You’ve heard the adds “Over the Limit, Under Arrest?” These ads are funded by the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, and while their intent is to inform the public of the serious nature of consuming too much alcohol then driving, they are misleading. Read the rest of this entry »

Want to know how you can lose your Georgia drivers license for 5 years in about one minute? Easy. Georgia law provides that a person convicted of DUI while transporting a child under 14 years of age Read the rest of this entry »

According to Yahoo!News, the FBI is getting involved in DUI cases. The National Data Exchange, or N-Dex for short, is designed to link local, state, and federal records. Even though I believe we have enough Federal “Big Brotherism” already, the N-Dex doesn’t sound too bad. Consider this example given in the article: Read the rest of this entry »

In Georgia, every moving traffic violation carries with it a certain number of “points.” These points range from 0 to 6. A guilty plea, guilty verdict, or simply a payment of a fine without a plea can result in points being assessed against your driving record. Read the rest of this entry »

So according to an article in the October 30, 2008, Atlanta Journal Constitution (www.ajc.com)  Vietnam is considering banning small chested drivers from its roads. “The Ministry of Health recently recommended that people whose chest size measure fewer than 28 inches would be prohibited from driving motorbikes, as well as those who are too short or too thin.” Read the rest of this entry »

I have never been to Canada, although I did host a Canadian athlete’s family during the Atlanta Olympics. I know some Canadians, and they all seem very nice and sort of laid back. I like Molson beer, and would love to go to Nova Scotia. Most Americans assume that entry into  Canada is easy. That is not necessarily true. 

Did you know that a DUI conviction will preclude you from entering Canada? That’s right! Anyone with a conviction in the United States that is treated as a felony in Canada is excludable from Canada; Canada Customs and Immigrations officers have ultimate authority to permit and deny entry into Canada.

In Canada a DUI is a felony that therefore is an excludable offense. In fact, almost all convictions(including DUI, reckless driving, misdemeanor drug possession, shoplifting, etc., can keep a person from getting into Canada.

This might not seem so important to the average vacation traveler, but can be extremely important to folks who must travel to Canada for business.

So what to do if you have a DUI conviction? There is no easy answer. One way is to have “deemed rehabilitation” at the border. However, you must only have one conviction, 10 years must have elapsed since all of the sentences have been completed, and the conviction would not considered serious(most felonies are considered serious)

There is also “streamlined rehabilitation” at the border. To receive this type of entry, you must have no more than 2 convictions, 5 years must have elapsed since all of the sentences for the conviction, and the convictions would not be considered serious(most felonies are considered serious)

If a person is not eligible for the above, then the only option is to apply for a temporary resident permit. This is a process where a person requests special permission to enter and remain in Canada.

So as you can see, a DUI might be considered a misdemeanor in the USA, but a DUI conviction carries severe consequences when it comes to someone who makes their living in Canada. I do not profess to be an expert in any way on Canadian laws so my suggestion would be to consult a Canadian attorney if you plan on going to Canada and you either have a pending DUI or a DUI conviction within the last 10 years.

The 4 other myths as outlined on the Choose Responsibility web site are:

There is a Federal Law Setting Drinking age at 21

The age at which someone can drink is actually set by each State. However, the National Minimum Drinking Age Act effectively established a nationwide limit by removing 10% of annual Federal highway money from States that chose an age below 21.

Prohibition Works

Prohibition, the only amendment to the Constitution that has ever been repealed, was a failed social experment that led to smuggling, violence, and organized crime(sounds like today’s War on Drugs). The Prohibition culture of bathtub gin, rum runners, and speakeasies is found today in keg parties, fake IDs, and drinking games of today.

25% of alcohol consumed in the US is consumed by Under 21 drinkers

This is just plain incorrect. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the actual figure is 11.4%.

The drinking age is working better in blue-collar America than it is in Ivy League America. (Chuck Hurley, executive director, MADD)

In fact, under 21 drinking is more prevalent in rural areas, Chuck Hurley’s so called “blue collar America”, where  drinking represents the only late night or social outlet for many teens. Rates of drinking among persons 12-21 were highest in North and South Dakota(42.7% and 39.1%, respectively).

