Posts Tagged ‘Newport Beach California’

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

Image via Wikipedia

Our Newport Beach DUI Lawyers have learned that Orange County agencies are approved to be soon receiving $3.5 million for driving-under-the-influence enforcement and other traffic-safety programs, the state’s Office of Traffic Safety announced Wednesday.

Grants include: $100,000 for Irvine’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Education Program; $150,000 will go to Garden Grove for a DUI enforcement and awareness program; and $331,380 will go to Santa Ana for a traffic-enforcement program.

If you have questions for our Orange County DUI Lawyers, call anytime at (877) 568-2977

Posts Tagged ‘Newport Beach California’

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

Image via Wikipedia

Our Newport Beach DUI Lawyers have learned that, although no DUI-related traffic fatalities were reported in Orange County over the July 4 holiday weekend, the number of arrests at sobriety checkpoints was nearly double that of last year, authorities reported.

The Avoid the 38 DUI task force concluded its weekend with the completion of three sobriety checkpoints along with multiple DUI saturation patrols. From midnight Friday, July 1, through midnight Monday, July 4, officers representing 38 county law enforcement agencies arrested 211 people for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

In 2010, there were only 108 DUI arrests during the four-day holiday weekend.

Deputy Wayne Howard of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department attributes the increase in arrests to an increase in grants given to law enforcement to apprehend drunk drivers.

More agencies are applying for the grants from the state Office of Traffic Safety, Howard said, and the money frees up officers to spend time on saturation patrols.

“Enforcement is getting more aggressive,” Howard said. “It’s just by the grace of God that we didn’t have fatalities this year. Experts estimate we catch only 1 to 2 percent of the drunk drivers out there. That means 20,000 people were driving drunk in Orange County just over the four-day weekend. That’s what truly scares me.

“We will continue to show zero tolerance, and anyone caught driving with a (blood alcohol content) of .08 or higher will be arrested,” Howard said.

Law enforcement officials will be conducting more Avoid Anti-DUI efforts throughout the county and region in partnership with the nationwide 18-day campaign in August ending Labor Day weekend.

Posts Tagged ‘Newport Beach California’

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

Image via Wikipedia

Our Newport Beach DUI Lawyers have learned that the Orange County Sheriff’s Department will be conducting a DUI/Drivers License Checkpoint in the City of San Clemente tonight, on Friday, June 17, 2011, from 6:30 p.m. until 2:30 a.m.  To speak with our Orange County DUI Lawyers, call (877) 568-2977 anytime.

Posts Tagged ‘Newport Beach California’

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

Image via Wikipedia

AB 1389 intended to curb DUI Checkpoints

As more grief counselors were dispatched to Northwood High School in Irvine to help students cope with the loss of a 14-year-old to a driver charged with DUI, word comes that an Orange County state legislator crossed party lines to support a Democrat’s bill to regulate sobriety checkpoints.

Assemblyman Chris Norby (R-Fullerton) says he voted for AB1389 because checkpoints are “fishing expeditions” for unlicensed drivers.

Norby also complained that cities often make money from the operations by impounding vehicles that often belong to illegal immigrants who can’t get licenses and end up stranded.

The legislation introduced by Assemblyman Michael Allen (D-Santa Rosa) passed 51-19 on Friday. If it is ultimately signed by the governor, it would confine checkpoints to streets where drunken driving is a problem.  If you have any questions for our Newport Beach DUI Lawyers, call us, toll free, at (877) 568-2977, anytime.

Posts Tagged ‘Newport Beach California’

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

Image via Wikipedia

Our Newport Beach DUI Lawyers have contacts with some officers in law enforcement, and we are told that the Memorial Day holiday resulted in Newport Beach police arresting a dozen motorists for suspected DUI.

Eight of the 12 DUI arrests were made Saturday, one was made Friday, one Sunday, and two more were made Monday, according to Newport Beach Police Sgt. Steve Burdette.

Officers were instructed to “show a presence near the local bars to discourage DUIs,” Burdette said in an e-mail.

However, no one specific area was targeted, he said.

