July 2009 - Posts

• Feds Crack Down on DUI…and Cover Up DWT

  We all know about the federal government’s MADD-influenced "War on Drunk Driving" during recent years, forced on the states with the threat of withholding highway funds.  More recently, however, we’ve learned that driving while using a cell phone — and especially driving while texting ("DWT") — is actually more dangerous to human life.  See my post [...] Posted Jul 27 2009, 01:14 PM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• The “DUI Exception” Continues….

  As many of you may know, I’ve written and lectured ad nauseum about the extensive loss of constitutional rights in drunk driving cases.  See The DUI Exception to the Constitution.  For those who are unclear what this means, the following from today’s Washington Post presents a clear example: A Valid Legal Theory That Crumbles With Each DUI Arrest Washington, D.C.  [...] Posted Jul 23 2009, 01:12 PM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• Inebriated or Texting: Which Is More Dangerous When Driving?

  Which is more deadly – driving while intoxicated or driving while texting?  Ok, so….which is a serious crime and which is not? DWT Should Be as Socially Unacceptable as DUI Halifax, Nova Scotia.  July 12  – DRIVING while intoxicated has become such a social taboo that most people recognize the acronym DUI (driving under the influence) used by police and [...] Posted Jul 21 2009, 03:12 PM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• New Federal Traffic Cops

  Traffic Enforcement Initiative Planned for Wednesday Erie, PA.  July 13  –  State police will ramp up patrols of highways on Wednesday as a part of a tri-state traffic enforcement program. Pennsylvania State Police, in a joint effort with the Ohio Highway Patrol, New York State Police and U.S. Border Patrol, will target aggressive driving, impaired driving and [...] Posted Jul 16 2009, 07:24 AM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• DUI Roadblock: 1131 Stops, 114 Tickets, 0 DUI Arrests

  While MADD continues to praise the efficacy of DUI roadblocks (aka "sobriety checkpoints"), most experts have come to recognize that they are simply ineffective at apprehending drunk drivers.  See Do DUI  Roadblocks Work? and Do DUI Roadblocks Work? (Part II).  But as I’ve written in earlier posts, local government has awakened to the fact that they are very effective at one [...] Posted Jul 13 2009, 02:20 PM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• California Supreme Court: DUI Defendant Permitted to Defend Self With Truth

  I’ve expounded on this blog at great length in recent years on the unreliability and inaccuracy of the various machines used to measure the breath of citizens accused of drunk driving.  See for example,  "Trial by Machine "– But How Good Are the Machines?.  I’ve also blasted the unconstitutional laws of most states which presume the accuracy of [...] Posted Jul 10 2009, 06:27 AM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• Drunk Driving Entrapment

  Suppose a police officer asks or orders an individual to drive a vehicle — and then arrests him for DUI when he complies? This situation comes up more often than you might think. Take, for example, the following case that eventually made its way to the New Jersey Supreme Court…. The defendant asked his brothers at [...] Posted Jul 07 2009, 10:06 AM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog