Have you had one too many? Police officers in Louisiana will decide if you should be arrested for DWI by administering one, or a few, of the following field sobriety tests, explained by New Orleans DWI attorneys at Harmon, Smith & Vourvoulias, LLC.

A proposal by Representative Greg Hughes of Draper, Utah would help bars install breathalyzers to assist patrons in deciding whether they are fit to drive.

According to articles from Fox News and The Salt Lake Tribune, the proposal is still in its infancy, but the measure would not require bars to install these devices.  Hughes reasoning behind the law is that “if you drive on a road and see a speed limit sign, you have something in your car [a speedometer] to know how fast you’re going.”  He hopes to assist those who might drink in knowing if they have had too much to drink before attempting to drive home.

Bar owners are concerned that by installing these devices, they might encourage drivers who would otherwise feel unsafe to drive by giving them false confidence from a lower reading.  [Read more…]

Look at the clock, right now. Set a timer or alarm on your smartphone for three hours from now.

According to the National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA), drunk-driving crashes claim a victim who was not driving drunk in that amount of time—every three hours.

Because of this, U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has joined the NHTSA to launch the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” crackdown across the country, including Louisiana.

The crackdown focuses on the victims who are innocent of any crime, killed by drunk drivers. According to the NHTSA study, nearly 10,000 people die each year in drunk driving crashes. [Read more…]

With the NBA being such a big part of the sports culture here, I found the recent news of a DWI arrest for a coach quite interesting.

According to the NBA, Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer was arrested on Aug. 28 for not having working taillights. The trooper said the coach had bloodshot, watery eyes, along with a strong smell of alcohol on his breath.

The Hawks’ coach refused to take a breath test but agreed to a field sobriety test. Budenholzer told the officer that he only had one glass of wine before being pulled over, despite slurred and slow speech patterns. [Read more…]

There is no question that everyone in America would like to reduce the number of drunk driving accidents and fatalities that occur on the road each year. In the past thirty years, our country has made great strides toward this goal—reducing drunk driving fatalities by half, from 20,000 to 10,000 per year, according to MADD.

Continuing the fight against driving while intoxicated, the National Transportation Safety Board (NHTSA) recommended last month that all states reduce the legal blood alcohol content (BAC) from .08 to .05. [Read more…]

A recent from the Wall Street Journal is of interest – Testing the Limits of Tipsy.

As the article relates, alcohol affects individuals differently. A person’s blood alcohol level may be affected by their age, weight, gender, physical condition, amount of food consumed, and any drugs or medications they are currently taking. In addition, different drinks may contain different amounts of alcohol, so it is important to know yourself, what you are consuming, and pay attention to the rate you are drinking.

Factors that can affect Blood Alcohol Concentration include:

• Amount consumed
• Concentration of alcohol [Read more…]