Isn’t it clear that the laws making age 21 as the magic age of drinking  have created a national climate in which violation of the law is encouraged and socially acceptable behavior is criminalized? Once again, I cannot find any rational, logical basis upon which 21 becomes the “correct” age at which a person drinks responsibly.  I know some folks who are in their 40s and 50s who don’t drink responsibly. It is time to take a look at repealing this antiquated law.

Have you heard of the “MyKey” feature? Apparently starting in 2010, Ford will provide this feature on many of its models. This feature can limit teen drivers to 80 mph, using a computer chip in the key.

Parents will also have the option of programming the teen’s key to limit the audio system’s volume, and to sound continuous alerts if the driver doesn’t wear a seat belt.

Ford arrived at the 80 mph limit even though freeway speed limits are lower in most states, because it wanted to leave some margin in case an unusual situation arises. Parents also have the option of having the car chime if the teen exceeds 45,55,0r 65 mph.

Of course parents like the idea, but many teens are against the idea.

According to the National Highway Safety Administration, www.nhsta.gov, more than 5000 teens die each year in car crashes. The rate of crashes is almost 10 times the rate of drivers age 30 to 59.

This is an interesting concept. I wonder what other software applications could be used to control other “bad” driving?  The first thought obviously would be to come up with a way of keeping impaired drivers from operating their cars; or how about sleepy or tired drivers?  If you have other ideas let me know!

Choose Responsibility www.chooseresponsibility.org lists 8 common myths associated with “underage” drinking; the first 4 are:

Drinking before age 21 will cause you to lose 10% of your brain power;

This statement comes from MADD. As with other information provided by MADD, it represents a misinterpretation of sophisticated research by neuroscientists on how alcohol abuse affects certain aspects of our brain.  There is no such scientific term as “brainpower”.

Legal age of 21 keep people under 21 from actually drinking;

All you have to do to understand the foolishness of this statement is to go to Athens, Georgia on a weekend; enough said.

Legal age 21 is solely responsible for the reduction of alcohol related traffic fatalities;

While Legal Age 21 has played a role in the decrease, it has not played the only role. Instead, the decline represents a cumulative effect of a series of changes. Cars are safer, air bags and seat belt use are required by law, and more folks are using the “designated driver”, a term unheard of before the 1980s. 

All we need to do to cut back on underage drinking is to enforce legal age 21 more strictly;

If that statement were true, then under 21 drinking would have stopped over 20 years ago, when the legal age 21 laws went into effect. If the law was truly enforceable, then we would not see the problems of reckless and irresponsible drinking by young people we have today.

In my opinion this “law” is another failed attempt by government, similar to drug laws, to change social habits. As we saw with Prohibition, laws generally do not work in changing social habits or patterns. Aren’t there any alternatives? What do you think?

The case of the Month HAS to be the not guilty jury verdict in my latest trial in Gwinnett. It was case with good facts, but a client who was not very sympathetic; he had 16 other prior DUI convictions over the last 30 years; The State even introduced 3 prior DUI convictions into evidence, including a guilty plea to DUI in Dekalb a month ago;

Problem was, he was actually NOT GUILTY to this DUI; he had stopped to check on his 16 year old son, who had been stopped by a veteran Gwinnett cop. The cop was verbally abusing the 16 year old, and my client, as father, took offense. My client had had a couple of drinks earlier in the evening. The officer saw no less safe driving by my client, yet immediately asked my client to submit to field tests. When my client began to walk back to his car, the cop wrestled my client to the ground, and eventually pepper sprayed him. The cop then asked for a breath test, which my client refused.

At the jail my client asked to be taken to the hospital  for a blood test, but the cop, stood his ground and said, “If you won’t take my test, you can’t have your test!”  So there was no evidence of my client’s actual blood alcohol content.

I give the jury credit: They overlooked my client’s terrible record and really looked at this case, and returned the correct verdict, NOT GUILTY!