When is too much really “too much”? When is your drinking going to endanger other drivers on the road? When is mixing drugs and alcohol going to lead to an accident? How dangerous is drinking one beer, a few more, a few more, and then driving?

According to a recent study, drinking two beers can lead to close to a .04 BAC (blood alcohol content). This is of course subjective, depending on how much you weigh and if you eat. However, it gives us a good barometer for how drinking affects you. If you drink twice that amount, about 4 beers, you can be at the legal limit in all 50 states, .08. If you get to a .04, you are 1.4 times as likely to get into an accident. If you get to .08, you are 10 times more likely to get into an accident (and you’re breaking the law). Keep drinking, and the numbers can be quite startling, making you 30 to 40 times more likely to get into an accident.

Car accidents are a leading cause of death throughout the country. And accidents are the leading cause of death for those under the age of 24; about 40% of drivers under 24 who get into an accident do so because of alcohol. The dangers for young drivers may seem obvious, but it’s a point which needs to be made more.

The more you drink, the more likely you are to get into an accident. And remember, the numbers above are just basic benchmarks. If you weigh very little, you may hit .08, the legal limit, much faster. If you weigh more, you may think you can handle more, drinking more and then getting into an accident.

Why is drinking and driving so dangerous? It’s important to understand how alcohol affects your body. The most important affect alcohol has is in reaction time. Your reflexes slow, and you might rear end someone who stops quickly. Your vision is also effected, making driving at night dangerous. You may suffer from common drowsiness after doing some drinking, and that influences your ability to drive. Though there are many more – such as coordination in the actual driving process – remember that alcohol has major affects on your driving abilities, even in small amounts.

What if you get charged with a DUI or DWI? You have more options than you might think. These are serious charges, and you need legal representation. A DUI lawyer is invaluable in protecting your rights. You likely made some mistakes. You have to understand you endangered others on the road if you indeed drank too much. However, simply knowing your guilty does not mean you give up. Instead, you hire an experienced lawyer who specializes in DUI, who can protect your rights, and who can make an effective defense.

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You’ve just got out of jail after being pulled over, tested for alcohol, and arrested for a DUI. What’s next? You have to defend yourself in court.

Can you plead innocent to the charges? Absolutely, as a successful DUI defense is very possible. On the other hand, the odds are against you. You have to know what evidence is being brought. Just like when you get into an accident, proof of what exactly happened can define the following events. This blog guide will explain what proof will be used against you and how you can discredit it.

Breath Tests
A breathalyzer tests the blood alcohol intoxication you have by, as it sounds, your breath. On a more scientific note, once alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream, it goes through your lungs, where the breathalyzer comes into play. The process, though useful and often right, is not perfect. There is some potential for mistakes. Yes, the majority of the time a positive breath test is correct. But since the tests are subject to human error and it makes no difference how much you weigh or if you’re man or woman, it’s not the most damning evidence.

Blood Tests
Blood tests are the most damning evidence. Why? As noted, alcohol goes into your blood. It does not go out of your urine. Therefore, testing your blood alcohol content, BAC, is the most accurate of all tests for alcohol. If you are over legal limit of .08 on a breath test, there may be some question. But if you fail a BAC test, you may be in trouble.

Officer Testimony
The officer will be writing the report on what happened, making what you do and say crucial in defense. As often quoted, what you say can be held against you in a court of law. Therefore, the less you say the better. You have to, by law, give your name, license, and identifying information, but you need not answer every question the officer asks. Also, the officer may ask you to do a field sobriety tests – such as walking a straight line – and as we note on this blog, that’s not always required. Few states have laws where you have to take a field sobriety test.

Your Testimony
In court, your testimony will not be the deciding factor unless something clearly illegal happened. If you were pulled over for absolutely no reason, perhaps because of how you looked or how your car looked, that is against the law. Profiling based on race, sex, and other appearance does occur. If you feel your rights were infringed upon, you have a right to say so in your testimony.

