DUI, DWI and Traffic Law
In addition to detecting impaired drivers and getting them off the roads, reducing impaired driving is another priority of the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration (NHSTA). A number of studies has shown that at least three of every ten Americans are involved in alcohol- or drug-related crashes at some point in their lives. Impaired driving costs taxpayers billions of dollars every year. For this reason, drinking-and-driving has become a serious offense in the U.S.
Implied Consent Statutes
Since many violations of traffic laws and automobile crashes involve drivers who are under the influence of alcoholic beverages, state legislators enacted implied consent statutes stating that a person who is driving or operating a motor vehicle is deemed to have given his or her consent to submit to a chemical test to determine the alcohol content of his or her blood if he or she is arrested while intoxicated.
Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) Legal Limit
A law was enacted in the fall of 2000 establishing the national BAC standard for drunken driving at 0.08 percent. States that did not comply with this national standard would face reductions in their federal highway grants, starting at 2 percent in 2004 and increasing up to 8 percent in 2007. To avoid losing the federal highway grants, all states have now lowered their legal BAC limit to 0.08 percent from 0.10 percent.
No Violation of Constitutional Rights
The constitutionality of taking blood from the person without his consent has long been ruled as neither in violation of the person's Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination nor the Fourth Amendment even if the blood test was taken without any warrant. Although you can no longer use these provisions of the Constitution as defenses in your DUI cases, an experienced attorney knows of other legal strategies that may be applicable in your circumstances.