Tuesday, September 29, 2009

The Authorities And DUI

By Richard Milford

Driving under the influence, also known as a DUI; should not be taken lightly by any individual. You could not just think that you can get away with it since authorities are likely to apprehend you when you are caught doing so.

The odds that someone is operating a vehicle under the influence is high since there is no law to stop them drinking up a storm. For this reason it has become a cause for concern because of all the fatalities resulting from it and families destroyed.

A common mistake made by drivers under the influence is that they still think they are capable of driving normally and therefore will never be noticed by the police. However, that is most untrue. In fact, the best drivers around will drive crooked if they are intoxicated due to alcohol consumption. This makes it easy to detect vehicles on the road that are being driven by someone who is under the influence of some substance.

There are several ways traffic authorities have to detect intoxication from alcohol, drugs or other neural compounds and one is the BAC test. This test measures the amount of alcohol content in the blood. In the United States a reading of .08% or higher classifies a person as DUI and if driving and caught you will be liable for an offense.

Authorities have another device to administer to check for intoxication if they apprehend someone driving suspiciously. It is called the Breathalyzer and is a simple device you blow into and it then reads blood-alcohol concentration and if it fails to reach a certain range you will be allowed to go.

Officers not equipped with Breathalyzers can require you to take a urine test which then is tested in a laboratory to evaluate the alcohol amount in the body.

If determined to be intoxicated the driver will then be punished with the penalties under the law of the state they are in. These penalties for a DUI vary by state and one state may have harsher consequences than another. The severity of the penalty also depends on whether or not prior DUI offenses have been committed. The first offense is often lighter than it is for subsequent offenses.

In some states the severity of the charge can vary for the offender depending on age with leniency, to a degree, for minors whereas the grown adult will not.

There have been many campaigns in recent years to educate both adults and minors alike on the consequences of driving under the influence. Due to the unacceptable number of DUI incidents in recent years authorities are enforcing the law more in apprehending drivers that are DUI in hope of possibly saving a life or more.

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