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There is a new program in Dallas that is designed to keep drunk drivers off of the road, but it is not intended for the general public. Instead, the program is for police officers who have had a little too much to drink and cannot properly operate their vehicles.

Throughout all of last year, the combination of North Texas police officers and alcohol has produced some embarrassing and tragic consequences. “We have had officers arrested for driving while intoxicated. We have had officers in neighboring cities arrested for intoxication manslaughter,” said Glenn White with the Dallas Police Association. “We don’t want that to happen here.”

The key to solving that problem may soon be on the keychains of Dallas police officers. All cops have been enrolled in the Dallas Police Association’s new program that provides free cab rides home for members who have had too much to drink. The program allows cab companies to bill the Dallas Police Association, which will pay for the fares with member dues.

“We are not going to be able to stop officers if they want to have a beer or two,” acknowledged White, “but we want them to know we have an option for them.”

Mothers Against Drunk Driving has applauded the concept, which it has never seen attempted by a police organization. “Anything that keeps people from putting the key in the ignition and driving is always a good thing,” said MADD spokeswoman Mary Kardell.

But other alcohol awareness groups argue that free rides are not addressing the real problem. “Wouldn’t it be great if we didn’t have to provide programs like this,” said Debbie Maliborski with the Greater Dallas Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, “if we could get the message across to make healthy and responsible decisions in the first place?”

And citizens may also soon start seeing special wristbands on the arms of Dallas police officers and others across the city. They are a part of the Blue Backs You campaign, which aims take the tarnished badge and restore its shine in 2011. The wristbands can be purchased from the Dallas Police Association.

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Texas DWIA man suspected of driving while intoxicated in Texas got his 2000 Ferrari stuck on rail tracks and narrowly escaped before the vehicle was smashed by a train.

Jeff Sabold called 911 around 3:30 am and said that he was scared, lost and stranded on a railroad track crossing. When he told the operator that a train was coming, Sabold was told to get out of the vehicle immediately. He managed to get to safety moments before his Ferrari was struck by a train traveling 40 miles per hour.

Sabold, 48, lives in Carrollton, north of Dallas, and he thought he was in Mansfield, south of Fort Worth. He was actually over 100 miles away in Sherman, Texas.

The Sherman Police Department speculate that the car’s low ground clearance caused it to get stuck on the tracks. No one was injured in the incident. Sabold was booked for Texas DWI and could face additional charges.

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The emergency rooms of Texas hospitals routinely treat those involved in automobile accidents. By some estimates, half of the patients brought to ER were driving while intoxicated, yet the police are not notified and no DWI arrest is made.

Trauma doctors are not required by law to report drunk drivers. Even if the case is reported, there typically is no evidence for the prosecutor to work with as doctors are also not required to test for blood alcohol content.

There is a financial reason for not testing for alcohol, as insurance providers routinely use a 60-year old federal statute to deny coverage for injuries caused by intoxication. Instead of running the risk of not being reimbursed for services, hospitals limit their actions to their primary function of treating the injured. Doctors have also said that it is not their role to act as law enforcement.

Six states do require hospitals to report drunk drivers and eleven states have laws requiring insurance companies to pay claims for alcohol related injuries. While such measures have been proposed in the Texas State Legislature during the past three sessions, currently the state has neither provision. In the interim, motorists who have been involved with alcohol related accidents are not being charged with Texas DWI.
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Known as Continuous Alcohol Monitoring (CAM) Programs, the foundation is a high-tech anklet, worn 24/7, that actually tests an offender’s sweat every 30 minutes, around the clock, in order to measure for any alcohol consumption. The system, known as SCRAM (Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor), is currently monitoring 1,300 DUI offenders each day in the state of Texas.

More than 6,000 offenders have been monitored since Dallas and Tarrant County courts first began to use the system in late 2003. Today, 71 Texas counties have access to the technology, predominantly to monitor drunk drivers. Michigan, with the second largest daily number of SCRAM clients, currently monitors just under 900 offenders statewide each day.

The purpose of the system, according to corrections officials, is to target the high-risk, repeat DUI offenders who are struggling with addiction.

American Beverage Institute Says Mothers Against Drunk Driving Proposals are Ineffective and Target the Wrong People

The American Beverage Institute (ABI) denounced two proposals that MADD is pushing for Texas: implementing sobriety checkpoints and mandating the installation of ignition interlock breathalyzers in the cars of low-BAC (blood alcohol concentration) first-time offenders.

