California drunk driving attorney news

May 29, 2008

When is one drink too many? That is what many should worry about after an evening of fun with friends or family before deciding if it’s safe to get behind the wheel of a 4,000-pound battering ram.

Extreme California drunk driving drivers, because of either addiction or apathy, don’t care about the law or about the safety of fellow motorists. While drinking alcohol impairs one’s judgment, intoxication is neither an excuse for stupidity — nor a license for murder.

Current California drunk driving law says a driver found to have a .08 percent blood-alcohol content or greater faces charges of California drunk driving - driving under the influence that for first-time offenders could result in at least a six-month suspension of their driver’s license, up to three year’s probation and fines, court costs and related fees of up to nearly $10,000. This BAC can occur after as little as two or three drinks, depending on sex and body size.

But a California drunk driving driver found to have a BAC of .20 or higher faces charges of ‘extreme’ California drunk driving - drunken driving, and may face even harsher punishment – including mandatory installation in their cars of cell phone-sized devices that prohibit the car from starting if .03 percent alcohol is detected.

It takes most men and women five or more drinks to qualify as ‘extreme’ drunken drivers. Between 2001 and 2003, nearly 2,200 Californians were killed in California drunk driving crashes involving extreme levels of alcohol of .20 or higher.

Experts say such extreme California drunk driving drivers are at least 20 times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash than a sober driver. California’s current threshold to be declared an extreme California drunk driving - drunken driver is as lenient as only four other states that define extreme drunk driving as .20, according to California drunk driving law experts.

If approved, California drunk driving judges would be required to give greater consideration to first-time extreme California drunk driving - DUI offenders to have breathalyzers installed in every car they drive.

Records show vehicle California drunk driving breathalyzers can dramatically reduce the number of drunk drivers on the road. In three states and two countries that installed breathalyzers in the cars of first-time offenders, recidivism dropped by more than half, some as much as a life-saving 77 percent.

SB 1190 has received unanimous, bipartisan support in two Senate committee hearings, and a 37-0 vote May 22 on the Senate floor. There would be no significant state costs, and my measure has already gained the endorsement of Mothers against Drunk Driving and the Association of California Insurance Companies.

• A DUI Driver who pled guilty last month to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and drunken driving causing injury, now faces a lengthy prison term.

• If he had a breathalyzer installed on his pickup last January, a victim's four children might still have a father.


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