One of the toughest decisions an adult child has to make is to take away their parents cars. I have had personal experience, and I know it is a traumatic and painful experience for both child and parent. But I also know that by the time the child decides to take the car, mom or dad have probably placed themselves and others in danger while driving. (more…)

In a 5-4 decision, surprisingly not along party lines, the US Supreme Court on April 21, 2009, ruled that police may search the passenger compartment of a vehicle incident to arrest ONLY if it is reasonable to believe the arrestee might access the vehicle at the time of the search or that the vehicle contains evidence of the offense of the arrest. (more…)

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – A police captain in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley said it’s the highest fine he’s ever seen on a traffic ticket: $37,554.54. Bethlehem Police Capt. David Kravatz said the major violation was not getting the “super load” permit that was needed because the truck was hauling a 213,000-pound steel cylinder. Police cited the driver and truck owner.

Kravatz said the truck sat idle for almost three weeks after it tipped on March 12 because a new route, proper permits and a police escort took so long to plan. It was removed Wednesday.

You may not believe in karma, the law of cause and effect, but it is really interesting to look at how people find themselves in a time and place that results in a DUI arrest. My case of the month is an example of “being in the wrong place at the wrong tme.” Luckily for my client, she was able to win her DUI in spite of her “karma”. (more…)

The police chief of a suburban Seattle town apologized for causing a minor traffic accident while using his Blackberry. According to the Seattle Times, www.seattletimes.com, Chief Brian Wilson was stopped at a red light when he glanced down to check his Blackberry to view his emails. He then took his foot off the brake and collided with the car in front of him. (more…)

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REDDING, Calif. – A woman who crashed into a line of stopped vehicles while text-messaging on her cell phone has been sentenced to six years in a California prison for killing a woman in one of the vehicles.

Deborah Matis-Engle was sentenced Friday by a judge in Redding, Calif.

Investigators said Deborah Matis-Engle was speeding and text messaging when she slammed into the vehicles stopped at a construction zone in August 2007.

Shasta County prosecutor Stephanie Bridgett said the 49-year-old woman had paid several bills by cell phone in the moments before the crash.

She was in the middle of one of those transactions when she struck a vehicle that burst into flames, killing 46-year-old Petra Winn.

Defense attorney Jeffrey Stotter said he will appeal.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Falling off a barstool can hurt one’s pride, if not more, but an Ohio man got into trouble with the law for crashing his motorized version.

Kile Wygle, 28, hurt his head in the March 4 mishap with a motorized barstool and was charged with drunken driving and driving on a suspended license, police said on Tuesday.

While being treated by paramedics, Wygle told an officer he consumed “a lot” of beers — at least 15 — before crashing the barstool at some 20 mph, a police account showed.

Later, Wygle told a local television station he got drunk after, not before, the crash.

“I drank quite a bit after I wrecked because my head hurt so bad. I went in and drank a half a bottle of whiskey,” the Newark man told the NBC outlet in Columbus.

Some people have made a sport of racing barstools equipped with tires, a steering wheel and a small engine, Newark police Sergeant Barry Connell said.

“There are hundreds of people racing these things,” he said. “But they race on closed courses.”

The barstool was towed away.