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Drivers in Arizona who are convicted with driving under the influence (DUI) charges for the first time will receive a “slightly gentler” sentence, starting January 1st next year.

A new state law set to take effect when the New Year comes in will reduce the amount of time that first-time offenders are required to have an ignition-interlock device on their vehicles, from one year to six months.

Interlock devices prevent vehicles from turning on if alcohol is detected in the driver’s breath. Arizona is known as among the toughest states when it comes to DUI laws, as it is one of only 15 that require first-time offenders to have interlock devices.

The length of time that an interlock device is used varies by state, and with the reduction, Arizona joins the ranks of Oregon, New Jersey, and Missouri, which require interlock devices for a period of six months.

The change was proposed early this year by Sen. Linda Gray of Glendale, who said that while she still believes in requiring interlock devices, she thinks that six months is long enough to teach a lesson.

The Arizona Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), however, opposed the change to the law. Since Arizona required first-time offenders to have interlock devices, the number of DUI fatalities has decreased, and MADD Arizona program specialist Kelley Dupps said that they will be monitoring whether the new law will cause an increase in the number of DUI fatalities.

Dupps said: “We definitely feel the interlock law has made a huge difference in the DUI fatalities in Arizona… Interlocks allow offenders to get back on the road and drive safely while the community can rest assured that they are driving safely.”

If you’ve been charged with DUI in Arizona, it’s very important that you contact an Arizona DUI lawyer to discuss your legal situation.

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After a bit of a rocky start, law enforcement officials and prosecutors around the state say they’re now running into few problems with Wyoming’s new mandatory DUI (driving under the influence) testing law.

Since July 1, police officers have been able to get a judicial warrant requiring motorists pulled over for suspected alcohol or drug use to take a breath, blood or urine test. Prosecutors say the change has helped them win cases against drunk drivers, especially repeat offenders who know how to beat the system.

Civil liberties advocates have worried about officers restraining uncooperative suspects by force to take a blood-alcohol test, and some judges question the constitutionality of requesting a warrant by phone.

Police and prosecutors say it’s still too early to pass final judgment on the new law.

But in the past few months, police officials in many counties say that as more people learn about the law, most suspects now yield to testing without force. Judges, too, say they’re becoming more comfortable with the legality of the law, even if they may still be annoyed by late-night phone calls from an officer seeking a warrant.

“The general consensus is that it’s going well,” said Eric Phillips, Wyoming’s traffic safety resource prosecutor. “A lot of the anticipated worries haven’t come to fruition.”

Within the first two months of the new law being enforced, police in at least 16 Wyoming counties received warrants for DUI testing, a Casper Star-Tribune survey found.

In four counties, at least one suspect continued to refuse, leading officers to conduct blood tests by force.

On July 31. Cheyenne police received a warrant to test a 24-year-old man who was pulled over after reportedly driving erratically. When he still resisted, he was taken to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, where five Cheyenne police officers held him down while a blood draw was conducted.

But in the past four months, no such incidents have taken place in Laramie County, said Laramie County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Gerry Luce.

“What we’ve seen here in the last three months is the trend has been extremely downward, if you will,” Luce said. “From our perspective, people understand that they’re required to comply with the law.”

Law enforcement agencies in other counties have also overcome initial difficulties.

For years, the Converse County Sheriff’s Office has taken DUI suspects to Memorial Hospital in Douglas for blood tests.

But when the new mandatory DUI law first took effect, the hospital refused to test people against their will, out of concern that unruly suspects would disrupt hospital operations.

For the past couple of months, though, the hospital has reached an arrangement with the sheriff’s department to send a nurse to the department’s detention facility to draw blood whenever a suspect is unwilling.

“It’s working very well,” Memorial Hospital Chief Nursing Officer George Rudloff said.
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California’s DUI deaths last year reached their lowest level since 1952, and they went through the largest annual decrease in 14 years, according to data released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. A total of 791 people were killed in DUI crashes on California roadways last year, compared with 950 in 2009. There were 792 deaths in 1952, but data was recorded differently then.

Safety officials credit a record number of DUI checkpoints conducted in 2010 as partly responsible for the sharp reduction in DUI deaths. The Office of Traffic Safety allocated $16.8 million in federal funds to law enforcement agencies to conduct 2,553 DUI checkpoints in 2010, up from the $11.7 million allocated to 1,740 checkpoints in 2009.

According to federal officials, checkpoints have provided the most effective results of any of the DUI enforcement strategies, and 88 percent of Californians surveyed report they support the use of checkpoints.

Other factors at work: Mothers Against Drunk Driving has campaigned for harsher laws since its inception in 1980; Caltrans runs messages on electronic freeway signs urging motorists to call 911; and Alameda County is one of four counties in the state with a pilot program requiring DUI offenders to fit their cars with interlock ignitions so they can’t drink and drive.
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A tougher DUI law goes into effect Monday. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol launched a public service campaign to tell people about it.

