DUI Consequences

September 28, 2016

Could A Skin Patch Help Prevent DUIs?

Would the number of DUIs in Los Angeles decrease if drivers and/or police officers had an easier, more reliable way to measure blood alcohol content?

Researchers at the University of San Diego have developed a wearable, flexible sensor that can accurately measure a person’s BAC from sweat. The device, a temporary tattoo, actually induces sweat and then detects the alcohol levels electrochemically. The device communicates the information to a mobile device—laptop, tablet or phone—via Bluetooth.

Nano engineering professor Joseph Wang and electrical engineering professor Patrick Mercier led the team that developed the sensor. “This technology provides an accurate, convenient and quick way to monitor alcohol consumption to help prevent people from driving while intoxicated,” said Wang. He envisions interfacing the device with an ignition interlock device, or people using it to monitor their own alcohol levels so they could refrain from driving if they were legally under the influence.

September 14, 2016

California DUI Bill Could Expand Ignition Interlock Requirements

by Michael Kraut

California could soon be among the 25 states that require drivers with a first DUI conviction to install ignition interlock devices in any vehicles that they drive. The new law would not affect the penalties for anyone convicted of DUI in Los Angeles, since Los Angeles, Alameda, Sacramento and Tulare Counties have been operating under a pilot program that requires an IID for first-time offenders since 2011.

Senate Bill 1046, championed by Senator Jerry Hill, passed the Senate in late August; the California State Assembly approved a similar bill earlier in the year. The legislation now sits on Governor Jerry Brown’s desk; he must decide by September 30th whether or not to approve the bill or veto it.

If the bill becomes law, a first DUI offense would require installation of an IID for six months, with lengthier periods for increasing offenses. (Second DUI – one year; third DUI – two years; fourth and any subsequent DUIs – three years.)
Continue reading

September 12, 2016

DUI News Updates

by Michael Kraut

Court rulings and new laws in other states don’t have an immediate impact on California DUI laws and the outcome of arrests for DUI in Los Angeles. But it’s always interesting to take a look and see how other states are dealing with challenges and updates to DUI law.

• The Tennessee State Legislature has taken the extraordinary step of going into special session to amend a law that they passed that raised the BAC limit for 18 to 20-year olds to 0.08 percent. The legislature had reasoned that since the new penalties for drivers in that age group were the same as for drivers over 21, the BAC limits should be the same. But that put them in conflict with federal law, which mandates a 0.02 limit for those under 21. Since the federal government threatened to withhold federal highway construction funds from the state, the state legislature had to hold a special session (at a cost of at least $75,000) to amend its law and bring it into conformity with federal law. (The federal government refused to waive an October 1st deadline to allow the state to amend the law at its next scheduled legislative session in January 2017.)

September 5, 2016

Police Arrest Drivers with High BACs

by Michael Kraut

Drivers arrested for DUI in Los Angeles usually have a blood alcohol content of 0.08 or higher. But there are times when a DUI suspect’s BAC measures much higher—so high that you wonder how they ever managed to even get behind the wheel of a vehicle, much less drive it.

In Henrico County, Virginia, 44-year-old Angela Gittings faces DUI charges after she hit several vehicles outside an area high school. Police measured her blood alcohol content at 0.38, more than four times the legal limit. Gittings was also driving without a license; the DMV had revoked it because of previous DUIs.

According the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, a BAC of 0.31 to 0.45 poses a “significant risk of death in most drinkers due to suppression of vital life functions.” People with this level of alcohol may lose consciousness and/or suffer from life-threatening alcohol poisoning.

The NIAAA also states that a BAC reading of 0.16 to 0.30 significantly impair a person’s speech, memory, coordination, attention, reaction time and balance. It also has a very negative impact on a person’s driving-related skills, judgment and decision making.

August 31, 2016

Minnesota Court Okays DWI Test for Drugs

by Michael Kraut

Suppose a police officer asks someone suspected of a DUI in Los Angeles to consent to a test to measure the blood alcohol content in their body. If the blood test turns up evidence of drug usage—which the officer did not mention in his request for that blood test—can the state use those results to win a DUI conviction?

The Minnesota Supreme Court recently addressed a similar question in a ruling in a 2014 DWI case. According to a report by Minnesota Public Radio, police requested a warrant to draw Debra Fawcett’s blood after she ran a red light and caused a two-vehicle crash. Fawcett admitted to drinking a few beers earlier in the day.

The test results showed that Fawcett’s blood was alcohol free. However, they also revealed that she had THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) and Alprazolam in her bloodstream. (Physicians often prescribe Alprazolam, better known by its trade name Xanax, for anxiety disorders.) Fawcett did have a valid prescription for the drug.

