PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Drunk Driving Bills Fail in the Legislature

As the spring legislation session ends, many are wondering about the cluster of anti drunk driving bills that failed to garner support. Learn more about the proposals and how lawmakers seek to submit them when the legislature meets again.

2011-07-08
July 08, 2011 (Press-News.org) As the spring legislation session ends, many are wondering about the cluster of anti drunk driving bills that failed to garner support. The session began with lawmakers vowing to pass tougher laws that would keep more offenders off the road. Ultimately, lawmakers only agreed to send one proposal to the governor's office.

One proposal called for deferred adjudication for first time offenders, but it was defeated. It would have allowed for them to be acquitted if they completed court ordered treatment and supervision. Proponents believed it would help offenders get the treatment they needed and reduce court backlogs, while rightfully punishing repeat offenders. Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) supported the bill, but it eventually lost traction among lawmakers.

Another bill would have given local police and sheriff's offices greater powers to set up sobriety checkpoints, especially on lakes, where boating accidents typically have greater consequences. This bill failed as well. Critics believed that such checkpoints would only end up bothering law-abiding citizens. A host of compromises also weakened the bill. Officers could only ask for license and registration if they had probable cause that a law was broken, and checkpoints could only be set up in areas with a history of alcohol related incidents.

Lawmakers also considered ignition interlock devices for first time DWI offenders as well. Interlock devices detect the presence of alcohol in a driver's breath and will not allow the car to start if alcohol is detected. Texas would have become the 12th state to require those convicted of drunk driving to have such a device in their cars, but the bill failed.

The Khader Act was the only drunk driving bill passed by the legislature. It is named after the toddler who was seriously injured when his parents' car was struck by a drunk driver who allegedly was a repeat offender. His injuries left him in a vegetative state. Through this new law, the maximum penalty for intoxication assault cases would be 20 years in prison instead of 10. As for misdemeanor DWI cases, the maximum penalty would increase to one year in jail instead of six months, if the driver's BAC is .15 or above.

While a number of anti-DWI bills did not pass this session, lawmakers seem determined to enhance DWI penalties when the legislature meets again. Meanwhile Texas still has some of the toughest drunk driving penalties in the nation.

Article provided by Law Offices of Randall B Isenberg
Visit us at http://www.randallisenberg.com/


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Discovery of natural antibody brings a universal flu vaccine a step closer

2011-07-08
LA JOLLA, CA – July 7, 2011 – Annually changing flu vaccines with their hit-and-miss effectiveness may soon give way to a single, near-universal flu vaccine, according to a new report from scientists at The Scripps Research Institute and the Dutch biopharmaceutical company Crucell. They describe an antibody that, in animal tests, can prevent or cure infections with a broad variety of influenza viruses, including seasonal and potentially pandemic strains. The finding, published in the journal Science Express on July 7, 2011, shows the influenza subtypes neutralized with ...

Lack of Bike Helmet Law in Idaho May Increase Injuries and Deaths

2011-07-08
The state of Idaho has an unusually high rate of bicyclist injuries and fatalities, according to statistics from 2009. Children and young adults who do not wear helmets when they ride are the most common victims of injury-causing bicycle accidents. However, Idaho does not currently have a bicycle helmet statute, so bicyclists who choose not to wear helmets are not violating any laws. While it is difficult to know how much a universal bicycle helmet law would reduce bicyclist injuries and deaths, such a law is a good place for Idaho to start. Bicycle Crashes According ...

'Unnatural' chemical allows Salk researchers to watch protein action in brain cells

2011-07-08
LA JOLLA, CA - Researchers at the Salk Institute have been able to genetically incorporate "unnatural" amino acids, such as those emitting green fluorescence, into neural stem cells, which then differentiate into brain neurons with the incandescent "tag" intact. They say this new technique, described in the June 16 online issue of Stem Cells, may help scientists probe the mysteries of many different kinds of stem cells in humans as well as the cells they produce. This could be a boon to both basic and clinical research, such as helping to speed development of stem cell-based ...

How visual cues help us understand bodily motion

2011-07-08
"Our visual system is tuned towards perceiving other people. We spend so much time doing that—seeing who they are, what they are doing, what they intend to do," says psychology professor Nikolaus F. Troje of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. This process is called biological motion perception, and humans are so good at it that even a few dots on a screen representing the major joints of a body are enough to retrieve all the information we need—as long as they move. But what role does motion play in that process? Does the visual system use it only to connect the ...

Ironic effects of anti-prejudice messages

2011-07-08
Organizations and programs have been set up all over the globe in the hopes of urging people to end prejudice. According to a research article, which will be published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, such programs may actually increase prejudices. Lisa Legault, Jennifer Gutsell and Michael Inzlicht, from the University of Toronto Scarborough, were interested in exploring how one's everyday environment influences people's motivation toward prejudice reduction. The authors conducted two experiments ...

