Persons who have been convicted of a DUI offense, and have been ordered to install an ignition interlock device in the vehicle, are less likely to be arrested for DUI again, and less likely to be involved in a fatal crash. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is using the findings of a new study to push states to enact laws that would require ignition interlock devices for all DUI offenders, even those who are convicted of drunk driving for the very first time.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety based its findings on a study that was conducted in Washington. When ignition interlock device laws in Washington were expanded to cover even first-time DUI offenders, the researchers found that the rate of repeat DUI offenders fell by approximately 12%. Earlier, the laws in that state required people who had high blood alcohol concentration levels to have ignition interlock devices installed in their vehicles. When the laws were expanded, recidivism rates dropped.

The findings of the study are likely to bolster a federal transportation bill currently under debate. The bill would require, among other things, that states enact laws requiring installation of ignition interlock devices, even for first-time DUI offenders, or risk losing federal highway safety funding.

Several states have been considering mandatory ignition interlock device installation in all vehicles of all DUI offenders, even those convicted for a first-time offense. California currently has a pilot program that is being closely watched by California criminal DUI lawyers. Under the program which is in place in Los Angeles, Tulare, Alameda and Sacramento counties, even first-time DUI offenders are required to get these devices installed in their vehicles. If the program is found to be successful in reducing DUI rates, the program would expand to the rest of the state.

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Women are closing the gender gap in one more area. According to a new study, the number of women being arrested for DUI has increased substantially over the past few years. The study by the Traffic Injury Research Foundation shows that the number of DUI arrests involving women has increased by a staggering 36% over the last 10 years alone.

The trigger for the study, which was funded by the Century Council, an association of distillers, seems to have been the 2009 New York DUI accident involving Diane Schuler, the woman who drove the wrong way under the influence of alcohol and crashed her car, killing herself, four children in her car and 3 other people. The accident, which received a lot of national media attention, really spotlighted the fact that little attention is paid to prevent women from driving under the influence in this country.

Another intriguing fact that emerged from the study was the profile of the average female drunk driver. These aren't young college-age women binge-drinking with a group of friends. The average female arrested for DUI in the United States is better educated than the average male drunk driver. Not only is she more educated, she's also older than the average male drunk driver. Additionally, these women are the primary caregivers for their children, and hold low-paying jobs. Some experts have tied an increase in alcohol use and drunk driving among women with the stresses of parenting.

Men continue to comprise the majority of DUI arrests in the United States, but the gender gap is definitely narrowing. Not only that, California DUI lawyers are also concerned about the fact that binge drinking among women is on the increase. According to statistics, approximately 39% of young women in the country now routinely engage in binge drinking, an increase of 30% in 3 decades.

The feds have begun to take note. This month, the Department of Transportation’s annual focus on drunk driving is expected to target women drivers.

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Across California, fewer people needed to meet with a California DUI lawyer this year, although some areas of the country recorded an increase in DUI arrest activity. The California Highway Patrol says that there were more DUI arrests this Thanksgiving holiday in Orange and San Diego Counties. However, overall DUI arrest numbers across California were down.

Officers arrested 69 people for DUI in Orange County over the Thanksgiving holiday, as of Sunday morning. Last year, the number of arrests was 39. In San Diego County, the number of people arrested was 88. Last year, 85 people had been arrested over the same period of time.

Overall, the number of people arrested for DUI across California was down this year. 1,350 people were arrested this year for DUI in California. Last year, 1,419 people had been arrested for DUI. However, the number of people dying in accidents caused by alcohol use was up across the state. Last year, 12 people were killed in driving drunk driving accidents in California. This year, the number had increased to 21.

Holiday season is typically busy season for California DUI attorneys. Not only are more people likely to drink and drive during these holidays, but their chances of being pulled over are also high because of increased law-enforcement activity during holidays. In fact, the police presence on the streets is likely to increase over the next few weeks with a spike in shoppers.

Motorists are more likely to be pulled over for DUI as we get closer to Christmas and New Years’. The California Highway Patrol will step up its enforcement activities and place more troopers on streets and highways. Local law-enforcement agencies are likely to follow suit. In addition to drunk driving crackdowns, law-enforcement agencies also conduct seatbelt crackdowns during the holidays, and these checkpoints often result in DUI arrests.

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Mothers Against Drunk Driving has come out strongly in opposition to a pending California bill that would prevent law enforcement officers from enforcing certain laws at sobriety checkpoints.  Assembly Bill 1389 would limit the ability of law-enforcement officers at checkpoints to enforce other laws, like those against driving under a suspended license. 

Misuse of law-enforcement powers have meant an increase in the number of impoundments of vehicles belonging to motorists driving without a valid license.  In California, many sobriety checkpoints record greater numbers of people punished for driving without a license every year, than those arrested for driving under the influence. 

