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Recent Blog Posts
Supreme Court Decision Allows Stop Based on Anonymous Tip
This is a decision that is likely to have many far-reaching effects. The United States Supreme Court decision came in the case Navarette vs California. The case is related to the California Highway Patrol’s decision to pull over a pickup truck based on an anonymous tip.
The California Highway Patrol was alerted to the silver Ford F-150 Pickup via an anonymous tip which informed officers that a truck had just run another car off the road. The officers found the F-150 pickup exactly where the anonymous tip had informed the officers it would be. They followed the truck for some time, but did not notice any illegal or suspicious activity. However, they still pulled the truck over, and searched it. They found a stash of marijuana in the truck, and he was arrested.
The cops say that they smelled marijuana near the truck, and then decided to search the truck. What is disturbing is that this entire search of the truck was based on an anonymous tip. There was nothing that the truck driver did to arouse suspicion in the officers. He was driving at a reasonable speed, and was not driving recklessly or dangerously. He was not veering lanes, and there was no reason to suspect that he was driving in an impaired condition. The officers had pulled him over based on an anonymous tip, claiming that he had run another car off the road.
Families Divided over San Diego DUI Legal Fundraising
The families of the victims of a fatal DUI car accident are protesting a fundraising initiative by the family of the driver of the car involved in the accident to pay for his legal fees.
The accident occurred when the driver drove his car off Interstate 8. Two of his friends in the car were killed in the accident. According to prosecutors, the intoxicated motorist had a blood alcohol level of .30 at the time of the accident. They have filed murder charges against him. He has a prior DUI conviction on his record.
His family and friends have gone on a fundraising effort to raise money through donations for his legal defense. However, they are being criticized by the families of the victims who were killed in the accident, for those fundraising efforts.
Emotions can run high, especially after a DUI accident that has resulted in serious injuries or fatalities. That doesn't change the fact that any person who has been accused of a crime has the right to a legal defense. Matters involving intoxicated driving tend to be even more emotional. People very often see these matters in black-and-white. They think of persons who were intoxicated while driving as evil or criminal.
All-Night Drinking without Getting Drunk? This Man Claims It’s Possible
Could the secret of avoiding drunk driving be as simple as eating yeast before you begin drinking your beer? According to one beer connoisseur, it definitely is. Jim Koch, who happens to be the chairman and cofounder of the Boston Beer Company, recently admitted his long-held secret to avoiding the effect of drinking, even after several beers.
According to him, he consumes standard regular yeast mixed in yogurt just before he begins drinking. The standard prescription is one teaspoon for every beer. According to his experience, the yeast breaks down the alcohol in the stomach, and thereby prevents the alcohol from being observed in the bloodstream. Therefore, according to him, there are very few of the intoxicating effects that are normal after having a few beers.
The theory is that the yeast breaks down the alcohol molecules into components of hydrogen, oxygen and carbon, right in the stomach before the alcohol moves to the liver. Therefore, there are few of the intoxicating effects of alcohol that are very often seen when a person has had 5 to 6 beverages.
The Innovative Ways Colleges Are Combating Underage Drinking
Tough laws, stringent enforcement and education initiatives - colleges around the country have experimented with many strategies to reduce the risk of underage drinking on their campuses, and have failed. Many colleges have now begun experimenting with less conventional methods, in an effort to reduce binge drinking on campus.
Binge drinking is the consumption of five or more alcoholic beverages in a single session, and it is one of the most dangerous behaviors that a college student can engage in. Binge drinking is strongly linked to DUI.
In a new study, researchers at the University at Buffalo, State University Of New York found that talking about the risk between drinking alcohol and dying in a fatal accident is not an effective way to reach out to college students. However, students pay more attention to the dangers of drunk driving when they are told about the possible association between drinking alcohol and cancer. The researchers found later that those students who believed that there was a strong association between alcohol and cancer were actually much less likely to binge drink.
Peer Pressure Strong Factor in Underage DUI
If you're the parent of a teenage driver, you might want to keep tabs on the kind of friends that your child is hanging around with, if you aren't already. Pay special attention to the alcohol and drug practices of your child's friends. If his friends are comfortable with using alcohol or drugs, and driving under the influence of these intoxicants, then it is very likely that your child will also indulge in the same practices.
According to the results of a new study, teenagers very often tend to copy the practices of their friends, when it comes to driving under the influence. The study very clearly found that older high school students were much more likely to drive while intoxicated, when they had friends who frequently drove intoxicated.
It shouldn't be hard to understand the reasons for this. When an impressionable young teenager is frequently exposed to friends who find nothing wrong in driving while intoxicated, the teenager is much more likely to believe that such practices are perfectly normal. Parents play a huge role in helping reduce the risk of underage DUI, and this is one of the things that you can do as a parent to reduce the risk of an underage DUI arrest, involving your teenage child. Step in to end such undesirable friendships in high school, even if such actions prove to be unpopular with your child.
