DUI Arrests, Convictions, and Laws

Over the past several years, law enforcement agencies across Santa Barbara County and California have intensified their efforts to stop impaired driving and the fatalities that sometimes result.

The effort has proved dizzyingly effective, with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently announcing that DUI deaths in the state reached their lowest level ever in 2010. Statewide statistics are not yet available for 2011.

The state’s Office of Traffic Safety credited a record number of DUI checkpoints with helping the decline.

Peace officers in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties said they are successfully cracking down on impaired driving with a combination of education, enforcement and high visibility.

Checkpoints are a key part of that, they say, as are county-wide holiday crackdown operations throughout the year.

Statistics provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicate Santa Barbara County had eight DUI-related traffic fatalities in 2010, down from 14 in 2009, 19 in 2008, 22 in 2007 and 11 in 2006. Those include only crashes that involved a driver with a blood alcohol level greater than .08, the legal limit for adults 21 and over in California.

San Luis Obispo County had five DUI traffic fatalities in 2010, compared to 15 in 2009, 10 in 2008, 13 in 2007 and 16 in 2006.

“I think some of the education is sinking in to some of the population,” said Sgt. John Ploetz of the California Highway Patrol.

He said he believes saturation patrols, where officers look specifically for drivers under the influence, are most effective.

“You don’t know where an officer is. They’re out actively looking for the impaired driver,” Ploetz added.

According to the Office of Traffic Safety, 2010 marked the largest single yearly drop of DUI deaths in the past 14 years for California. In that year, 791 people were killed in DUI crashes on state roadways, compared to 950 in 2009.

Office of Traffic Safety Director Christopher J. Murphy said in a press release that a major milestone had been reached in the fight against drinking and driving.

“While we are elated by these figures, there were still 791 lives, futures and dreams that will never be fully realized. We cannot back off from our ultimate goal — toward zero deaths,” he said.

Local law enforcement officers weighed in on the way they believed their agencies and enforcement programs were affecting the statistics.

The Province is introducing Canada’s most immediate and severe impaired driving penalties to save lives, curb repeat offenders and give police more enforcement tools, Solicitor General Michael de Jong, QC, announced today.

“Despite increased enforcement and significant efforts to promote awareness, we’ve begun to see a rise in impaired driving across British Columbia,” said de Jong. “That trend is unacceptable and that’s why we’re bringing in these new laws: to get impaired drivers off the road with clear, swift and severe penalties.”

In memory of Alexa Middelaer, de Jong also announced a provincial goal: to reduce alcohol-impaired driving fatalities by 35 per cent by the end of 2013. Middelaer was four when she was killed by an alleged drunk driver in Delta two years ago. Click here to read more.. »

Beres, who will be out with other law enforcement members as part of the blitz, said almost half of all South Carolina highway fatalities, or 40 percent, are alcohol-related. "We all have a hand in this," he said. "We have the TV and radio spots running and Highway Patrol is doing their part. … But the motoring public has just as much responsibility when they’re out there." Officials say aside from criminal charges, a DUI arrest can carry a huge financial burden. For a first-time offender, the cost of insurance typically doubles after a DUI conviction. For the average S.C. driver, that can mean a total increase of about $3,000. Legal fees are another cost. For a first-time offender, court fees can run anywhere from $1,000 to $2,000 while attorney fees in South Carolina typically cost about $3,500. Add in other costs such as bail bondsmen fees, vehicle towing, license reinstatement and substance abuse programs offenders are required to take, and the price can swell to more than $10,000.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/12/31/2888012/campaign-takes-aim-at-drunken.html

following compiled by Greg Smith at Norwich Bulletin

New DUI law: New legislation takes effect today that changes existing laws for drunken driving convictions. The new law allows repeat offenders to keep their licenses with use of ignition interlock devices (IID) that can detect if a driver is drunk and prevent the car from starting. The new law also allows DUI offenders to be released to home confinement for treatment, rather then serving mandatory minimum prison sentences.

No change: From now on, those arrested for DUI for the first time are able to have the charge dismissed with the successful completion of an alcohol education program. The driver’s license is suspended for 90 days.

Changes: A first DUI conviction now carries a 45-day license suspension, 48 hours in prison and a one-year IID requirement. Before today, a first conviction carried a one-year license suspension. A second conviction carries a 45-day license suspension, 120 days in prison and a three-year IID requirement. Prior law carried a three-year license suspension.A third or subsequent conviction carries a one-year prison sentence and a minimum six-year license suspension. Prior to today, the license revocation was permanent.

Advocate: Janice Heggie Margolis, executive director of the Connecticut Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said the new law should curtail the number of people driving drunk after their license is suspended.
“It’s a matter of public safety,” Margolis said. “It’s the most effective equipment available for keeping someone from driving drunk.”

Read more: Device to help curb drunken driving