Assembly Bill 1389 would prevent this.  The bill would also prevent law-enforcement officers at a sobriety checkpoint from checking for probation violations and outstanding warrants.  Los Angeles criminal defense attorneys have come out strongly against such actions by police officers at checkpoints.  Most of the vehicles that are impounded at these checkpoints belong to Hispanics and people from ethnic communities, and when these vehicles are impounded, these people are put through tremendous inconvenience.  They have no transportation to take them to school or to work, and they cannot afford to get their vehicle released.  In fact, revenues from vehicle impoundments at checkpoints have increased steadily, increasing at a higher rate than the number of DUI arrests at these checkpoints.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving however wants sobriety checkpoints to look not just for drunk drivers, but also to ensure that motorists with prior drunk driving convictions are not in violation of the law.  The group believes that Assembly Bill 1389 would allow more drivers, who have a suspended license due to a DUI conviction to drive freely throughout California.

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San Carlos Vice Mayor Andy Klein was arrested recently for DUI.  According to news reports, the vice mayor was arrested after the California Highway Patrol saw him driving under the influence last week near Interstate 280. 

According to the California Highway Patrol, the CHP officer at the scene smelled alcohol on the vice mayor’s breath, and administered a field sobriety test and a breathalyzer test.  The vice mayor registered a .08 on the breathalyzer test, and was also asked to give a blood sample.  He was booked into the First Chance program which allows alternate punishments for DUI offenders instead of jail time.   After the arrest, Klein released a statement saying that he was not aware that he had been legally unfit to drive. 

If this is Klein's first offense, he may be looking at a minimum of three years of probation and $1,600 in fines and assessments.  He could also spend up to 48 hours in a county jail.  He may even temporarily lose his driver's license, and the Department of Motor Vehicles will decide whether he should have a restricted driver’s license, allowing him to travel to work, or whether his driving privileges may be completely suspended for a few months. 

Klein was in line to become the next mayor of San Carlos, after the recent death of the mayor of the city.  There is no indication yet if the DUI arrest will affect his chances of becoming mayor.

In many cases that California DUI attorneys come across, persons charged with DUI may not even have been aware that they were driving with intoxication levels above legal limits.  California has strong penalties for first-time DUI offenders in California.  Additionally, persons convicted of DUI must also know that there may be even more stringent penalties that will kick in if they are arrested for DUI again under California's multiple DUI offense laws.

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Over the next couple of weeks, high school students across California will begin renting limos and buying corsages.  It's prom season, and for high school students, it's one of the biggest nights of the high school calendar.  Unfortunately, for far too many high school students, prom night is also their first brush with the law and a DUI offense.

In all the excitement of prom, it's easy for teenagers to forget that underage drinking is strictly prohibited in California.  California's underage DUI laws are some of the strictest in the country.  California has a zero tolerance level for underage drinking, which means that anybody below the age of 21 driving under the influence of alcohol with a blood alcohol limit of .01% or over, will be arrested for DUI. 

For a teenager, it doesn't take too many drinks to reach a blood alcohol level of .01%.  Just a single 12-ounce beer, or 1.25 ounces of any liquor can result in a blood alcohol level of well over .01%.

If you’re below 21 years of age and are found driving under the influence of alcohol, a conviction can result in a license suspension of up to a year.  Besides, in California, judges are also allowed to confiscate an underage drinker’s car, besides imposing penalties and severe fines. 

Underage drinkers in California found driving under the influence are subject to punishment by the Department of Motor Vehicles as well as criminal court.  The Department of Motor Vehicles will be responsible for suspending or revoking the driver’s license.  A criminal prosecution, on the other hand, may impose prison time, fines and penalties.  As part of a criminal conviction, an underage drunk driver can be ordered to undergo an alcohol education and safe driving program.

Besides, a DUI on your record must be included in your college application.  That could possibly narrow the field for you far as higher education opportunities are concerned.  It if you fail to mention your conviction on your application form, you could be dismissed from the college, if the conviction later comes to light.

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The Los Angeles Police Department has announced its new impound policy due to criticism that these are directed at Latinos who are driving without licenses or insurance.  The new impound policies will allow unlicensed and uninsured drivers to call a legal driver to retrieve the vehicle, without having their vehicles taken to an impound yard. 

The older laws under which police officers could impound cars belonging to unlicensed and uninsured drivers had been severely criticized by Pasadena DUI lawyers and immigrant advocacy groups.  Immigrant groups have been the most vocal opponents of these policies, and have turned up to protest at drunk driving checkpoints. 

Much of the criticism comes from the fact that these impound operations are targeted at persons from minority communities, who typically lack the resources to retrieve their cars after they have been impounded.  Once the car has been sent to an impound yard, the fees accumulate quickly, and Hispanics and other minority communities find it hard to cough up the fees to retrieve their car.

The problem in California has grown so bad, that many checkpoints have turned from anti-DUI efforts into revenue generation zones.  There is no doubt that impoundment of cars generates strong revenues for police departments, but it renders people helpless with no means of transportation.  These policies have done nothing but add to the population of unlicensed, uninsured drivers in California.  Their effect on preventing DUI has been surprisingly nil.  That shouldn't be so surprising considering that the focus all along has not been on keeping drunk drivers off the street, but adding to police coffers. 

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