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Painesville DUI Lawyers

  • Greg Gilson:

    • DUI    DWI   OMVI                      
    • Driving Under Suspension
    • Traffic Violations
  • Ralph Buss:

    TOO MUCH HOLIDAY CHEER?

    New Drunk Driving Laws May Dampen Your Spirits

    By Ralph Buss

                With the Holiday Season upon us, it's not unusual to be invited to a Thanksgiving family dinner, Christmas party or New Year's Eve office get-together where alcohol will be present, and often even promoted. While I would never advocate driving or riding under the influence of alcohol or drugs, it's a situation most of us have found ourselves in at one time or another. My best advice is to "Just Say NO," or at least drink responsibly -- eat plenty of food to help absorb the alcohol, or pace yourself and avoid letting the alcohol build up in your system.

                 It's a common misconception that it's against the law to drink and drive, but it's actually only illegal if your blood alcohol level (BAC) is above legal limits (DWI - Driving While Intoxicated, or OVI – Operating a Vehicle under the Influence), or if the alcohol in your system interferes with your ability to operate a motor vehicle (DUI - Driving Under the Influence). Having a couple of beers or drinking some wine with dinner, and then driving home, is legal unless you have one too many.

                So, what do you do if you find yourself at a party, feeling tipsy, with no place to go but home and no way to get there except your car or motorcycle? Again, my best advice is to wait, eat, call a cab, ride home with a friend, or otherwise stay out from behind the wheel of your car or off your bike. But reality is much different, and reality is often blurred by that point.

                If you feel that you must operate a motor vehicle, the best way to avoid a DUI or DWI conviction and all the nastiness that comes with it is to avoid being a target for the police. Determine a route home that is not a main thoroughfare or through a known bar area, where police are likely to be watching for drunk drivers. Check your timing, and don't leave at "beer-thirty", just before or after closing time. Before you go out on the town, make sure your car or bike is in perfect working condition; no lights out, no broken tail lights, nothing to draw attention to your vehicle. Know where your license is, as well as your registration and proof of insurance, so that if you're pulled over you won’t have to fumble around for anything.

                Mind all traffic signals; red means stop, green means go. Be aware of your driving and avoid making any sudden movements across lanes, swerving, over-correcting, or going too wide around turns...all tale-tell signs of someone who shouldn't be on the road. Double-check to make sure your lights are on! Signal all your turns. Watch your speed. It's also best to stay in the slow lane. Don't give the police a reason to stop you!

                It would also be advisable to roll down your rear windows a crack and turn up the fans in your vehicle to move the air around and remove that party atmosphere. Chew some gum, take a breath mint, gargle with some mouthwash, or even smoke a cigar or cigarette to eliminate the smell of alcohol on your breath. The number one reason police give for arresting someone for drunk driving is the smell of alcohol in the car or on your breath. A couple of drops of Visine would also help to "Get the Red Out."

                If you do see flashing lights in your rear-view mirror, don't panic and by all means do not try to outrun the police or crash a road block! Signal and pull over smoothly to the side of the road. Stay in your car or on your bike, and keep your hands in plain sight. Be polite at all times, but be sure to assert your rights. If nothing else, it will give your attorney something to work with.

                "Where are you coming from?", will probably be the first question you hear. Think twice before volunteering that you just left the local bar. Working late or having dinner with a friend sounds much less incriminating. If you are stopped while pulling out from a bar, you might consider telling the officer that you were waiting for a friend who didn't show up, or the prices were too high, or it was too crowded and you decided to go home.

                The officer will invariably ask you if you've had anything to drink. It might be best to answer "no, sir" than to admit to it and then face the litany of follow-up questions: “How much, where at, how long ago?”

                At this point it would be advisable to ask the officer if you are under arrest or free to go. If he or she says that you are under arrest or being detained, your conversation should end with the statement that you want your attorney.

                Police officers are trained to get you to admit guilt, and can be very tricky in getting a confession out of you. Therefore you should tell them that under advice from your lawyer you wish to make no further statements.

                If you are placed under arrest:

                * Do not speak with or be interviewed by the police.

                * Do not submit to any roadside sobriety tests, as they are subjective and not required by law (not to be confused with a Breathalyzer test: see below).

                * Do not consent to any searches.

                * Do not waive any of your rights.

                * Do not resist, and be polite at all times.

                * Do request to leave the scene.

                * Do request to contact a lawyer.

                Should you consent to a Breathalyzer or blood test?  While the answer to this may vary depending upon you and your legal situation, you need to know that the law in Ohio changed recently and it is now a separate crime for you to refuse to take a chemical sobriety test if you are placed under arrest for operating a vehicle while intoxicated and you have a prior conviction within the past six years, or two convictions within the past 20 years. It’s no longer just a matter of automatically losing your license if you refuse to take the test, as the new law subjects repeat offenders who refuse to take a blood, breath or urine test to the same penalties as if they had tested a blood alcohol content (BAC) level of .17 or above, and constitutes an additional criminal act with penalties ranging up to a year in jail.

    As evidence of the legislature’s zeal for reducing drunk driving, the law also now allows the prosecution of an attorney who advises a client to not take a chemical sobriety test for complicity or obstruction of official business and may charge them as a codefendant in the case.

    On June 24, 2004, Ohio Governor Bob Taft signed House Bill 163 into law, which also increases the penalties and jail time for repeat offenders who drive while intoxicated. This new law took effect on September 22, 2004, and not only increases the mandatory penalties for persons with prior convictions, but also extends the look-back period from six years to twenty years – meaning that the courts can now look into your past criminal history for up to twenty years to check for prior DUI convictions.

    The new law calls for keeping DUI offenders off the roads for longer periods by adding a mandatory one-to-five-year prison term for persons convicted of five or more prior DUI offenses in the past twenty years, whereas previously mandatory sentencing for repeat offenders could not exceed 120 days.

    If you are charged with a drunken driving offense, it is important that you contact an attorney immediately. Don't wait until the day before you are to appear in court! This is a serious offense that may cost you jail time, loss of license, fines and a dramatic increase or cancellation of your insurance.

    Alcohol-related crashes result in more than 300 deaths and more than 14,000 injuries each year in Ohio, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, and there are more than 300,000 repeat drunk driving offenders in Ohio; 28,000 of which have five or more drunk driving convictions.

                Before you have your next drink, ask yourself if it’s really worth it.

                The above is not intended as legal advice, and is certainly not advocating driving drunk.

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