June 2009 - Posts

• Fast-Food Dragnet Fails

  A few days ago I posted about the latest police tactic: stationing cops in fast-food drive-thrus and nabbing drivers if they appeared to have DUI symptoms.  See Burger With Fries…and Field Sobriety Tests.   So how has that brilliant scheme worked out? Plan To Get Drunks at Drive-Thrus Falls Flat Tucson, AZ  –  A plan by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department [...] Posted Jun 29 2009, 02:56 PM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• Driving While Intoxicated vs Driving While Texting

  Which is more dangerous to human life: driving  under the influence of alcohol — or driving while texting?  Texting Could Be More Dangerous Than Drunken Driving June 25 –This morning, NBC’s “Today” show featured a story on how driving while texting could be more dangerous than driving while under the influence of alcohol. Car & Driver has [...] Posted Jun 25 2009, 08:50 AM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• DUI “Scarlet Letter” License Plates Another Bust

  I’ve railed long and hard in the past about the growing trend of humiliating citizens convicted of drunk driving by forcing them to have special license plates on their cars (no matter who is driving).  See, for example, The Scarlet Letters, The Return of the Scarlet Letter, and Washington State Says "No" to DUI Scarlet Letter .  The [...] Posted Jun 19 2009, 08:44 AM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• Burger With Fries…and Field Sobriety Tests

  Want to know where we’re going with MADD’s hysterical "war on drunk driving"?  DUI Deputies May Be Posted in Drive-Thrus Tucson, AZ.  June 14  –  Drunken drivers with the late-night munchies soon could get more than just a burger and fries at the drive-through window.   The Pima County Sheriff’s Department’s new anti-drunken driving campaign — called Operation Would U [...] Posted Jun 15 2009, 08:49 AM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• Signs of Reason

  For years I’ve been preaching that the focus of the so-called "war on drunk driving" should be on the problem drinker — the alcoholic with prior convictions and/or very high blood-alcohol levels — rather than on the far more commonly arrested social drinker.  See my June, 2006, blog post "Time for a Change".  Dealing with the problem drinker is addressing [...] Posted Jun 10 2009, 05:36 PM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• Another “DUI Exception to the Constitution”: Double Jeopardy

  When a person is arrested for DUI, his driver’s license is confiscated by the arresting officer and he is given a notice of "administrative suspension". He is also given a citation to appear in court to face criminal drunk driving charges. These are usually two very different procedures: (1) the administrative suspension for driving with blood-alcohol [...] Posted Jun 08 2009, 01:24 PM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• Pre-Written DUI Police Reports

  I’ve commented in past posts that it is becoming an increasingly common practice for police officers to simply use form or template arrest reports in drunk driving cases — what I have referred to in my books as "xeroxed" reports.  See Police Using Pre-Written DUI Reports.  In other words, rather than going to all the [...] Posted Jun 01 2009, 09:36 AM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog