Take Care of That Driving Record

icon1 Posted by admin in DUI Law on 12 21st, 2009 | 3 Comments

NMA Email Newsletter: Issue #46

It’s common knowledge that traffic violations and points on your license can lead to higher auto insurance rates and possibly the suspension of your license. This is why many NMA members take the time and deal with the inconvenience of fighting a traffic ticket.
 
The truth is that a bad or “troubled” driving record can hurt a person far more than many people realize. People who drive for living, e.g. truck drivers and bus drivers, can lose their jobs — or find it very difficult to find a new driving job — if they have two or three routine traffic violations on their record.
 
They are dead in the water if they have a reckless driving, DUI, or serious at-fault accident recorded on their drivers license file. Note that some of these serious violations remain on your record for a decade or more, and in some states, forever.
 
Less commonly known instances where a bad driving record can come back to haunt a person include background checks for employment, rental of property, applications for life insurance, and applications for loans and credit cards. You might still get the insurance or the loan, but you’ll pay more for it than someone with a good driving record.
 
Then there are the odd-ball, out of left field situations that really catch a person flat-footed. For example, let’s say that fifteen years ago, when you were 19, you received a DUI because you had a BAC of .03 (one drink or less) because your state has a zero tolerance law for underage drinking. Fast forward to today when you and three friends are planning a fishing trip to Ontario, Canada. Guess what? When you attempt to enter Canada you will be denied entrance because Canada does not allow DUI “criminals” to enter the country.
 
Bad driving records can kill scholarships, end athletic careers, and revoke professional licenses. The next time you’re debating whether or not to seriously fight a traffic ticket, keep these unmentioned consequences in mind.

CHOYCE & CROWELL
980 9th Street, 16th Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
Office: 916-449-9636
Fax: 916-449-9637

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What You Should Do If You Are Stopped for Drunk Driving (Part 1)

icon1 Posted by admin in DUI Law, Featured Articles on 11 18th, 2009 | 5 Comments

Suppose you are driving home from a nice dinner or from a bar where you had a few drinks and a police officer pulls you over on the pretext that you back light is out or that the officer saw you weaving from side to side. The officer smells alcohol on your breath and asks you to step out of the car. The officer asks you whether you have been drinking that evening, and you apply in the affirmation. The officer then asks you how much you had to drink and you reply “two or three beers.” (Everyone stopped for suspicion of drunk driving tells the officer they had only two or three drinks.) The officer says that he or she suspects that you are driving under the influence and then tells you that he or she is going to conduct a field sobriety test on you. Should you comply with the officer’s request? Many lawyers who specialize in defending motorists accused of drunk driving advise that you do not comply, because the field sobriety tests are difficult to do even if you are sober. And if you fail the field sobriety test, this will not look good in the eyes of the jury if you end up fighting the case.

Rather, these expert lawyers advise, calmly and politely tell the officer that you refuse to perform the tests. The officer tells you that if you refuse to take the field sobriety tests, he or she will arrest you immediately on suspicion of drunk driving and take you down to the station for a breath or blood test. The officer may have a portable breath test devise he or she want you to breather into. Again, experienced drunk-driving defense lawyers advise drivers against doing this type of breath test, as it is not reliable.

Instead, seasoned drunk-driving defense lawyers advise that you only submit to a breath test administered down at the police station. By the time you get there, your blood alcohol level is like to be higher than when you were stopped by the police officer, as the alcohol has had more time to be absorbed into your bloodstream. A good drunk driving defense lawyer may be able to convince the jury that when the police officer originally stopped you, your blood alcohol level was well within .08 level. This is the time that counts to determine your guilt for drunk driving – your blood alcohol content at the time you were stopped, not at the time the breath test was administered.

DUI law is complicated and must be handled by an experienced Sacramento DUI lawyer. If you have been charged with a DUI, contact a Sacramento DUIattorney at the Law Offices of Choyce & Crowell today.

CHOYCE & CROWELL
980 9th Street, 16th Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
Office: 916-449-9636
Fax: 916-449-9637

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DUI ignition locks on the way in Sacramento County

icon1 Posted by admin in DUI Law on 10 15th, 2009 | 1 Comment
By Tony Bizjak
tbizjak@sacbee.com

Drunken driving convictions are about to get harsher in Sacramento County.

Motorists found guilty of a first drunken driving offense here and in three other California counties will be required to install and use breathalyzers in their cars for five months, under a law signed this week by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The ignition interlock device will keep the car from starting if the driver’s breath shows more than a small amount of alcohol in the blood.

