By Morgan Brickley
Stop and think before you get behind the wheel on New Year’s Eve.
This is the motto of one Georgia funeral home – a family business that has been running Operation Stop and Think for the past 10 years.
According to a CNN report, McGuire, Jennings and Miller Funeral Home in Rome, Ga. has been offering a contract to anyone who wants to sign it up until noon on New Year’s Eve.
What exactly is this contract? It’s a contract stating that the undersigned definitely plans to drink or use drugs and then drive a car on New Year’s Eve.
If someone does sign the contract, McGuire, Jennings and Miller will cover the costs of everything related to their funeral when they are killed from DUI – including a casket, burial plot and even flowers.
Barry Miller, one of the funeral home’s owners, said the program started 10 years ago when he lost a family member to a drunk driver.
In the 10 years the program has been running, not one person has come in to sign the contract.
Miller said he never expects anyone to actually sign it, but they use it as more of a tool with some shock value, in hopes of saving a life.
By Morgan Brickley
If you’re drinking and driving in the state of Illinois this holiday season, keep this in mind: When pulled over for DUI, the money you pay in fines will go in part to funding new cop cars and updated breathalyzer machines.
According to a report from the Illinois News Tribune, as much as 20 percent of a DUI fine goes to the arresting county’s police department, while the rest of the fine is distributed to other funds – some of which include new police cruisers and new breath test equipment.
It’s just one more reason to be extra careful on the roads this holiday season – if you don’t get a ticket, you won’t be contributing to state police funding!
By Morgan Brickley
Since 2007, DUI arrests for women has risen almost 30%. We see this increasing trend with many female celebrities who have been arrested for suspicion of drunken driving.
Heather Locklear was arrested back 2007 for suspicion of drinking and driving in Santa Barbara, Cali. A concerned driver on the road called the police stating Locklear was driving erratically on the road.
She plead no contest to DUI but pled guilty to a lesser charge of a misdemeanor of reckless driving. She paid a $700 fine and was sentenced to attend a 12 hour drug education program and placed on three years’ probation.
Lindsay Lohan received her DUI offense in 2007 as well. She pled no contest to driving under the influence and received three years probation. The judge also ordered her to serve 10 days community service, spend 30 days in drug rehab and complete an 18 month alcohol education program.
Her probation was recently extended as a Beverly Hills judge stated Lohan did not complete the required treatment programs because she filmed out of state. Her DUI attorney claims she can finish the required programs and feels they can overturn the extension.
Actress Joyce Dewitt was arrested in July of 2009 under a suspicion of a driving under the influence. She allegedly drove through a barricade attracting the local police department.
When they walked up to her car they could smell alcohol. They gave her the regulated field tests and afterward she was arrested. Dewitt was released after posting $5000 bail.
Is there a connection with female celebs and the increasing percentage of females being arrested for driving under the influence? Many might look up to these famous women and follow the trend. Or could it be the increasing pressure of the economic times as many women are strong in the workforce.
At this point there are many possibilities as to why this is on the rise with woman in the U.S., but it’s only speculation at this point.
By Morgan Brickley
The economy has caused many of us to make cuts not only personally but also in business, and the government is no exception.
They need to make cutbacks just like the rest of us. In order to save money they have begun using advanced technologies to monitor people with DUI convictions.
Many states closed down prisons in the past couple years making it expensive and uneconomical to fill them especially for lesser crimes such as drunk drivers. So some states have adopted electrical monitoring devices for people convicted of DUI.
Included in this development of technology is Virginia. It only costs $12 for offenders to wear this ankle monitor 24 hours a day. This is the cheaper option compared to the $150.00 it costs to keep a minor offender in the Loudon County Jail. Plus the convicted driver is the one who pays the cost to wear the anklet.
Bari Lynn Williams is learning the hard way that this ankle bracelet can cause you to think twice about drinking and driving.
Back in April 2007, Williams was pulled over by the Loudon sheriff’s deputies. She had been at a golf outing earlier that day and had partaken in a few adult beverages.
The deputies pulled her over on suspicion of drinking and driving when they found baggies with drug residue.
She pleaded guilty to drunken driving and drug possession. She got two years probation. The judge told Williams he would dismiss the charges if she followed a court program of probation, therapy, attendance at Alcoholics Anonymous and periodic checks for substance abuse.
She had no problems until recently when a deputy stopped by her house for a check and her BAC content was a 0.09, a smidge over the legal limit in Virginia which is 0.08.
Williams faced up to 6 months in jail for violating the terms of her agreement- or she could wear the SCRAM (Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor) anklet. This device has a small fuel cell located in the bracelet that’s sensitive enough to detect even the tiniest amount of alcohol that emerges from a person’s skin after drinking.
SCRAM samples perspiration every 30 minutes thus being able to detect the slightest amount of alcohol on the body. So every time an offender sweats it can sense the alcohol and alert the police.
There are about 15,000 SCRAM anklets being used throughout 46 states.
