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Recent Blog Posts
Distracted Drunk Driving; A Dangerous Combination
As cell phone technology continues to advance, it is getting harder and harder for some people to put their devices down while driving. Despite being surrounded by warnings of the dangers of texting while driving, a large percentage of drivers—many of them in their late teens and early twenties—continue to pay more attention to their phones than they do to the safe operation of their vehicle. Distracted driving is bad enough, with thousands of accidents every year caused by inattentive drivers, but adding alcohol to the mix can lead to even more catastrophic results.
College Student Arrested for Drunk Driving While Taking a Snapchat Photo
Last October, a freshman at Texas A&M University was booked on drunk driving charges after the car she was driving slammed into the back of a parked police cruiser. The police officer, who had been responding to a domestic disturbance call, approached the young woman’s car and found her sitting in the driver’s seat without a shirt. According to an affidavit filed by the officer, the woman said that she was trying to take a sexy Snapchat photo for her boyfriend while she was at a red light.
Mobile Traffic Camera Car Given a Ticket
Over the last several years, the issue of traffic cameras has been a topic of debate throughout the Chicago region. There have been questions about the accuracy and validity of tickets issued by the automated systems as well as concerns regarding the due process afforded those who receive citations. While the discussion about red-light and speed-cameras continues in Northern Illinois, other cities around the country have begun using mobile traffic cameras installed on municipal vehicles. Mobile traffic enforcement cameras are meant to keep the streets and roadways safer, but, as an example from New Orleans shows, they can sometimes have the opposite effect.
New Program, New Problems
According to reports, the city of New Orleans began using mobile traffic enforcement cameras just a few weeks ago. The cameras are mounted on vehicles that are generally parked at a particular location for periods of time. City officials say that the mobile cameras are a temporary measure and will be primarily used at sites scheduled to have permanent cameras installed at a later date. As of now, five such cameras have been put into service, with five more expected later this year.
Wearable BAC Sensor May Be the Next Step in Preventing a DUI Arrest
The next time you are at the gym or out for a walk, take a look at the arms of some of the people around you. Almost certainly, you will find that at least a few have a thin strap around their wrists that looks something like a cross between a bracelet and watch band, but with no visible face. There is a very good chance that these straps are fitness trackers in the style of a Fitbit—if not the branded product itself. Over the last decade, fitness trackers have become a multi-billion dollar industry within the "wearable" technology sector. The coming additions to the wearable market, however, will be quite a bit different. It will soon be possible for a strap on your wrist to estimate when you have had too much to drink and to help you get home without being pulled over for driving under the influence (DUI).
Government Challenge
In 2015, the National Institute of Health (NIH) invited tech startups and individuals around the country to develop a prototype wearable device capable of measuring blood alcohol content in real time—or as close as possible. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), a subagency of the NIH, conducted the challenge to harness the technology being used in wearable fitness trackers and apply it toward reducing alcohol problems and increasing public safety.
White Collar Crime and the Role of the FBI
When you think about white collar crime, you may visualize the country’s top executives participating in unlawful actions and reaping a wide range of beneficial perks. This is understandable, to an extent due to a number of Hollywood box office hits such as The Wolf of Wall Street, Boiler Room, or Catch Me If You Can. In real life, many such crimes are handled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), making white collar offenses like forgery and deceptive practices major issues.
As early as 1939, white collar crime—a term that refers to fraudulent actions committed by business government professionals—was characterized by deeds of deceit, concealment or a gross violation of trust but not through the application of threats, violence or physical force. Such actions are typically motivated by financial gain and the avoidance of financial loss.
Drunk Driving: A New Year’s Breathalyzer Could Cost You
This coming weekend is sure to be filled with parties focused on looking back on the year that was and ahead to the year that will be. While a champagne toast at midnight is common at many New Year’s Eve celebrations, a large number of revelers will continue to drink relatively heavily throughout the night and well into the next morning. Of course, those of legal drinking age are free to make their own choices regarding how much they have to drink, it is important to remember that getting behind the wheel after drinking can lead to serious legal problems.
DUI Checkpoints
Throughout the holiday season, efforts by law enforcement have been underway to combat drunk driving. One of the most common methods for doing so is the use of sobriety checkpoints on highly-traveled streets and highways during times when drunk drivers are likely be on the roads. If you encounter a sobriety checkpoint, you may be asked to submit to a battery of field sobriety tests. If the police have probable cause to believe that you are driving under the influence, you can be arrested on the spot.