On Monday in Costa Mesa, police officers arrested three people for suspected drunk driving during DUI saturation patrols. Officers made 60 traffic stops and gave nine drivers field sobriety tests, according to a Costa Mesa Police Department news release.

Other Orange County cities’ police departments mounted DUI/driver’s license checkpoints and DUI saturation patrols over the weekend in preparation for the summer months, which are typically characterized by an increase in drunk driving, according to a news release issued last week by Newport Beach police.

“The Memorial Day weekend is witness to the kickoff of summertime recreation and holiday travel, along with many college and high school graduations seeing thousands celebrate their accomplishments,” the release said. “The next 100 days will also see a rise in deaths and injuries as far too many individuals get behind the wheel impaired.”

On Tuesday, Irvine police announced that Ashton Sweet, a 14-year-old Irvine resident, died of her injuries sustained in a suspected drunk driving-related crash in that city early Sunday morning. Austin Farley, 26, of Irvine, was arrested on suspicion of driving drunk and causing the deadly collision, and today was charged with negligent homicide.

Posts Tagged ‘Newport Beach California’

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

Image via Wikipedia

The Avoid the 26-Orange County DUI Campaign will be deploying officers this holiday weekend at DUI/Drivers License Checkpoints and DUI Saturation Patrols countywide to arrest drunk drivers.

The enforcement campaign begins Friday night with DUI/Drivers License checkpoints in the city of Anaheim, Buena Park and La Habra with special DUI Saturation Patrols deploying in the cities of Anaheim and La Habra.  The city of Seal Beach will host a DUI/Drivers License checkpoint in their city on Sunday night.  More local DUI Saturation Patrols will be out on Saturday and Sunday nights on the cities of Newport Beach, Brea, Buena Park, Fountain Valley, Fullerton, Irvine, Laguna Beach, Los Alamitos, Placentia, Santa Ana and the University of California, Irvine.  The California Highway Patrol is deploying all available officers Memorial Day weekend onto freeways and county roads in their jurisdiction.

Funding for the Avoid Campaign is through a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  The Avoid Campaign will deploy checkpoints and DUI patrols again during the Independence Day Holiday and for the August/Labor DUI Mobilization. If you have questions for our Orange County DUI Lawyers, call us, toll free, at (877) 568-2977.

Posts Tagged ‘Newport Beach California’

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

Image via Wikipedia

The lights are flashing, the officer comes over to your car, and you think about those two drinks you had.  If you even think you might have alcohol, and are stopped or arrested for DUI, the right thing to say isn’t “Officer, can you hold my beer?”, but instead follow these six things you should NEVER do.

1. Be Zen, and Don’t Admit anything.

Should you quickly pop mints, Listerine strips, gum, or even reach below the seat for that flask that you’ve kept concealed for just this situation (so that the police can not demonstrate when the alcohol was consumed)? Reaching all around frantically in your vehicle for anything at all, (specially something shiny and metal) as the officer approaches your automobile is a excellent way to increase your odds of getting shot. Roll down all your windows, (this also airs out the automobile), flip on your interior lights, put your hands at the “10 and 2″ position, high on the steering wheel, and don’t get out of the automobile.

Now is also not the time to go into particulars about nearly anything. Despite the fact that it’s hard, a refusal to respond to questions is legal.  More than that, it’s smart, as your answers can’t be used against you, underneath the US Constitution’s Fifth Amendment. So do what any judge or attorney would advise you to do – politely refuse to response any issues, and inform the police that a Newport Beach DUI lawyer (me) advised you not to respond any questions .

2. Politely refuse the Field Sobriety Exams (FSTs).

In California, the FSTs are optional, and voluntary. They are intended to give the police proof to assist a determination of probable cause that you had been under the influence, and can be refused without any consequence. Area sobriety assessments include the walk and turn examination, horizontal gaze nystagmus (watching a pen, flashlight, finger with your eyes), the one leg stand, and even a PAS (preliminary alcohol screening device) test.

Even so, make positive that you know that under California law, there are consequences for refusing an evidentiary test, which is different than a PAS test.  So, the smart thing to do is to politely refuse the field test, politely request a breath or blood test at the station, which offers you much more time to burn off off alcohol.