Citizens Protest against Fed’s DUI Survey Methods
Last year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conducted a survey on drug and alcohol use among Americans in 60 cities, testing random motorists. Many of those Americans are furious over the methods that were used for the testing. Many motorists will be outraged to find that they were screened for DUI before they even consented to the test.
Broadly, the methods that are used in the survey, the National Roadside Survey of Alcohol and Drug Use by Drivers, involve police stopping motorists at roadblocks. Motorists are ordered into the roadblock area without informing them about the purpose of this, and federal contractors working for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ask them to participate in a drug and alcohol use survey. Motorists may be asked for their breath, saliva or blood samples, and maybe offered cash gifts of between $10 and $50 for body fluid samples.
The federal administration goes to great pains to insist that participation in the survey is entirely voluntary, and that drivers have the right to refuse to give samples if they don't want to participate. While drivers are not charged with DUI if those tests are found to be positive, many of them do find that these tests are intrusive, very invasive, and very often leave them feeling trapped in a roadblock.
California Judge Recommends Law License Suspension of Former Prosecutor for DUI
A former San Francisco prosecutor, who admits to having shown off his badge to get special treatment by arresting officers during a DUI arrest, could lose his law license for his behavior. A California judge ruled recently that former San Francisco Deputy District Attorney Marc Guillory could lose his law license for a period of two years.
Guillory has three prior convictions for DUI. During those three arrests he was serving as San Francisco Deputy District Attorney. During his tenure as prosecutor in San Francisco, he was arrested in 2008, 2010, and then again in 2012 for driving under the influence of alcohol.
According to arresting officers, during each of those incidents, he “badged” them. This means he showed the arresting officer his Deputy District Attorney badge in order to seek special treatment. The officers say that they interpreted his actions to mean that he specifically sought special treatment from them. Those three DUI arrests are not the only ones that Guillory has on his record. In 1999 he was also arrested and convicted for misdemeanor reckless driving for being involved in a drunk driving accident that resulted in a fatality.
Lessons from Justin Bieber's DUI
Teen singing sensation Justin Bieber was arrested recently in Florida for DUI and drag racing. He is now out on bail. He was arrested after a police officer saw him heading down a street in Miami Beach, driving a yellow Lamborghini at excessive speeds.
According to officers, they were alerted because the star was driving at least twice the speed limit at the time. When he was pulled over, the officers noticed several signs of intoxication. He seemed drunk, and smelt of alcohol. According to officers, he had a look of stupor on his face, and when he was ordered to get out of the car, he made very slow and deliberate movements.
When the officer asked him to put his hand on his vehicle so that he could be patted down for weapons, Bieber refused to do so. He became uncooperative and argumentative. He failed a DUI sobriety test, and was then taken to the station for a breathalyzer test. Officers also found that he was driving with an invalid license.
David Cassidy Arrested for Third DUI
Things are likely to get more complicated and more serious for former teen idol David Cassidy of The Partridge Family show. He was recently arrested for the third time for DUI.
The 63-year-old actor registered at .19% on an alcohol test after he was stopped by the California Highway Patrol in Los Angeles. That is more than twice the legally permissible blood alcohol concentration limit in California. According to officers, they pulled over the actor after they observed him making a right turn on a red light in clear violation of a sign which clearly indicated that no right turns were allowed at the red light. When the officers approached the door, they noticed the smell of alcohol from the car, and arrested him.
Last year, Cassidy was arrested for DUI in New York, after he registered at .10 on a breathalyzer test. The maximum legally permissible blood alcohol concentration level in New York is also .08.
Stunning New NHTSA Anti DUI Ad Campaign Now in Force
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently unveiled a massive $7.5 million ad campaign, aimed at reducing the incidence of drunk driving over the holiday season. The latest series of ads run by the federal agency feature none other than RoboCop, which the federal agency says it has “enlisted” to crack down on drunk driving this season.
In the ad, the agency teams up with science fiction thriller RoboCop, which is set to be released within the next few weeks to launch a new trailer/public service DUI announcement, that warns drivers that they must drive sober or will be pulled over. As RoboCop appears on the screen, a voice-over states that cops are stepping up in their mission to protect the streets from drunk driving. The same actor who plays the lead RoboCop in the movie, is shown catching a potential intoxicated motorist holding up his car keys, and telling him “I’d put those down if I were you”.
Obviously, this is a gimmicky campaign that is meant to capture eyeballs, and it is likely that it will accomplish its purpose. After all, during the busy holiday season, with a much higher incidence of driving under the influence of alcohol, the federal agency's does find itself strapped for ideas and stressed for resources to help get the anti-drunk driving message out and effectively. This is a unique campaign and is likely to get many people talking, and therefore, raise more awareness about driving under the influence of alcohol.
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