Williams states she’s thankful to be wearing the bracelet because it keeps her out of jail. Sure there is the slight embarrassment she suffers with her new fashion anklet, but to her it’s worth wearing. It keeps her from drinking and will prevent her from any future charges of drinking under the influence.
By Morgan Brickley
Many weird circumstances can surround a DUI offense. One’s inhibitions are down and one thing leads to another.
In some instances, people break into establishments or end up stealing, not realizing their actions will be dealt with and there are consequences.
Take 29-year-old Timothy Peare, for example in Bethlehem, Pa. He attempted to steal a tow truck from Saucon Collision hoping to remove his vehicle from an impound.
His vehicle was taken there earlier in the evening. He never actually drove the tow truck off the property, but he had started the vehicle with the intent to help get his car back.
It appears he had a DUI arrest earlier that day and just wanted to get his vehicle.
Now he is faced with more than just a DUI charge. The police are charging Peare with a criminal attempt to steal a vehicle, theft from a vehicle and loitering/prowling at nighttime.
Another instance of a drunk driver , Claud Gipson- Reynolds, stole a fire truck in Sonoma County, Calif. after he got his car stuck in the mud.
He thought it would be a good idea to break into the fire house to at first call a tow truck. When he saw the fire truck the bright idea popped into his head to “borrow” the fire truck to help push his vehicle out of the mud.
But he also got the fire truck stuck in the mud about 20 feet away from his car. He then decided to call a tow truck from the fire truck radio’s engine, but instead of a tow truck coming to his rescue, the highway patrol rolled up to the scene.
Gipson-Reynolds was arrested and spent a night in the “drunk tank.” Later he stated this whole incident helped him to realize he had a drinking problem, and he will think twice before he gets into a car to drink and drive.
Many should think about the DUI penalties and aftermath of their decisions they may face if convicted of DUI.
Sources: The New York Times and San Francisco Chronicle
By Morgan Brickley
Drinking and driving is a universal problem and many are searching for solutions.
Although most people start out with good intentions, one drink leads to another. Before you know it, you hit the brick wall and attempt to figure out how the night took a turn for the worse.
You go back and forth questioning your ability to drive and many times, unfortunately, the wrong choice is made. You start the car increasing your chances of committing a DUI offense and worse endangering yourself or others on the road.
But what if there was technology that could decide for you? What if it could tell that your blood alcohol level was over the limit? What if it would not let you start your vehicle to drive home?
For example, if a driver drinks way too much past the predetermined limit, then an ignition interlock will not start the vehicle.
These are usually placed in the vehicles of convicted impaired drivers and commercial vehicles to promote safe driving.
But we are jumping into the future and the realizations that the dangers of drinking and driving affect everyone on the roads. We live in a world where alcohol is a part of everyday life and when mixed with driving can be a deadly and costly combination.
A company in Canada called Alcohol Countermeasure System Corp is investing $18 million in the “next generation” of alcohol-sensing technology. They hope to commercialize this product to combat future drinking and driving.
Some countries have started putting these devises in public buses, school buses and taxis to prevent anyone caring passengers from getting behind the wheel while intoxicated.
Volvos are being built with alcohol sensors and will be sold throughout North America. This way if you decide to get into your car and you’ve had one too many, then your car won’t start – saving you from making the wrong decision.
These devices will no longer be just a form of punishment but of method of teaching drivers to not drink and drive.
Unfortunately in some situations we can’t judge for ourselves. Hopefully modern technology can help stop not only our generation but future ones from getting a DUI offense and worse.
By Morgan Brickley
Labor Day weekend is a time when families are to get together and celebrate the end of summer and the beginning of fall, the school year and the ever closing holiday season.
Unfortunately, some find themselves eye-to-eye with the law as they are charged with DUI.
Every region has their own collective of individuals who become part of this year’s statistics, and each in their own right is stunning in their toll.
For California’s Bay Area, this Labor Day weekend resulted in over 370 DUI arrests as the extended weekend began to close down, and it’s likely once the final statistics come in the number will increase. As for now, local law enforcement is proud to say they have rid the public’s travel ways of 370 potential disasters.
According to the story posted by San Francisco’s KTVU, “The weekend crackdown has led to the arrest of at least 371 individuals on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, compared to 377 arrests during the same time period last year, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety.”
As well, and a point worth mentioning is that the same report stated that there were no deaths in the Bay Area accredited to drunk driving so far this weekend. This compares to the two alcohol-related deaths during the same period in 2008.
By Morgan Brickley
The long standing jokes about women who are pulled over by police and how they get out of tickets may have even less merit than before.
Sure there are cases where a woman may flirt to get out of a ticket or bat her doe eyes innocently at the officer in the hopes of avoiding a ticket, but now there maybe concrete evidence to prove that woman are more at a loss when it comes to the standard DUI laws than ever before.
