February 2010 - Posts

• Double Punishment in DUI Cases

  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 [...] Posted Feb 26 2010, 07:05 AM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• Due Process and DUI License Suspensions

  So you got stopped last night and arrested for drunk driving. And right after the Breathalyzer showed a blood-alcohol reading of .09%, the officer confiscated your driver’s license and gave you an official notice of immediate suspension. "What happened?", you ask. Can they do that? I thought I was presumed to be innocent, and the state [...] Posted Feb 19 2010, 08:02 AM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• The New “Highway Robbery”: Money-Making DUI Roadblocks Growing

  I’ve commented repeatedly in the past about how DUI roadblocks (MADD prefers the less oppressive term "sobriety checkpoints") are inefficient at apprehending drunk drivers.  See Do DUI Roadblocks Work?,  Do DUI Roadblocks Work (Part II),  As a means of apprehending drunk drivers, even law enforcement admits they are only effective as a deterrent — i.e., [...] Posted Feb 14 2010, 09:12 AM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• Red Bull and Driving Don’t Mix

  A recent university study confirms earlier research indicating that consuming energy drinks while drinking alcohol can reduce the symptoms and sensations of intoxication from the alcohol. Study Links Alcoholic Energy Drinks to Intoxication, Drunk Driving Feb. 11 — Bar patrons who consumed energy drinks mixed with alcohol were three times more likely to leave drunk and four [...] Posted Feb 12 2010, 03:02 PM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• Latest Breathalyzer Proves No More Reliable Than Others

  As readers of this blog are aware, one of my pet peeves is the public’s blind trust in the little metal boxes that analyze a DUI suspect’s breath and spit out a number that supposedly represents the amount of alcohol in his blood.  The simple, scientifically proven fact is that all the various models of [...] Posted Feb 08 2010, 02:03 PM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• More False Blood-Alcohol Tests

  I wrote a couple of months ago about a growing number of false blood-alcohol tests that had been discovered in the Colorado Springs Metro Crime Lab.  At the time, about 1,000 tests were suspect, of which 82 had been confirmed as being falsely high.  See Hundreds in Denver Possibly Convicted with Falsely High Blood Tests.  The [...] Posted Feb 04 2010, 06:21 PM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog

• Guarding the Guardians

  In the "Who will guard the guardians?" department… Activists want penalties for cops who protect colleagues who drive drunk Tuckahoe, NJ.  Jan. 20 — Reacting to a Journal News report in which 10 local police officers admitted anonymously that cops often give other cops a break when they are found driving drunk, (Tuckahoe Police Chief) Costanzo and [...] Posted Feb 01 2010, 01:48 PM by DUI BLOG Filed under: Duiblog