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92-year-old jailed for DUI
Posted on May 12th, 2009 No commentsI don’t normally like to comment on these far-afield stories but this one is particularly crazy.
It seems that 92-year-old Clifford Allen was convicted of his second DUI (second within six years, one wonders if there are more?) this triggers some sort of mandatory sentence and landed him in the county lockup, when some sort of residential rehab fell through. Read the rest of this entry »
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Rumsey guilty of manslaughter
Posted on December 19th, 2008 No commentsGlenda Rumsey was found guilty of manslaughter in the death of Tucson teenager Jose Rincon. This is fairly unusual, as juries rarely go for the higher degree murder charge, and instead usually opt for the less-serious Negligent Homicide (see here for a roundup of types of murder). Like many drunk drivers, she also tried to run. Read the rest of this entry »
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DUI bill passes with help from speaker
Posted on April 25th, 2008 No commentsUPDATE June 7, 2008: HB2643 passed and signed. Score one for Napalitano. So the interlock stays at a year.
UPDATE April 30, 2008: The governor vetoed the bill, citing the interlock compromise as untenable. Liquor industy lobbyiests allowed House Speaker Jim Weiers to allow the bill to go forth because is contained the interlock reduction. There were perfectly good bills — being blocked — that would have given use perfectly sensible reform, e.g. the fix for conflicting penalties for extreme DUI.
In an unusual stroke of consistency, a bunch of competing DUI changes were rolled up and passed. Read the rest of this entry » -
DUI Escalation
Posted on March 27th, 2008 No commentsThere are a couple of slants in this story by Sarah Fensky appearing in the Phoenix New Times: “It took less than one drink to get Shannon Wilcutt busted for felony DUI“
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Senate bills propose stiffer DUI penalties
Posted on February 19th, 2008 No commentsIf it’s legislative season, it must be time to fiddle with the DUI laws. Again. Read the rest of this entry »
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Super Extreme
Posted on September 19th, 2007 No commentsThe latest crop of new DUI laws goes into effect soon. The most notable changes are mandatory ignition interlocks for any, including first time, DUI, and a new category of above extreme DUI. Read the rest of this entry »
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2006 Fatality Stats – Final
Posted on July 24th, 2007 2 commentsArizona Leads the Nation [update: also see this entry]
NHTSA released final traffic stats for 2006 on July 23rd: Arizona led the nation in increased number of fatalities, by 109, from 1,179 in 2005 to 1,288 in 2006 (a whopping 9.2% increase). Overall US fatalities decreased by 2%. Read the rest of this entry »
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Off duty uninsured DPS officer
Posted on July 4th, 2007 No commentsUPDATE2, Feb 24, 2009: Aguilera was found guilty at trial. Sentencing is scheduled for April 24. Here is a wild picture of the wreck — the motorcycle is impaled upright in the grill of Aguilera’s car… was speed a factor?
UPDATE1: The Aguilera case is going to trial. You can see the wheels of justice slowly grinding via the superior court’s website.The crash occurred May 2007; it’s now Feb 2009. It appears that the case being brought was solely due to the alchohol content (which fits the pattern — in the mind of the county attorney’s office there is never any criminal culpability outside the context of alcohol ).
In October 2007, news reports said Aguilera had a 0.057 BAC four hours after the crash. He was indicted on aggravated assault (and not DUI). The assault charges are far more serious:
Thomas said Tuesday said he believes the aggravated assault charges will stick, and even if Aguilera’s blood alcohol level would have been above the legal limit, Thomas said his office likely wouldn’t have asked for charges of a misdemeanor DUI.
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Interesting points:An off-duty DPS officer, in his uninsured vehicle is accused of causing the wreck. This case is moving pretty quickly — the crash occurred May 4th 2007, 2 months ago. The link to DUI is hinted at, but results still not in (not unusual) — if other cases are any guide, the DUI status of Aguilera will determine whether or not criminal charges (aggravated assault?) are brought. -
Actual time served
Posted on June 28th, 2007 No commentsThe story Statistics prove Hilton is getting a raw deal shows the seamy underbelly of American penal system. Because convicted car-criminals aren’t considered dangerous, they usually end up serving absurdly short amount of time — even for a serious offense like driving without a license while on probation for DUI! Hilton eventually served the full 23 days — but we are told that the “normal” amount of time actually served for similarly situated (but non-celebrity) individuals is 4 days. With FOUR TIMES the number of folks being killed on the highways as by “old fashioned” murderers (roughly 40,000 versus 10,000 per year in the US) perhaps it is time to rethink the notion of who is more dangerous.
The Los Angeles Times analysed two million jail releases and identified 1,500 cases since July 2002 that involved defendants arrested for drink driving and then sentenced to jail after violating their probation by driving without a licence.
Around 60 per cent left jail after four days……
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2006 Fatality Stats – preliminary
Posted on June 16th, 2007 1 comment[ U P D A T E : final stats ]
NHTSA’s preliminary Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data for 2006 (a.k.a. highway traffic fatalities):
2006 2005 alcohol-related 17,941 17,525 drunk 13,990 13,613 pedestrian 4,768 4,881 motorcyclist not yet available 4,553 pedalcyclist not yet available 784 total 43,300 43,443 All other transportation(e.g planes, trains) 2,193 (Figures released May 25, 2007; updated table with 2005 numbers June 16, 2007)