Can you win?
Yes, beating DUI charges even with evidence against you is very possible. But, face it, if you are guilty and the officer acted correctly, you may have to accept some penalties. Even then, you might be able to avoid some of the charges, such as a long jail sentence.

Who can help?
Hiring a professional DUI lawyer is crucial in winning in court. And winning is not always beating every charge; sometimes lessening license suspensions or avoiding jail time is a win. No matter what, get an experienced lawyer willing to spend time into defending you. Simply forgoing a lawyer, and pleading guilty, may mean maximum penalties.

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Some think that once you drink in excess, and get pulled over by a police officer, the game is over. You will be charged, you might as well plead guilty, and you’ll face penalties. Nothing is further from the truth. Yes, there are instances where even a strong DUI defense cannot limit charges, yet those are quite rare. You should always question what happened. How do you do that? You hire an experienced DUI lawyer to defend you.

And if you’ve been drinking, it’s does not always mean you are guilty. There are many considerations to be made in how much you drink, what you drank, what you ate, when you drank, what you weigh, and whether you are a man or woman. Unfortunately, many DUI tests, especially the breath test, cannot account for many of these factors.

Alcohol Absorption
Simply drinking does not mean you will be intoxicated when driving. If you drink, then go drive, the alcohol may not have fully been absorbed into your blood. It takes time for alcohol to be taken into your blood and then have an affect on your body.

In Your Blood
Alcohol is also eliminated from your body. It’s not good for you, so your liver takes care of it. If you are very healthy, the alcohol will quite often be taken out of your bloodstream. If you drink in extreme excess, of course that is another story. But the point here is that alcohol may not even be in your blood stream. A blood test, designed to prove guilt, may prove innocence here.

Breath Tests and Weight
If you are heavier, alcohol will have less affect. If you are thinner or smaller, it will have more affect. This is important because breathalyzer test do not factor in whether you are heavy or light. Also, if you are in shape with a lot of muscle, that means alcohol has less affect on you. On the other hand, if you are big, have a lot of body fat, and drink in excess, alcohol will have more affect. Again, breathalyzer tests cannot differentiate between body weight and body type.

What did you eat?
If you ate a lot of food while drinking, that too can influence your alcohol level. Food both helps eliminate alcohol from the blood and slows the process of intoxication. If you ate nothing, drank some shots and beers, then you are likely intoxicated to some point. If you ate a full meal with  a moderate amount of beer, that may be different.

Did you take medicine or mix drugs?
If you are medication, most labels explain you should not mix your medicine with alcohol, especially at the same time. If you take a pill for depression or anxiety and then mix it with some alcohol, you will definitely be affected. Even if you drank under the legal limit – .08 in all states – you can be charged with a DUI if drugs are found in your system along with alcohol.

Tolerance Questions
While you may think you have a strong tolerance for alcohol, on blood and breath tests it won’t matter. You drink 10 beers, feel fine, and drive, then are pulled over. You may pass field sobriety tests such as walking in a straight line, but fail the breathalyzer. That’s all an officer needs to arrest you.

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Sometimes bad situations can turn into learning experiences. When it comes to drinking and driving, no matter the charges, you may feel somewhat unsure of what happens after. What do you do with no drivers license, court fines, and having served or going to serve jail time?

It all depends on where you’re at. The problem is first time offenders are very common, but these same people getting pulled over again is all too common too. Whatever your problem, you can face stiff penalties. What happens after them?

After a First Time Offense
After your first DUI charge, you have some options. This may be the biggest learning experience for drivers, because you can effectively nip the problem in the bud and never get behind the wheel again. You still will have penalties: license suspension of 6 months or more, fines, and potentially jail time. For Michigan DUI offenses, the charges are as serious as other states. However, in Michigan, even your first DUI will stay on your record for life. It  can never be cleared.