August 26, 2016

Bad Moves By DUI Drivers

by Michael Kraut

Intoxicated drivers often make bad decisions that draw police officers’ attention and leave the drivers vulnerable to arrest on a charge of DUI in Los Angeles. But California drivers aren’t the only ones making mistakes, as these arrest stories from around the country clearly demonstrate.

In Madison, Wisconsin, a 42-year-old woman decided that she was in the mood for a beer. Only problem was she opened the can while sitting in a car and right in front of the officer who had pulled her over on suspicion of DUI. When the woman refused to get out of the car and continued drinking, the officer had to call reinforcements to pry the unidentified driver out of her car. She faces charges of reckless driving and driving while intoxicated.

In Connecticut, two people were driving their vehicles with flat tires and probably hoping that police didn’t notice. Police in South Windsor arrested 33-year-old Eric Schneider after they received reports that a vehicle in the area was riding on a bare rim. Schneider had apparently been traveling with a flat for so long that he wore the tire away. He’s facing DUI charges.

August 21, 2016

California: Good State to Get a DUI?

by Michael Kraut

While it’s probably little consolation to someone convicted of a DUI in Los Angeles, California is apparently far down on the list when it comes to states with the strictest DUI enforcement.

WalletHub, a personal finance website, looked at several factors in each state’s DUI laws to identify the strictest and most lenient states for DUI offenses. The factors included minimum jail times for convictions, minimum fines and the look-back period for previous DUIs.

WalletHub identified Arizona as the toughest state when it came to criminal penalties for DUI. The other states rounding out the top 10 included Georgia, Alaska, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas, Texas, Connecticut, West Virginia and Utah. Maryland was the most lenient state; others (in ascending order) included Mississippi, Maine, Arkansas (tied), Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New Jersey, North Dakota, South Dakota and Michigan.

California ranked right in the middle at number 23 on the list.

August 17, 2016

DUI Driver: It’s Jerry Springer’s Fault

by Michael Kraut

When police come upon an accident involving a DUI in Los Angeles, they may sometimes find that all the vehicle’s occupants have exited the car. That scenario can make it more difficult for the officers to figure out who was actually driving at the time of the crash. Thinking to confuse police (or maybe because they are confused themselves), the car’s occupants claim that someone else was behind the wheel.

But when Bernard Michael Drivdahl of Benson, Minnesota, stated that another driver was responsible for the destruction his car left behind, the police were pretty sure they could discount his story. For one thing, the 59-year-old Drivdahl was apparently alone when they picked him up. In addition, Drivdahl said that the person driving the vehicle was Jerry Springer.

TwinCities.com reports that on May 29th, an officer who suspected Drivdahl of driving under the influence began chasing his vehicle through the town. Speeds reached 70 miles per hour during the pursuit. Drivdahl eventually drove through several front lawns, crashed into a parked pickup and then hit not one but two homes. The damage could have been worse, however; the car broke a gas line in one home.
Continue reading

August 4, 2016

DUI Driver Misses Chance for Chicken Dinner

by Michael Kraut

The properties damaged by DUIs in Los Angeles can include everything from vehicles to homes to businesses and retail establishments. Sometimes a DUI driver will take out a neighborhood landmark, destroying a bar or a restaurant that’s a favorite with locals.

Residents and regular visitors to Dewey Beach, Delaware, are mourning the destruction of Ed’s Chicken and Crabs by a DUI driver. A 2013 Mini Cooper driven by Michelle Small, 36, of Wyoming, Delaware, slammed into the popular summer take out restaurant, hitting a propane gas tank and igniting a fire that soon engulfed the building.

A video camera on a nearby building recorded the entire incident, which occurred around 2 a.m. The video shows Small’s vehicle traveling southbound at a high rate of speed along Route 1 (the Coastal Highway). The car crosses over the median strip, goes about a half block the wrong way in the north lanes and then crashes into the restaurant. Continue reading

July 27, 2016

Golf Cart DUI Results in Death

by Michael Kraut

When the media reports on a death involving a Los Angeles DUI, the victim is usually a pedestrian or the driver or passenger in one of the vehicles that crashed. But deadly DUIs can also result from incidents involving much smaller, off-the-road vehicles.

Police in Gallatin, Tennessee, charged Lori Doyle, 55, with vehicular assault and DUI first offense after her husband fell off a golf cart and hit his head at the Foxland Harbor golf course. Although emergency responders took Doyle to the hospital, he died two days later.

The officers reported that they saw three open beer cans in the golf cart and one on the roof. Investigations are continuing, and Doyle could face additional charges.