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DUI Law

Orange County DUI Attorney Ryan Varice who has represented many DUI and criminal cases agrees and also a Rutgers Law Alumni agrees with the legislation by California to set guidelines for all state check DUI checkpoints.

So many checkpoints being setup by law enforcement officers are currently setup without any uniform guidelines; this could lead to unconstitutional DUI checkpoints which could result in an invasion of civil rights.

As a result of a previous ruling in 1987, California issued standards that must be met for DUI checkpoints and roadblocks. However even though the court issued those standards, the law makers of California never put those standards into law, thus preventing those who maybe stopped at checkpoints to give up some of their civil rights.

The new bill will enact the following guidelines for DUI checkpoints.

  • A law enforcement supervisor must approve the checkpoint
  • Officer’s cannot randomly select motorist for testing, they must follow a neutral formula
  • Police officer’s must be wearing and driving marked vehicles and these operations cannot be setup as undercover operations
  • The DUI checkpoint should have markers to let citizens know that it’s a DUI checkpoint
  • The DUI checkpoint must be publicized either ahead of time

When laws have the tendency to be complicated and unclear, when it comes to driving under the influence, the fact of the matter is the penalties are harsh and strict and they’re getting harsher and stricter by the day.  If we look at the statistics, we can see that most of the injuries and deaths that happen from road accidents and car accidents occur as an effect of DUI.  In the hopes of keeping the streets and roads safe and deterring would be offenders, the consequences of being convicted of DUI are usually great, no matter what state you live in.

Penalties range from fines to suspension of your driver’s license, from increased auto insurance rates to jail time.  For any kind of punishment given you if you’re found guilty of DUI, these will have a long lasting effect on you and it could also change your life.  It all starts with you being pulled over by the police for suspicion of DUI.  Your blood alcohol content level will be checked and if it’s found to be higher than 0.08%, a new series of events will be set in motion.  You might have to go in for extra tests and if you refuse this, you could put yourself in more trouble.

The accusation for DUI alone already has serious consequences.  You can still drive your car but that car needs to have an ignition interlock.  Imagine yourself have to breath into a device before you start driving for work or for any other place.  If you had to pay a fine, this amount isn’t going to be peanuts for you.  You can be sure it will be a hefty sum.  The deal with DUI law is that is aims to criminalize offenders.  For the harshness of the penalties, you wouldn’t want to repeat the offense and for the strictness of the penalties, other people would live by your example.

Depending on the state you live in, your age and how many times you’ve been convicted of a DUI, you’ll have punishments that are steeper in one situation than in the other.  But in every angle of DUI law, if you’re convicted, you’re a criminal and it won’t hesitate to show the world that fact.  You could lose your job, relationships and your quality of life if you’re convicted of a DUI so make sure you get support from a professional DUI lawyer.