After Multiple Offenses
You may be spending some time in jail, and it’s unlikely you’ll be driving anytime soon, at least legally.  The important thing is to avoid driving at all, because if you’re pulled over you will be arrested on the spot by a Detroit police officer. It’s a major problem which is why the punishment is so great. And it will extend your suspend license as well as other penalties.

After Penalties
After your penalties, life isn’t over. You can rebuild your life, but first you have to salvage what you can. This DUI will stay on your record, your license will be suspended, fines are common, and jail time from a few days to a few months may also occur. You just might have to serve time; there is nothing good in that. However, you can learn you lesson, fight if you believe you were treated wrongly, and start rebuilding once you get through all the penalties.

After Jail
Jail can be one of the biggest learning experiences, oddly enough. Michigan does put drinking and driving offenders in jail. If you hit another car or pedestrian and someone  was hurt, it’s very likely you’ll be spending time in jail or prison.

When  You Get a License Suspension
Driving is the worst thing you can do after a DUI offense. Do whatever you can to live without your car. This may mean biking to work, or having your spouse drive you.

When will it be over?
A Michigan DUI will never be expunged from your record, but you need not worry anymore if you’ve learned the lesson. Why are these penalties so strict? Drinking and driving fatalities are unfortunately very common, in Detroit and all of Michigan. The problem is so great that the penalties have to be enforced. Remember, just drinking greatly increases your chances of getting into an accident.

Rebuilding after a Detroit DUI is very possible. It’s not easy either, but you can expect life to get better once you get through it.

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Drunk driving is one of the most common crimes in the U.S. today, with literally thousands of new arrests across every state in the country every single week. You can sometimes get away with drinking driving, but once you’re caught, expect penalties.

What kind of penalties for DUI violations do you typically get?
Say this is your first DUI offense. You had a few drinks with friends, didn’t feel like calling a cab, and got behind the wheel. Once you start driving, you are breaking the law. Once you get pulled over, once your blood alcohol content (BAC) is tested with a breathalyzer or other sobriety test, you can be arrested, put in jail until you sober up, and then expect stiff penalties.

The penalties depend on the state. However, all states use the 0.08% limit; if you’re there or above, you can be arrested. Also, if it’s clear you are under the influence and you are not over the limit, you can still be punished to the full extend of the law.

If you’re arrested in California for your first DUI, for example, you can expect a license suspension, fines, and possibly jail time. California, like all states, punishes even one DUI very hard. Why? Tens of thousands of people die every year are related to drinking and driving. Sometimes it’s the driver, other times the pedestrian crossing the street, or maybe the driver you hit and killed. It’s simply one of the most dangerous killers in the U.S.

What if you get a second or third DUI?
Let’s look at the California example again for this question. If you get a second DUI charge, you can expect to be fined, license suspension for up to 2 years, and jail time up to one year. You also will likely be forced to take classes.

If this is your third DUI violation, just take those punishments and multiply them. With a third offense, your license can be suspended in California for up to 3 years and you can also expect lengthy county jail time. After a fourth of fifth offense, you will likely spend an even longer time in state prison.

What if you hurt someone while driving?
Since DUI charges are designed to keep drinkers off the  roads, it’s important to note how many people die when offenders break the law and decide to drive. In each state, thousands of drinking and driving accidents occur every year. And many are not only hurt–some are also killed. Alcohol is a leading cause of death in general, not just for drivers, but drinking and driving has historically been a major killer.

If you hurt someone while drinking and driving, the laws vary by state. Typically, it’s called an aggravated DUI, which is a felony charge. If you drink and  drive one time, hurt or kill someone, or drive a minor in your car after you’ve been drinking, the penalties are very severe. In some cases, if a a death is involved, you might face manslaughter charges.

How can you get help with a DUI case?
Hire a professional DUI attorney who can help you fight the case, get a plea bargain with the prosecution, and handle the judge.

