Driving Under The Influence

Driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs greatly increases the risk of being involved in highway accidents, often resulting in serious injury or death. Drugs that negatively impair a driver’s ability to operate a vehicle in a safe manner may be illegal or legal. They include medication that may have been prescribed by your physician such as sedatives, tranquilizers, antidepressants, drugs for cardiovascular disease, antipsychotics and pain relievers -- or ones that you purchased at the drug store, including cold medicines or sleep aids.

If you are reading this, you may have recently been arrested for DUI (Driving Under the Influence), also known as DWI (Driving While Impaired), or you were falsely accused of DUI. The first thing you MUST do is seek the assistance of a skilled DUI attorney as soon as possible. Your specialized DUI defense lawyer will explain to you the consequences of your arrest and will take you through any pre-trial, trial and sentencing that may apply to your individual case. He will also request a hearing with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). If this is not done before the deadline, your driver’s license may be AUTOMATICALLY SUSPENDED! You may face the impounding or forfeiture of your vehicle, fines and even imprisonment if found guilty of driving under the influence. The definition and penalties associated with a DUI vary from state to state; it is of the utmost importance for you to interview and hire a highly-trained lawyer in your state immediately!

Safe Driving

Safe driving involves multi-tasking and alertness during constantly changing circumstances. The use of alcohol and/or drugs impairs the skills needed to safely operate an automobile. Research shows that the risk of a car crash increases as the driver’s Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) increases and that the more demanding the driving task (i.e. inclement weather or heavy traffic conditions) the greater the impairment caused by even low BAC levels.

Roadside surveys show that teenagers are less likely than adults to drive after drinking but, at low and moderate BACs, younger drivers have a substantially higher incidence of crashes than older and more experienced drivers. It is estimated that 1,700 college students, aged 18-24, die each year from alcohol-related, unintentional injuries, including motor vehicle crashes. Approximately 600,000 are injured.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) credits state laws that increased the legal drinking age to 21 with preventing at least 1,000 traffic deaths annually. Laws reducing BAC to 0.02 or lower (zero tolerance law) for teenagers were passed to further reduce alcohol-related fatalities. With the passage of zero tolerance laws, nighttime fatal crashes involving single vehicles in this age group dropped 16%, a significant decrease.

Interstate Driver’s License Compact

Forty-five out of the 50 states in the U.S. participate in Interstate Driver’s License Compact where states share information about drivers arrested for DUI/DWI. This program is designed to reduce the incidence of driving under the influence and increase the effectiveness and scope of drunk driving laws already in effect. The only states not participating in this program are Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

Reducing DUIs

Although the incidence of drinking and driving has decreased over the past number of years, cases involving drunk drivers are now slightly on the rise. In an effort to move this trend back in the right direction, the NHTSA has identified three priority initiatives to help reduce DUI and increase public focus on this problem:

• Highly visible enforcement i.e. increased police patrol cars

• Support for DUI/DWI prosecutors and courts

• Alcohol screening with brief intervention, i.e. AA meetings, community service, etc.

Drunk Driving Statistics

Statistics on drinking and driving:

• Drunk drivers kill someone every 39 minutes and injure someone every minute

• Eight teenagers die each day in alcohol-related car accidents

• Motorcycle drivers comprise the highest percentage of drunk drivers involved in fatal crashes, followed by light trucks and passenger cars

• The highest percentage of drunk drivers involved in fatal crashes are aged 18-24 (it’s not even legal to drink alcohol until you are 21!)

• More than half of drunk drivers involved in fatal crashes have a BAC of 0.15 (the legal limit is 0.08)

• In the United States, a driver is considered intoxicated (drunk) if BAC is higher than 0.08. In some countries, it is illegal to drive with any alcohol in your system.

Vehicular accidents with resultant injury or death that are caused by drunk drivers are totally preventable!

If you are facing a potential DUI charge, please fill out our secure free legal evaluation form and one of our DUI attorneys will contact you immediately. Or you can call us toll free at 800-798-8384. Your information will remain confidential.