The law will be tested in a six-year pilot project here and in Alameda, Los Angeles and Tulare counties. It goes into effect July 1, 2010.

“We must do everything we can to ensure the public’s safety on the road,” Schwarzenegger said after signing the bill. “By installing ignition interlock devices we are making it harder for DUI offenders to get behind the wheel while intoxicated and we are working to save innocent lives.”

The American Beverage Institute, a restaurant trade association, had urged Schwarzenegger not to sign the bill, calling the locks intrusive and saying the state should target repeat offenders.

The law initially could affect 4,000 first-time drunken drivers per year in Sacramento County, based on state reports.

In Sacramento in 2006, more than 5 percent of those offenders were involved in a DUI crash or arrest within a year, state data show.

Assemblyman Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles, says he believes the program will reduce first-time offender numbers and recidivism rates.

Feuer said he hopes the law will show enough progress in Sacramento and the other counties to persuade lawmakers to implement it statewide.

“We have a problem of enormous consequences in the state,” Feuer said. “I’m pleased we could get a toehold in California.”

Officials with Mothers Against Drunk Driving called the law a significant step in using technology to reduce roadway deaths.

Seventeen states already have similar laws, and some have shown notable drops in repeat drunken driving offenses.

Ignition interlock devices are not new in California.

The state already allows judges, at their discretion, to require drunken drivers to use such systems, but anti-drunken driving advocates say judges often don’t take advantage of that provision.

Under the law, drivers convicted of a first offense will be notified by the state Department of Motor Vehicles that they must pay to have a device installed in any vehicle they drive, other than a motorcycle.

If a first-timer’s conviction involves an injury crash, the device must stay in the vehicle for a year.

For second-time DUI offenders, the monitoring period will extend to a year. A third conviction will require the device be installed for two years.

Initial installation costs $75 to $100, Feuer said, and monthly monitoring costs run $50 or more.

It is illegal for another person to blow into the device for the offender, said Mary Klotzbach, California MADD policy director.

The devices also require drivers to retake the breath test at random times, she said.

If the driver fails the test or doesn’t pull over to take the test, the car will not immediately stop, but the failure will be recorded by the device and forwarded to county officials.

Drivers whose incomes are low will be required to pay only a portion of the cost. The device manufacturer must absorb the rest of the cost, Feuer said.

Feuer said he has lined up federal grants to pay for DMV’s costs of administering the program.

DMV will be required to provide an analysis of the program’s effectiveness to the Legislature by 2015.

California and other states have been on a push in recent years to reduce drunken driving injuries and deaths. Numbers have dropped, along with other types of crashes, but they remain substantial.

In 2008, 30 percent of roadway deaths in California � more than 1,000 deaths � occurred in crashes where at least one driver had a blood- alcohol level over the legal presumptive limit of 0.08 percent, according to the state Office of Traffic Safety.

Feuer said Sacramento County was chosen as one of the test sites because officials here supported the measure and because Sacramento County has a notable drunken driving problem.

The city of Sacramento, in particular, has the highest drunken driving injury and fatality rate among the state’s largest cities, an analysis by the state safety office showed.

California: Costa Mesa Red Light Cameras Increased Accidents

icon1 Posted by admin in DUI Law on 09 17th, 2009 | 1 Comment

The total number of accidents increased at Costa Mesa, California intersections where red light cameras were installed, according to a city council report released on Tuesday.

CHOYCE & CROWELL, LLP
980 9th Street, 16th Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
Office: 916-449-9636
Fax: 916-449-9637

Sacramento DUI

icon1 Posted by admin in DUI Law, Featured Articles on 06 15th, 2009 | 3 Comments

Since we specialize in only certain areas of criminal defense, our skills are fine-tuned in those areas. We represent clients charged with DUI (Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol or Drugs), traffic offenses including reckless driving, excess of 100 mph, speed contest, exhibition of speed, basic speed law, speeding, and all traffic tickets. Take a look at our recent results and dismissed cases pages to see our great results.We also take certain criminal defense cases not listed above. Please call to see if we can handle your case. Our clients are vigorously defended every step of the way. In fact, most of our new clients are a result of our current satisfied clients. Some recent examples of these clients are below:

  • Two motorcycle clients charged with excess of 100 mph, not guilty–cases dismissed.*
  • Two vehicle clients charged with excess of 100 mph, reduced to simple speeding with traffic school. DUI charge with .19 blood, reduced to wet reckless.*