Category Archives: DUI
Passengers in Underage DUI
DUI while under the legal drinking age is not the only way to get into extra trouble. Drinking drivers under 21 who get behind the wheel put everyone’s safety in jeopardy, whether they are in the same car or elsewhere on the road. And when they are pulled over, questioned by police and charged with […]
National Transportation Safety Board Calls for Lowering Blood Alcohol Limits
According to Reaching Zero: Actions to Eliminate Alcohol Impaired Driving —a report released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) — nearly 10,000 people are killed in automobile accidents involving alcohol-impaired drivers each year in the United States. Another 173,000 are injured, 27,000 of whom suffer incapacitating injuries. Although the actual number of highway fatalities […]
Boating Under the Influence
Pennsylvania has hundreds of miles of navigable waters and over 300,000 registered boats. The Commonwealth also had almost $2 billion in retail alcohol sales in 2011. When you put these statistics together, you can understand why state authorities consider boating under the influence (BUI) a problem. In 2011, the last year for which statistics are […]
Pennsylvania’s Underage Drinking Rules
They affect adults, too Alcohol consumption can be dangerous for adults and all the more so for minors. Pennsylvania, like most states, makes it illegal for a minor to purchase, possess or consume alcohol. Minors caught purchasing, possessing, or consuming alcohol are subject to a mandatory 90-day driver’s license suspension. Any detectable alcohol in a […]
What New Fines for Underage Drinking Can Mean to You
Getting stopped for driving under the influence (DUI) is the last thing young partygoers think about when heading out for an evening of friends and fun. But it can weigh heavily on their minds when they are hit with the new fines for underage drinking that went into effect on Christmas Eve 2012. The increase […]
Qualifying for the Berks County DUI Alternative to Jail
A new father celebrating the birth of his son with a few beers gets arrested for a DUI (driving under the influence). Will he have to spend the first days of his new son’s life in a county jail? Berks County has an Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) Program for DUI. This program is an alternative […]
What is the STOP Program?
When a state trooper and a middle school principal are stopped in Berks County for driving under the influence (DUI), you know that drinking and driving is a serious problem. It is estimated that in the United States, 50 percent of first time DUI offenders and 80 percent of second and subsequent DUI offenders will […]
Pennsylvania’s Ignition Interlock Device Rules
After finding that alcohol was a major factor in wrong-way driving crashes, the National Transportation Safety Board recently recommended that states require ignition interlock devices (IIDs) to be installed on cars driven by anyone convicted of driving under the influence (DUI), even first-time offenders. Currently, PA law only requires an IID to be installed after […]
Why a Private DUI Defense Attorney Can Make a Difference in Pennsylvania Cases
Many people charged with driving under the influence radically misjudge the need for a private DUI defense attorney. Anyone who watches crime dramas is familiar with the portion of the Miranda warning that advises of the right of indigent defendants to have an appointed attorney. It is important to understand that the right to an […]
Could Warrantless Blood Draws Be on the Horizon in Routine Pennsylvania DUI Cases?
Pennsylvania’s implied consent law provides that drivers are deemed to consent to chemical blood alcohol concentration (BAC) testing of breath, blood or urine by virtue of operating, driving or being in physical control of a vehicle in Pennsylvania. When a police officer with “reasonable suspicion” that the driver is driving under the influence (DUI) stops […]
