DUI Lawyer Los Angeles

On the heels of a month marked by extensive media coverage of the Orange County trial of Andrew Gallo–the San Gabriel man, who, despite having his license suspended for a prior DUI conviction, took the wheel after a night of binge drinking and killed Angeles’ rookie pitcher, Nick Adenhart, and two friends in an early morning collision–news has broken of a new law that will impact DUI repeat offenders. Starting January 1, 2012, judges will have the option of revoking an individual’s license for up to 10 years if that person has three or more convictions for driving under the influence within the past decade. The law is just one of many efforts by state legislators and officials to combat drunk driving in California.

Annually 1.5 million people are arrested for driving under the influence in this state, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). DUI repeat offenders account for one-third of those arrested. A recent study of the percentage of drivers with alcohol-related convictions in the nation’s 20 largest cities by insurance.com found that the greatest number of violators resided in San Diego, followed by San Jose in second place, Los Angeles in seventh, and San Francisco in eighth. The high incidence of convicted drivers in these cities was attributed to three factors: a higher rate of alcohol consumption among the population, “more partiers,” in general; a lack of public transportation; and effective enforcement of drinking-and-driving laws.

Over the last 30 years, numerous laws have been passed to prevent drinking and driving in the United States:

In 1984, the Federal Uniform Drinking Age Act was signed into law. Under the law, states that fail to prohibit the purchase or public consumption of alcohol by an individual under the age of 21 will have 10% of Federal highway funding withheld from them. In effect, this law raised the national minimum drinking age to 21.

In 1990, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that sobriety checkpoints were legal under the constitution.

In 1995, the Federal Zero Tolerance Law was passed, making it illegal for individuals under 21 years old to drive with any measurable amount of blood alcohol content (BAC) in their blood. Highway safety funds would be withheld from any state failing to comply with the law by October 1, 1998.

In 2000, .08 BAC became the national illegal limit for impaired driving. Under the law, a percentage of federal highway construction funds would be withheld from any state failing to comply.

To date, 14 states have enacted laws mandating DUI first-time and repeat offenders to install ignition interlock devices in their vehicles: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. California, however, has only implemented a pilot program in four counties: Alameda, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Tulare. Drivers with the device are forced to breathe into a tube connected to a machine that measures alcohol levels; if alcohol is detected, the machine will prevent the ignition from starting. The device not only prevents those with DUI convictions from drinking and driving, it also serves as a deterrent to all drivers, as it considerably increases the cost of receiving a DUI. Legislators will consider expanding the program statewide after a 5-year evaluation.

In California-and nationwide-efforts to combat drunk driving have had an impact on the number of fatal alcohol-related accidents. Throughout the country, such accidents decreased by almost 10 percent from 13,041 in 2007 to 11, 773 in 2008. In California, there were 108 fewer fatal accidents in 2008 than in 2007, from 1,347 to 1,239. Hopefully, the fatality rate will continue to decline with the state’s increasingly aggressive DUI enforcement and harsher penalties.

Originally published here.

DUI-Lawyer-Help.com is a free online resource center designed to equip and empower you and your family members about everything you need to know when faced with a DUI charge.Here, you will find various links to information on the specific DUI laws observed in your state, the procedures you will need to go through, and useful information on how to choose the right DUI Lawyerwhowill represent you from the time you get arrested to the actual court proceedings, ensuring that your rights and future are protectedBeing charged of a Driving under the Influence (DUI) offense not only causes you to lose your driver’s license and driving privileges for a certain span of time.  In fact, because of the number of people that are being charged with for a DUI violation every day, many people are not aware of the effects will eventually have for them for the long run.   In the United States, DUI violations are considered extremely severe charges that even first time offenders of this violation face penalties and fines that are actually more severe than other felony offenses.  That being said, it is important to make sure that you carefully choose the DUI lawyer that would represent you in your court hearing.  Of course, no DUI lawyer can guarantee a sure acquittal for your case.  But, with a highly experienced DUI lawyer representing you during your court hearing, you would be assured that your constitutional rights such as having a fair and speedy trial would be both recognized and protectedPreparing for a DUI case takes a lot of time on both your part and the part of the DUI lawyer that would be handling your case.  This includes filing for hearing to hold off the automatic suspension of your driver’s license and driving privileges, getting a hold of witnesses that would be willing to testify on your behalf, and acquiring evidences to cause doubt on the case presented by the state, if not prove your absolute innocence.  That being said, it is extremely important to make sure that you get a proficient and highly experienced DUI lawyer to represent you as soon as you have been arrested.
When choosing a DUI lawyer, there are a number of things that you would need to take into consideration.  Below is a list of these guidelines to make sure that you would be able to get the best representation in your DUI court hearing your money can afford.  Find Lawyers Experience in Handling DUI Cases
The number one thing that you would need to take into consideration when choosing a DUI lawyer is the amount of experience he or she actually had in handling and representing motorists that have been charged with a DUI violation.  While there is no shortage in the number of lawyers that currently specialize in handling DUI court cases, do not merely stop here.  It is also important to inquire on how many of these cases the lawyer won an acquittal for the motorist he or she represented.  This will ensure that you are represented by a lawyer that not only has the knowledge about current DUI statutes and laws within your state.  A DUI lawyer with a high acquittal track record would guarantee that you are given a strong fighting chance in your actual court hearing.

Originally published here.