High-Level Drunken Drivers Facing Stiffer Penalties

The National Transportation Safety Board is cracking down on aggravated drunk drivers in a new campaign.

2011-01-22

January 22, 2011 (Press-News.org) In a new campaign, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is cracking down on drunk drivers who pose a higher risk. These drivers fall into one of two categories:
- Those with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .15 percent or more
- Those who have a prior DUI/DWI arrest in the past 10 years

NTSB data estimates that up to 70 percent of all alcohol-related car accident fatalities involved these types of drivers. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) provides more insight: roughly 8,000 of the nearly 11,000 road deaths last year were caused by high-level drunk drivers.

The NTSB's approach to slowing the rate of car accident injuries and deaths caused by drunk drivers is a comprehensive one, and it involves 11 separate guidelines that, as of yet, have not been adopted in their entirety by any single state. The NTSB suggests:
- Statewide DWI enforcement checkpoints
- Administrative license revocation for both refusing blood alcohol tests or failing them
- State and local municipal cooperation to ensure enforcement of DWI-related driver's license suspension or revocation
- Individualized sanctions for high-level drunk drivers that go above and beyond standard sentencing guidelines
- Vehicle-based sanctions like the installation of ignition interlock systems to prohibit drinking drivers from getting behind the wheel
- In tandem with vehicle-based sanctions, requiring that all DWI offenders keep a zero percent BAC while driving any motor vehicle
- Retention of driving while intoxicated (DWI) arrest records and allowing for DWI-related sentencing enhancements for a minimum of 10 years
- Elimination of diversion programs for DWI offenders, including the ability to expunge/erase/defer/purge a DWI conviction from a criminal record
- Defining aggravated drunk driving offenses (those over .15 percent BAC) as aggravated offenses under the law and punishing them accordingly
- Closing legal loopholes that allow for DWI-related offenses to be plea bargained down to lesser charges not specifically involving alcohol
- Offering alternatives to confinement (like house arrest with electronic monitoring) that will keep offenders off the streets for a period of time after a DUI/DWI conviction

Florida's Perspective

The State of Florida has adopted many of the NTSB's recommendations including the establishment of random sobriety checkpoints, enhanced sentencing guidelines for high-BAC drunk drivers, prohibition of diversion programs for DWI offenders, alternatives to traditional confinement and revoking the driving privileges of those who fail blood alcohol testing or refuse to be tested.

Though ongoing efforts of the NTSB, NHTSA and the well-known Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) non-profit organization have decreased the rate at which high-level drunk drivers are involved in fatal car accidents, thousands of people die on the roadways each year.

In a Catch-22-type situation, the noble strides of law enforcement seeking to reduce roadway deaths have the ability to unfairly punish drivers who made an innocent mistake. If you or a loved one has been charged with a Florida DWI/DUI offense, consult an experienced criminal defense attorney in your area for more information about your legal rights and options you have for defending yourself.

Article provided by Arnold Law Firm LLC
Visit us at www.arnoldlawfirmllc.com

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Federal Safety Agency Proposes Back-up Camera Requirement for Passenger Vehicles

2011-01-22

Accidents that kill or injure very young children are particularly troubling. Children who are not yet school age are highly vulnerable to all sorts of dangers -- including being run over by a car that is backing up. The federal data on the prevalence of back-up car accidents is eye-opening. According to estimates by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 228 people are killed in car accidents each year and 17,000 people are injured. The agency's data indicates that almost half of these deaths -- about 100 -- are of children under 5 years old. Children ...

South Carolina Nursing Home Abuse Update: Bed Sores Can Be Deadly

2011-01-22

Elderly and infirm residents are made more vulnerable if the facilities they inhabit are made unsafe by nursing home negligence. Medication errors, abusive employees and inadequate security can all cause immediate injuries and other harm to people who most deserve society's protection. In some cases, the harm takes longer to develop. Nursing home malnutrition may take months to detect and respond to if staff fails to heed subtle signs of inadequate food intake or physical decline. Other evidence of nursing home mistreatment includes bed sores, which can develop as a ...