At its annual conference taking place in Dallas this weekend, MADD is calling for both measures, claiming they would lead to a reduction in alcohol-related fatalities. Both initiatives, however, fail to target the actual drunk driving problem in Texas.

As I have posted before, Halloween is a big day for DUI’s. Recently the Austin police department released there results for arrest for drunk driving on Halloween. Over an eight hour period, the APD arrested 54 people on suspicion of driving while intoxicated in Austin.

Twenty six of those refused to submit to a breath test, leading the officers to seek warrants from a judge to force blood draws as part of a ‘no-refusal’ policy for the weekend. All 26 had a blood-alcohol content above the .08% legal threshold for intoxication, with seven registering a BAC twice the legal limit.

A spokesperson for the APD said he would need another team of DWI officers to make the effort full-time. As a consequence the ‘no-refusal’ crackdown will be limited to weekends or large holidays that historically show increases in Texas DWI arrests in Austin. The police department plans to conduct another ‘No Refusal’ effort around the New Year’s celebration.
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Houston has recieved a unique DUI patrolling vehicle of its own. Although, it is much different than the high tech police car in Arizona. For starters, it is a van known as the ‘Batmobile’. The Batmobile will be used to combat DUI’s in Houston, Texas.

The specialized van acts as a mobile lab that will enable officers to quickly process motorists suspected of drunk driving in Houston. A spokesperson with the Harris County Sheriff’s Department said that instead of taking the suspected drunk drivers to a booking station, the lab will take the legal process to the streets. That will eliminate travel time and speed up the process, allowing officers to return to the streets more quickly.

The vehicle contains breath and blood testing equipment, and even has a small cell for detaining arrestees. There will be electronic links to judges when a warrant is requested for drawing a blood sample to test for alcohol.

Known as the Batmobile, the vehicle was funded by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. It will be placed in service on Halloween night and be available to all area law enforcement officers conducting DUI traffic stops.

Have you been arrested for DUI in Houston, Texas? If you have hopefully you learned your lesson;because it is going to keep getting tougher and tougher to get away with.
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A Department of Public Safety contractor failed to inspect breath testing equipment as required by law, and then faked maintenance records to indicate that she had. As a result, at least 2,600 arrests for driving while intoxicated in the Houston area are in question.

Texas law requires that breath testing equipment be calibrated once a month to ensure accuracy. According to Houston DWI defense attorney Dane Johnson, blood alcohol content is a key piece of evidence in the prosecution’s case and failure to properly maintain breathalyzer equipment could result in a false reading and an unwarranted arrest.
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It’s bad enough that the machines are not accurate to begin with. If you have been arrested for DUI in Texas find a qualified Texas DUI Lawyer ASAP.

Anti-drunk driving groups hope next legislative session will yield new laws.

Citing public reaction to drunk driving in Texas and a recent headline grabbing accident, advocates for stronger DWI penalties express hope for the coming state legislative session.

Texas, the state with the highest population also is burdened by the most alcohol related fatalities.

A representative from the American Beverage Institute,  said that the trend in legislation is to go after “smaller and smaller groups of responsible adults who are drinking moderately.” The focus has moved away from addressing chronic drinkers at the core of the drunk driving problem to casting a broad net. Reinforcing that view, an Austin Texas DUI attorney says there has been a rise in the number of his clients who had a blood alcohol level below the legal limit yet were charged with driving while intoxicated by Austin police.

Texas is one of eleven states that prohibits sobriety checkpoints.

Texas is one of 10 states that currently requires ignition interlock devices for repeat offenders though anti-drunk driving advocates feel the devices are not being mandated enough.

Even the Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez is not convinced that sobriety checkpoints are the best use of resources. She advocates roving patrols that target areas with increased incidents of drunk driving.

The next Texas General Assembly convenes January 2009.
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Lamarr Houston sat out one game for drunk driving in Austin, Texas.

Lamarr Houston, defensive tackle for the Texas Longhorns, has been reinstated after a one game suspension for driving while intoxicated in Austin.

Houston was arrested for DWI on August 31 after being involved in an accident in downtown Austin. The arrest came hours after Houston and the Longhorns defeated their first football opponent of the season. The son of a preacher from Colorado, Houston apologized to family and teammates for his actions.

Houston’s one game suspension is much shorter than the suspensions handed out to UT players Sergio Kindle and Henry Melton for the same offense in 2007. Head coach Mack Brown said each case is reviewed individually.

Texas plays its first significant football challenge of the season Saturday against the University of Arkansas.
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