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If you or someone you know recently had a DUI (driving under the influence) also called DWI (driving while intoxicated) in some states, you likely face drivers license suspension. There are a variety of ways to  get pulled over under suspicion, get the DUI , and to defend a DUI arrest. Let’s go over how you get the DUI.

First, it depends on how you and the officer handle the DUI. It varies depending on whether you refused a breath, urine, or blood test for alcohol; if your blood alcohol level was 0.08% or more; and if you have prior convictions for a DUI.

For instance, all states consider a second or third DUI offense cause for stiffer penalties. If you get pulled over frequently, you not only will get your drivers license suspended, but also face fines and potentially jail time. The worse it gets the worse the result.

If you refused a blood, urine, or breath alcohol test, many states have laws in place to punish you for that. This is called the “implied consent” law, where you are required by the police to take the test, and if you don’t you face license suspension in some cases, if not stiffer penalties. Usually you can expect an immediate drivers license suspension of 3-12 months, and other penalties. Also, even if you fought the case and won, the implied consent law allows for your license suspension to run its course.

How Do You Fight License Suspensions for DUI?
Fighting against DUI cases involves a variety of strategies. It’s best to immediately hire a DUI lawyer, as handling your own case rarely works out. If you cannot afford a professional DUI lawyer, ask the court to appoint a lawyer for you

Since the penalties for DUI violations are strict in every U.S. state, there are many strategies in fighting them. The prosecution makes it’s own case based on what happened, focusing on the fact you are the person being charged with driving a vehicle while “under the influence” of alcohol. You were drinking and driving, in other words.

The defense for DUI involves questioning the prosecutions case. You might argue you were in fact not driving the vehicle; it may have been parked and you had been drinking. In this case, you might be waiting in a store parking lot for your husband or wife, and the officer charges you.

If the officer had no “probable cause” for pulling you over, you can also fight that. You can challenge the arrest based on the facts the officer uses; if they seem to lack enough to be a DUI charge, it can help your case.

Another strategy involving the way the officer arrested you for a DUI is that if he or she did not give you a miranda warning–the classic “you have the right to remain silent” requirement all officers must use. If there was none, you can fight on that fact.

Fighting License Suspensions
Beyond fines and jail time, you often lose your license for 3-12 months for a DUI arrest, often more after a second and third arrest. Since it can be difficult to get your license back in a short amount of time, fighting the case in court is even more important. However, the problem is that these cases are often hard to fight, as DUI arrests are very common and many judges are not lenient.

In any case, you should hire a professional DUI lawyer to fight for your rights. A DUI lawyer can help fight license suspensions or get your your license back.

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There is no definitive difference between the actual terms of DUI (driving under the influence) and DWI (driving while intoxicated). It’s technically used in the same way in all 50 states, notably with the blood alcohol level of 0.08%. States use these terms in different laws but with the same effect. The 0.08 level is across all 50 states, and states also have laws apply to driving while using any drug along with alcohol. You could have had one glass of wine, but also been on painkillers, and technically even if you’re not over the blood alcohol level, you can be considered driving under the influence.

So there is no clear difference between DUI and DWI, other than the terminology used in different states. Some states use DUI, others DWI, while still others use OUI (operating under the influence).

The major point here is that all 50 states are actively looking to penalize people who drive under the influence.

How does DUI work exactly?

Drunk Driving Laws

As stated, in all 50 states, the blood alcohol level limit of over 0.08 is the same. If you have 0.08 or higher, you can be arrested under the DUI laws of every state. Since state laws can be used to call any drinking to be driving under the influence, some steps are followed to make the case for a drunk driving arrest.

-The person drove the vehicle
-This person’s ability to drive safely was affected by alcohol, drugs, or a combination of both

As you can see, if you’ve shown that you might be driving under the influence even without a high enough blood alcohol level, you can and will often be arrested for a DUI.

There are many ways of using these laws, making it important to have qualified legal representation, a DUI attorney, to plead your case. It happens to many, but this is because almost a third of all driving related deaths are in some way effected by alcohol. That’s why states are even more active in punishing DUI and DWI offenders.