Afford Your Divorce - Quick, Easy and Painless

2011-01-22

Everyone has read stories about a divorce that is spiraling out of control, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars as the couple fights over every single thing. Custody of the children, spousal support and property division can be extremely expensive and time-consuming if the parties are focused on going to court. Parties who can resolve these issues on their own can remove most of the stress from the process while saving those thousands of dollars. Many divorces involve issues which need attention. Perhaps the most difficult aspect of any divorce is the child custody ...

Seeing Red in South Florida: Cameras at Intersections Are No Substitute for Fair Hearings

2011-01-22

In Florida, red light cameras have been used since 2008 to enforce traffic laws at intersections 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In practice, red light cameras create difficult legal issues and unfair outcomes; for example, notices of infraction are mailed to the registered owner's vehicle whether or not the owner was driving, meaning that the registered owner is held responsible for the ticket regardless of guilt--and if the registered owner fails to pay the ticket within 30 days from when it was mailed, the notice becomes a bonafide traffic citation with license ...

Workers' Compensation: Exclusive Remedy for Employees?

2011-01-22

Certain employees can face the potential for serious injury every time they go into work. At a construction site, many different occupations are present, and any mistake can have severe consequences. When an injury happens, employees may not know what remedies are available to them, or how to begin the process of recovering compensation for their injuries. New Jersey Workers' Compensation System For those injured on the job in New Jersey, the legislature has set up the workers' compensation system to provide a way for employees to recover compensation quickly for ...

Updates in 2011 to Florida Child Support Guidelines

2011-01-22

At the close of Florida's 2010 legislative session, a comprehensive bill aimed at revamping the state's child support and alimony schemes was passed. The new changes did not go into effect immediately, however. Instead, target dates were set, determining when each set of updates to the family law code would take effect. The alimony provisions and certain aspects of the child support statute have already been tested to an extent: they went into effect in July and October of 2010, respectively. However, several significant changes to Florida's child support guidelines only ...

Saving Lives With Electronic Stability Control Systems

2011-01-22

While safety features like airbags and anti-lock brakes come standard on many vehicles, one of the most beneficial safety systems is still lacking on some vehicles. Electronic stability control systems (ESC) help drivers maintain control of the vehicle. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, ESC systems use sensors to detect the speed and direction of the wheels. During a turn, if the car drifts in a direction different from the orientation of the wheels, the system can reduce acceleration and brake individual wheels to help the driver regain control ...

Latino Workers at Higher Risk for Fatal Construction Accidents

2011-01-22

Recent Tragic Queens Construction Accident Illustrates Problem Just days ago, a job-site accident in Queens tragically killed a young, Latino construction worker. The 26-year-old man was helping construct a 65-foot wall when the cinder-block wall suddenly collapsed, killing him and seriously injuring three others. Early reports indicate that the wall failed as scaffolding collapsed and fell onto the wall. Sadly, the victim was a father, survived by his pregnant wife and two children. The Queens construction accident is still under investigation, but presumably there ...

Trucking Industry Resistant to Proposed Safety Regulations

2011-01-22

Safety on the road is a pressing concern for almost all Americans. Considering the sheer volume of large trucks and other commercial carriers populating the nation's highways, the federal regulations governing operators could vastly impact any driver or passenger. Everyone wants the highways to be safer for both motorists and commercial truck drivers, so one might think newly proposed trucking safety regulations would be universally praised. Yet, new trucking regulations proposed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) meant to allay certain safety ...

For Those Struggling Financially, Bankruptcy Offers Fresh Start

2011-01-22

Though the great recession officially ended more than a year ago, far too many individuals and families continue to experience the long-lasting effects of a difficult economy. National unemployment rates remain near 10 percent, and even those who are able to find jobs are often overqualified and underpaid for their work. According to the Chicago Tribune, one in four homeowners owes more on a mortgage than their homes are worth. These challenges have left numerous people unable to meet their existing financial obligations and looking for alternatives. In many cases, those ...

The solution to kidney bleeding and recovery lies within a hemostasis sponge, using the inherent capabilities of the kidneys

The Lancet Public Health: Global study reveals stark differences between females and males in major causes of disease burden, underscoring the need for gender-responsive approaches to health

High-Level Drunken Drivers Facing Stiffer Penalties

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: