dui punishments

For some people, one charge of DUI in Los Angeles is enough to make them resolve they will never again drive under the influence. They never want to go through the humiliating experience of arrest, a bond hearing and a court trial again. There are others, however, who never seem to get the message no matter how many times they go to court, pay fines or spend time in jail.

KDVR in Denver reports on one Colorado man who has somehow escaped jail time despite the fact that he’s had seven DUI arrests and five convictions. Albert Torres’ most recent DUI arrest came last November, when he ran a red light and nearly hit a police car. In July, a judge accepted the 45-year-old’s plea deal, which will require him to serve a year on work release and three years’ probation.

In 2014, 9,967 people in the U.S. lost their lives in DUI-related crashes. Of that number, 882 deaths occurred in California, with some of those due to Los Angeles DUIs. But these figures don’t reflect the number of people whose lives are affected by DUI drivers, the victims’ families and friends as well as those injured in crashes involving alcohol or drugs.

Larry Haskell, the prosecutor in Spokane, Washington, has had enough. He recently announced changes to the DUI guidelines in his county that will make it tougher for drivers accused of driving under the influence to escape punishment. The changes are an attempt to reverse the rising number of DUIs, vehicular homicides and vehicular assaults in the county; to date, there have been 729 DUI arrests in the county this year, 323 more than at the same time in 2015.

Haskell also noted that over the Fourth of July holiday, police arrested 30 people for DUIs, and almost half (13) had previous DUI convictions.

Articles Tagged with dui punishments

Many Repeat DUI Offenders Never Seem To Learn

Spokane Prosecutor Gets Tough on DUI Drivers