How Do You Defend a DUI or DWI?

The basic laws are the same, but how they are used depends on the courts. For example, if someone was hurt while you were driving, it might be considered a felony rather than a misdemeanor, a much more serious crime. First drunk driving offenses are typically misdemeanors, but if someone was hurt you may be in trouble. Since DUIs can make you lose your license, face fines, and sometimes even go to jail, a professional DUI attorney can help you out of this situation.

How Do You Choose a DUI or DWI Attorney?

You always want someone with experience in this, and many DUI attorneys do. However, some can handle your case better than others, as some attorneys can help you out of possible jail time. In choosing a DUI attorney, you want one familiar with the state laws. You should never attempt to handle a DUI or DWI case by yourself and without a DUI attorney.

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As celebrations for New Year’s eve get underway today, I would like to take a moment to remind everyone that you shouldn’t drink and drive. If you are going to go out and drink, take a cab, take public transit, designate a driver, but don’t drink and drive.

The consequences of getting behind the wheel of a vehicle after a night of drinking can be far reaching and devastating, not only to you and your family, but for others on the road. If you are involved in an accident while drinking and driving, you could face serious jail time if someone were killed and you faced intoxication manslaughter charges.

New Year’s Eve into New Year’s Day has statistically had the second highest concentration of drunk driving accidents. Take the time to ensure that you and your loved ones don’t become part of the sad statistics of preventable accidents. Do some research today and find the number of a cab company in your area. If you have AAA, find out about their “Tipsy Tow” service.

There are ways to avoid driving drunk. Plan to make your holiday celebrations safe, for you and everyone else on the road.

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Technically, DUI means driving under the influence of some type drug. That can mean alcohol, prescriptions, or illegal drugs. DWI means simply driving while intoxicated, and in many states, refers to the use of alcohol. The use of the terms can be interchangeable but DWI usually refers more to the severity the drug has metabolized within the offending person’s body. The Virginia Vehicle Code § 18.2-266 says it shall be unlawful for any person to drive or operate any motor vehicle, engine, or train:

• while such person has a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or more by weight by volume or 0.08 grams or more per 210 liters of breath as indicated by a chemical test administered as provided in this article,
• while such person is under the influence of alcohol, while such person is under the influence of any narcotic drug or any other self-administered intoxicant or drug of whatsoever nature, or any combination of such drugs, to a degree which impairs his ability to drive or operate any motor vehicle, engine or train safely,
• while such person is under the combined influence of alcohol and any drug or drugs to a degree which impairs his ability to drive or operate any motor vehicle, engine or train safely, or while such person has a blood concentration of any of the following substances at a level that is equal to or greater than: (a) 0.02 milligrams of cocaine per liter of blood, (b) 0.1 milligrams of methamphetamine per liter of blood, (c) 0.01 milligrams of phencyclidine per liter of blood, or (d) 0.1 milligrams of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine per liter of blood.

Any confusion of terminology used comes from Virginia’s use of the word “impair” in their vehicle codes. The term or variation of the word is often used interchangeably with intoxication. So, DWI becomes driving while impaired. Most agree that being impaired is a lesser degree of intoxication but certainly means being under the influence of the related drug.

Convicted first time offenders can receive stiff fines, revocation of license for a year, jail time, and mandatory attendance of the Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program (VASAP). The conviction, even a first time conviction, stays on your record permanently.

Effective July 1, 2004, Virginia changed many DUI penalties, increasing their severity. Whatever term you refer to drinking and driving or drunk driving, states are clamping down on these type traffic violations. When you face these kinds of charges, it is no time to handle your case all by yourself. You need an attorney who understands the laws involved in such cases. Contact us so that we can help you get in contact with a DUI lawyer who can help you understand the subtle differences in the legal jargon of Virginia law, and who is ready to represent your best interests.

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