Wayne State University researcher argues that sex reduces genetic variation

2011-07-08
DETROIT – Biology textbooks maintain that the main function of sex is to promote genetic diversity. But Henry Heng, Ph.D., associate professor in WSU's Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, says that's not the case. Heng and fellow researcher Root Gorelick, Ph.D., associate professor at Carleton University in Canada, propose that although diversity may result from a combination of genes, the primary function of sex is not about promoting diversity. Rather, it's about keeping the genome context – an organism's complete collection of genes arranged by chromosome ...

Study: Hypoallergenic dogs not less allergic than other dogs

Study: Hypoallergenic dogs not less allergic than other dogs
2011-07-08
DETROIT – Contrary to popular belief, so-called hypoallergenic dogs do not have lower household allergen levels than other dogs. That's the conclusion of a study by Henry Ford Hospital researchers who sought to evaluate whether hypoallergenic dogs have a lower dog allergen in the home than other dogs. Hypoallergenic dogs are believed to produce less dander and saliva and shed less fur. The findings are to be published online this month in the American Journal of Rhinology and Allergy. The study will be available at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ocean/ajra "We ...

Wills And Divorce In Virginia

2011-07-08
You've done your homework and listened to all the experts and their admonitions that everyone should have a will. Then, as it often does, life intervenes and you now find yourself in a divorce. What do you do with your will now? The Virginia General Assembly recognized that this could cause problems. If you died suddenly, you probably wouldn't want all of your wealth and assets being transferred to your ex-spouse. Section 64.1-59 of the 1950 Code of Virginia was created to modify your will automatically immediately upon divorce. A court in a case notes: "The ...

The Powers of Grand Juries in Pennsylvania: What Witnesses Should Know

2011-07-08
Selection has begun for a grand jury requested by acting Pennsylvania Attorney General William Ryan in April. The statewide grand jury will be made up of citizens from several Pennsylvania counties, and 23 jurors will ultimately be selected, as well as an alternate pool of 200 people. We use the word "grand" to describe these juries because of their size, but they also carry out an important part of the criminal justice process. Grand juries are convened in Pennsylvania to investigate allegations of criminal activity, and they can have either statewide or county ...

Teaching the neurons to meditate

2011-07-08
In the late 1990s, Jane Anderson was working as a landscape architect. That meant she didn't work much in the winter, and she struggled with seasonal affective disorder in the dreary Minnesota winter months. She decided to try meditation and noticed a change within a month. "My experience was a sense of calmness, of better ability to regulate my emotions," she says. Her experience inspired a new study which will be published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, which finds changes in brain activity after ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Einstein Probe releases its Science White Paper

Music-based therapy may improve depressive symptoms in people with dementia

No evidence that substituting NHS doctors with physician associates is necessarily safe

At-home brain speed tests bridge cognitive data gaps

CRF appoints Josep Rodés-Cabau, M.D., Ph.D., as editor-in-chief of structural heart: the journal of the heart team

Violent crime is indeed a root cause of migration, according to new study

Customized smartphone app shows promise in preventing further cognitive decline among older adults diagnosed with mild impairment

Impact of COVID-19 on education not going away, UM study finds

School of Public Health researchers receive National Academies grant to assess environmental conditions in two Houston neighborhoods

Three Speculum articles recognized with prizes

ACM A.M. Turing Award honors two researchers who led the development of cornerstone AI technology

Incarcerated people are disproportionately impacted by climate change, CU doctors say

ESA 2025 Graduate Student Policy Award Cohort Named

Insomnia, lack of sleep linked to high blood pressure in teens

Heart & stroke risks vary among Asian American, Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander adults

Levels of select vitamins & minerals in pregnancy may be linked to lower midlife BP risk

Large study of dietary habits suggests more plant oils, less butter could lead to better health

Butter and plant-based oils intake and mortality

20% of butterflies in the U.S. have disappeared since 2000

Bacterial ‘jumping genes’ can target and control chromosome ends

Scientists identify genes that make humans and Labradors more likely to become obese

Early-life gut microbes may protect against diabetes, research in mice suggests

Study raises the possibility of a country without butterflies

Study reveals obesity gene in dogs that is relevant to human obesity studies

A rapid decline in US butterfly populations

Indigenous farming practices have shaped manioc’s genetic diversity for millennia

Controlling electrons in molecules at ultrafast timescales

Tropical forests in the Americas are struggling to keep pace with climate change

Brain mapping unlocks key Alzheimer’s insights

Clinical trial tests novel stem-cell treatment for Parkinson’s disease

[Press-News.org] Drunk Driving Bills Fail in the Legislature
As the spring legislation session ends, many are wondering about the cluster of anti drunk driving bills that failed to garner support. Learn more about the proposals and how lawmakers seek to submit them when the legislature meets again.