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LEGAL TIPS

Alabama DUI Statistics :
In 2006, more people died on Alabama roads than during any other year in over three decades. Not all of those fatalities were caused by drunk drivers, but the state must get the worst drivers off the road first and then go after others whose presence constitutes a threat to public safety.

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DUI & Driving Under The Influence:
What is a DUI? :
The various versions of driving under the influence generally constitute a misdemeanor (punishable by up to one year in jail) . However, the offense may be elevated to a felony (punishable by a longer term in state prison) if the incident caused serious injury (felony DUI), death (vehicular manslaughter or vehicular homicide), or extensive property damage (a state specified dollar amount) or if the defendant has a designated number of prior DUI convictions within a given time period (commonly, 3 prior convictions within 7 years). California, which is being followed by a growing number of states, now charges second-degree murder where the legal state of mind of malice exists -- that is, where the defendant exhibited a reckless indifference to the lives of others.

Field Sobriety Test :
An increasingly used field sobriety test involves having the suspect breathe into a small, handheld breath testing device. Called variously a PAS (preliminary alcohol screening) or PBT (preliminary breath test), the units are small, inexpensive versions of their larger, more sophisticated instruments at the police stations, the EBTs (evidentiary breath test). Whereas the EBTs usually employ infrared spectroscopy, the PAS units use a relatively simple electrochemical (fuel cell) technology. Their purpose, along with other FSTs, is to assist the officer in determining probable cause for arrest. Although because of their relative inaccuracy they were never intended to be used in court for proving actual blood-alcohol concentration, some courts have begun to admit them as evidence of BAC.

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Glossary of Legal Terms :: Alabama Lawyers

United States DUI Stats :
All 50 states now have two statutory offenses[1]. The first is the traditional offense, variously called driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI), driving while intoxicated/impaired (DWI) or operating while intoxicated/impaired (OWI). The second and more recent is the so-called illegal per se offense of driving with a blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% (previously 0.10%) or higher. The first offense requires proof of intoxication, although evidence of BAC is admissible as rebuttably presumptive evidence of that intoxication; the second requires only proof of BAC at the time of being in physical control of a motor vehicle. An accused may be convicted of both offenses, but may only be punished for one.