Young Drivers and Traffic Stops; Learning the Rules of the Road
Being pulled over by police is a stressful experience for anyone, under any circumstances. The event can be especially nerve-wracking for young drivers who are often uninformed and unprepared to handle the situation. Young drivers are frequently pulled over by law enforcement on the roadways due to careless, distracted driving behaviors, such as texting and talking on the phone or interacting with other passengers. A traffic stop can quickly take a turn for the worst if the teen handles the situation poorly, which is why it is so important for every young driver to have a firm understanding of what to do when an officer directs them to the side of the road.
New Illinois Law Looks to Educate Teen Drivers
Whatever the reason for being pulled over, preventing an already tense situation from escalating is the number one concern for everyone involved. Many young drivers do not know how to act , highlighting the ongoing need to inform drivers about the proper way to handle a pull-over incident. Illinois lawmakers recently passed a measure that mandates that all driver’s education classes include a section on traffic stops for this very reason. The goal behind the law is to show teens the best way to respond and to keep problems during the interaction with police to a minimum.
DUI Prosecution and the Statute of Limitations
When a person is pulled over on the suspicion of driving under the influence (DUI), the next step is being taken into police custody until officers feel the individual is sober enough to make it home safely. In most cases, a citation is issued upon release which includes a date for a mandatory court appearance. All too often, however, defendants appear on their required date in court only to discover that their case is not actually on the docket. How does this happen? The answer may be found in what occurs after the issuance of the citation.
Behind the Scenes
Keep in mind that a county prosecutor’s office has a multitude of cases to review each day. Your case, while extremely important to you, is just one of many being processed at any given time. The date on the citation is often an arbitrary date, generally at least a month or two months after the incident initially occurred. It is presumed that this time is sufficient to accomplish the necessary steps, including:
Stoned Driving in Illinois: New DUI Marijuana Standards
The debate over marijuana has been ongoing for a number of years in this country. Some states take a much more permissive approach to the drug and its use while others remain strict, begrudgingly updating their laws only when necessary. Thus far, Illinois has only been willing to take certain legislative steps pertaining to the use of marijuana in the state. Its medical marijuana program was very slow to get underway and efforts to decriminalize—not legalize—low-level possession of the drug took several years to pass. When the decriminalization bill was approved, however, it also addressed the issue of driving under the influence of marijuana, creating a quantitative standard for determining a driver’s impairment.
New Standards
Prior to the new law taking effect this past July, the state of Illinois maintained a zero-tolerance policy for driving under the influence of marijuana. If any trace of the drug was found in the driver’s system, he or she could be charged with DUI. The major problem with such an approach was that existing tests could detect traces of marijuana in a person’s body several weeks after use. In essence, the tests did not address the driver’s current state of impairment whatsoever.
DUI Penalties Increase for Underage and Repeat Offenders
Driving under the influence has serious consequences that can be long-lasting and affect both your criminal record and your driving record for years. This is true whether it is your first DUI offense or a repeat offense and whether you are of legal drinking age or not.
Underage DUI
Illinois is a zero-tolerance state, meaning that if you are not legally allowed to drink and are found guilty of a DUI, you will automatically have your driving privileges revoked for a minimum of three months. For an underage driver to be charged with a DUI, he or she does not have to exceed the legal blood alcohol content limit of .08 percent that applies to adults age 21 or over. Any percentage of alcohol found in an underage driver’s bloodstream makes him or her susceptible to a DUI charge.
Repeat Offenders and Multiple DUI
Sprays, Mouthwash, and Other Breathalyzer Tricks That Probably Will Not Help You
In Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, the wise Jedi master Yoda offers this sage advice: "Fear is the path that leads to the dark side." There is no question that fear makes people do some pretty strange things. When we are afraid, we may lash out at close friends and loved ones, we may turn inward and become self-destructive, and we may act in ways that are very uncharacteristic. Fear is also often of the strongest emotions present when a person is pulled over on suspicion of drunk driving—fear of conviction, license suspension, and other penalties—and some drivers will do just about anything to escape prosecution.
One Poor Choice After Another
Earlier this week, a man in Rock Hill, South Carolina was pulled over by local police after law enforcement officers observed the man’s car swerving and crossing the center line several times. As the prepared to approach the car, officers say they saw the driver "actively spraying AXE body spray into his mouth," and included the observation in their police report. When they asked the man what he was doing, the report states that he told them he was just applying the spray from "head to toe."
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