWES — A retired state trooper who heads Delaware’s Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement faces a drunken-driving charge and possible disciplinary action after being arrested in her state-owned car north of Lewes.

Siobhan G. Sullivan, 46, who lives near Rehoboth Beach, also was cited with speeding when state troopers pulled her over at about 2:30 a.m. Oct. 7 on Route 1 near Minos Conaway Road, court records show.

Sullivan, who was Gov. Ruth Ann Minner’s security chief before taking the new post in November 2008, is the sixth high-ranking state official — including three criminal prosecutors — charged with drunken driving in the last 26 months. On Sunday, state Rep. Brad Bennett was arrested in Lewes with a blood-alcohol level of 0.155, nearly twice the legal limit of 0.08.
Posted in Delaware Alcohol News | Tags: alcohol, drunk driving, dui laws, preventing intoxication | Comments Closed
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