3. Do not, ever, at any time, miss your court date.

Do not ever before miss your court date, ever, ever, period.  It can lead to additional costs, and a warrant for your arrest, and just makes you look irresponsible to the court.

4. Don’t miss the DMV deadline.

The DMV has a sneaky 10 day deadline to request a hearing, or lose your license, and it’s buried in the fine print of your license.  They are very strict about this requirement, so don’t miss it.

5.  Don’t assume you can’t fight a DUI case, or that it’s helpless.

Make certain you go over ALL defenses in your case, during a free consultation with a DUI Specialist, to see if, and how, your DUI matter can be dismissed, or reduced to a charge that can end up saving countless dollars in fines and fees, and keep you from a criminal record, or points on your driving record. There are a lot of defenses to DUI cases, which include defenses specific to breath testing or blood testing.  The time to explore your defenses is now, not a year later, when you see how much pleading guilty in your DUI case hurt you.

6. Don’t Defend Your self

You may possibly be contemplating defending yourself in court, but that is definitely not a good idea. You’ve heard the saying that a man who defends himself has a fool for a client, and, well… it’s true.  It really is significantly better to have an attorney who is familiar with the law, and skilled with the court exactly where your case is in. Trying to tackle something as complex as DUI by your self is a bad, bad move.

If your circumstance is in Orange County, you really should strongly consult with one of the very best Orange County DUI Lawyers in the location, and get guidance from a DUI Specialist Orange County, to conserve your license and remain out of jail.

Posts Tagged ‘Newport Beach California’

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

Image via Wikipedia

Our Newport Beach DUI lawyers have learned that the Traffic Division of the Newport Beach Police Department will be conducting a sobriety/driver’s license checkpoint on Friday, April 8, 2011.

The location of the checkpoint will be northbound Jamboree Road at Santa Barbara Drive.

The approximate hours of operation will be from 9:00 p.m. until 3:00 a.m.

The checkpoint location was selected based upon its proximity to bars and restaurants and provides a high degree of visibility to the motoring public.  Be careful out there.

Posts Tagged ‘Newport Beach California’

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

Image via Wikipedia

Our Newport Beach DUI Lawyers have learned that the Traffic Division of the Newport Beach Police Department will be conducting a sobriety/driver’s license checkpoint on Friday, March 11, 2011.  The location of the checkpoint will be northbound Dover Drive at 16th Street.  The approximate hours of operation will be from 9:00 p.m. until 3:00 a.m.

The checkpoint location was selected based upon its proximity to bars and restaurants and provides a high degree of visibility to the motoring public.  Site determination was also based upon roadway configuration, sight distances, traffic volume, lighting, and motorist safety.  A primary consideration was also officer safety.

The checkpoint will be clearly marked and vehicles will be selected to move through the check lanes on a pre-set basis to ensure objectivity and timeliness.  Motorists will be greeted and given an informational brochure on “Driving Under The Influence,” prepared by the Newport Beach Police Department Traffic Division.

Posts Tagged ‘Newport Beach California’

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

Image via Wikipedia

Our Newport Beach DUI Lawyers have learned that the Newport Beach Police Department will conduct a driver’s license and sobriety checkpoint Friday, between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m. on Newport Boulevard near Finley.

DUI checkpoints are not a very effective  enforcement tool in reducing the number of persons killed and injured in alcohol involved crashes, but provide substantial funding from federal and state funds, and contributions from MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving).  UC Berkeley found that impound fees earned by police agencies from 30 day or longer impounds can provide substantial income to law enforcement.

Officers will be checking drivers through the checkpoint for signs of alcohol and or drug impairment and may conduct a field sobriety test.  For those that fail, expect that jail, vehicle storage fees, license suspension, insurance rate increases, along with fines, fees, DUI classes, other expenses that can exceed $10,000.

In 2010, all 8 of the officers on the DUI enforcement team made at least 100 DUI arrests that year.  If you have questions for our Orange County DUI Lawyers, contact us at the firm, toll free, at (877) 568-2977