Anyone with a onetime DUI, who blows a .15, must have an interlock device in their car for 18 months. For a second offense, if they just blow the legal limit of .08, they’ll have to have the device for four years.

Legislators hope it’s a costly and inconvenient deterrent.

“You have to blow into it to start the car and periodically while you’re driving, you still have to blow in it to prove you’re not drinking while driving,” said Officer Craig Murray, Tulsa Police Department.

Offenders must pay for the device, not taxpayers. The CDC says interlocks have decreased repeat drunk driving offenses by nearly 70 percent.

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Actor Ryan Merriman — known for his roles on ABC Family’s Pretty Little Liars and Disney Channel’s Smart House — was arrested for allegedly driving under the influence on Sunday, E! News reports.

The 28-year-old was pulled over for a routine traffic violation when “officers observed symptoms that he had been drinking and driving,” according to Kathy Lowe, spokeswoman for the Newport Beach Police Department.

“They performed a field sobriety test which he then failed,” Lowe said.

Merriman was booked at a nearby police station on DUI charges. His bail was set at $2,500, though it’s unclear if it has been posted.

Merriman’s other film credits include Final Destination 3, The Ring Two, Halloween: Resurrection and The Luck of the Irish.

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Florida DUI lawyers who defend DUI, DWI, or drunk driving cases in Florida should know about the “Ten Day” Rule.

When someone is arrested for a Florida DUI, there are really two separate cases that arise: the court case, where a person’s liberty is at stake, and the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles case.

If you have been arrested for Florida DUI, and you refused to take a breath, blood or urine test, OR if you took the test and your result is 0.08% or higher, you have only 10 days to request a special hearing with the FDHSMV to save your license.

Failure to timely request a hearing will result in a penalty of at least a six-month suspension (and as much as an 18-month suspension) of your Florida driving privileges.

If you have been arrested for a Florida DUI, you must contact a qualified DUI Attorney in Florida today.

Riverside, California DUI Attorney Manuel J. Barba is a Drunk Driving lawyer dedicated to defending people accused of Drunk Driving, DUI, DWI, and Driving Under the Influence.

If you or a loved one has been arrested for DUI – Drunk Driving, it is essential to have expert DUI legal representation to protect your rights and your driving privilege.

Drunk Driving defense attorney Manuel J. Barba’s primary goal is to provide his clients with personal, high quality, and affordable legal representation.

Visit Riverside Drunk Driving Lawyer Manuel Barba on the web or call him toll free at 1-866-442-2722 for a FREE CONSULTATION.

Issaquah police officers plan to join a regional push to pull drunken drivers from local roads as summer comes to a close.

The agency is joining other police departments in King County — and more than 10,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide — from Aug. 19 to Sept. 5 in the Drive Hammered, Get Nailed campaign.

Beneath the clever title is a serious message about the impacts of drunken driving and driving under the influence. DUI crashes claimed 38 people on King County roads last year.

During the Drive Hammered, Get Nailed campaign last year, officers on routine and extra patrols arrested 438 people for DUI. Overall, prosecutors charged 9,521 people countywide for DUI last year.

Besides the Issaquah Police Department, the Drive Hammered, Get Nailed campaign includes the nearby Bellevue, Newcastle, North Bend, Sammamish, Snoqualmie and Renton police departments, in addition to the Washington State Patrol.
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From Thursday through Labor Day, law officers on both sides of the Kansas state line will target DUI offenders in an operation that authorities announced today.

Police from several agencies delivered the message today at a Kansas City, Kan., parking lot. They stood in front of a 26-foot trailer used to quickly set up checkpoints, which they promised would get plenty of use.

Federal grants pay states for police overtime for the enforcement efforts and the states distribute money to police. Police said that will let them go out in record numbers nationwide.

The Kansas Department of Transportation provided the trailer that police agencies can use, and Mission police have it now.

Mission Police Chief John Simmons said area police will use both DUI checkpoints and saturation patrols looking for drunken drivers and other offenders.
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An off duty Secret Service agent was arrested for drunk driving early Saturday morning in Decorah, IA two days prior to President Barack Obama’s visit there.

Decorah Police Chief Bill Nixon says Secret Service agent Daniel V., 40, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence. A copy of the criminal complaint with more details about Daniel’s arrest was not available because a local attorney in Decorah, Karl Knudson, currently has possession of it. Knudson was not available for comment at his law office this afternoon.

Secret Service spokesman, George Ogilvee confirms Daniel is a special agent with the Secret Service and says the matter has been turned over to the agency’s Office of Professional Responisiblity for an internal investigation. Ogilvee would not say if Daniel V. continued to work with the president’s security team in Iowa after his arrest on Saturday, August 13. “We’re not going to talk about where he is,” Ogilvee said.

President Obama held a town hall meeting in Decorah, Iowa on Monday afternoon as part of his three day Midwestern bus tour.

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