According to an article provided by the Law Offices of Lawrence Taylor, who is Los Angeles area DUI attorney and nationally-known author of the book Drunk Driving Defense, a study out of Italy shows there is a component to a female’s bio-chemical make-up which could make women more predisposed to fail a DUI road test. The study may prove that woman may be unfairly arrested for DUI in some cases and should be given more gender specific tests.
Taylor cites researchers at the University School of Medicine in Trieste, Italy, who found that women have less alcohol dehydrogenase than men. The study asserts that with less of the enzyme that breaks down alcohol in the stomach, women reach the same blood alcohol concentration as men after drinking only half as much.
The study goes on to state that women reached blood alcohol levels illegal in a DUI case after drinking 20 to 30% less alcohol than men of equal weight.
This could be a sturdy claim that could be asserted by many women when they find themselves eye to eye with a Trooper, but one that seems to only find merit in Italy at the moment.
In Canada, a study has shown that women taking oral contraceptives may reach peak BAC levels more quickly. This is a supposition that other attorneys have used when claiming their female clients failed a breathalyzer test due to the fact that they were taking oral contraceptives at the time of the test.
Both studies may eventually be a foundation for a compelling argument in the court room.
The underlying problem in this is that many women may not choose to argue against the validity of their failed test based on their sex. In fact, in the majority of the cases where birth control was a deciding factor for failure, it was a male attorney who plead the case.
At the end of the day, the best way to avoid this all together is to not drink and drive.
By Morgan Brickley
There are certain aspects to a night out on the town which most people consider before leaving for the festivities.
“Did I bring enough money?”
“Do I have clean underwear on?”
“Did I find a designated driver?”
All are completely legitimate questions. Now the question of “who do I call from jail when arrested for DUI?” has somewhat of an answer for those who find themselves in a watering hole in Utah between now and Sept. 7th.
The new program is designed to give callers a feeling of what it would feel like to have to make that call – giving them a sense of what their mamma will say, how their spouse will react or how their Priest will have them atone for their sins.
Sounds incredibly awkward- it’s suppose to.
Teaming up together is the Utah Highway Patrol and a group of local Utah bars in the hope of letting people practice an uncomfortable call from the local lockup.The group hopes to help dissuade drinking and driving.
After all, what is more sobering than having to call your mother, father, spouse and let them know you are in the clink for a DUI offense?
A phone number has been set up to reconstruct what it would feel like to make a call after a DUI arrest. After dialing 1-877-JAIL-FON, the caller is given the option to talk to a frantic mother or a disapproving father, among others, such as an angry spouse and even a less than enthused coach and priest. A prerecorded message then plays one end of what the conversation might sound like, with the caller filling in the other half.
Slogans associated with the campaign include “Getting a DUI is easy, calling your mom from jail is hard.”
Maybe it is a testament to the overly stimulated mind of our youth which are no longer scared straight by group visits to the morgue to see a result of a drunk driving accident, or stand face-to-face with a cell mate from Block ‘C’ who is serving life for vehicular manslaughter.
But what these local bars and the Utah Highway Patrol are banking on is that young people partying are still very scared to feel the wrath of their parents for such decisions of stupidity, and a late night partier is still extremely scared to inform their spouse of their decision to stay late and drink it up rather then make their way home.
In either case, the results should hold up as a new dynamic to the fight against drunk driving in the great state of Utah.
By Morgan Brickley
Living above the crowd, when privilege supersedes hindrance, and abundance is as common as the rising sun, it’s no wonder that Hollywood’s enrolled often find themselves against the common grain of law and regulation. It could be the grandeur of stardom or the void of economic distress which breeds impaired judgment.
In either event, even the veil of stardom can’t hide the indiscretion of stars such as the star of the USA Network’s Burn Notice Jeffrey Donavan.
Donavan was arrested in Miami for a DUI offense while presumably there shooting his widely popular spy series. Maybe his new notice should be less about being burnt and more about responsible alcohol consumption.
Then there is the similar negligence by Joyce DeWitt who proved three’s a company, but it can be taken too far when drinks are poured at the Regal Beagle.
According to police documents, DeWitt drove right passed a police barricade, and when cops pulled her over, they say she smelled like alcohol. Unfortunately for Joyce she then failed a sobriety test.
Donavan, DeWitt and many other stars and starlets who are arrested for a DUI offense almost on a weekly basis, certainly it could be thought that many believe their personal “star status” will keep them from having to serve jail time or pay hefty fines for their offenses.
The reality is though, police stations in Hollywood, New York and Miami have strong records of treating big screen heroes like average Joes when it comes to drinking and driving.
Even for those premier athletes who take to their city streets in celebration. They too are not above the law. Just ask Brian Bosworth, Michael Phelps and Charles Barkley.
While the nation as a whole might place our entertainment and sports stars on pedestals, which often times blind us to their moral uncertainty, or shade our view from their societal indiscretions, it seems as though they are not released from the laws of responsibility when it comes to DUI.