Recently in DUI Laws Category

An opinion piece written by a Chicago DUI lawyer and published by FindLaw decries an Illinois bill that would give police more leeway to use "reasonable force" in order to get blood draws from suspected drunk drivers. The bill which allows for a forced DUI blood draw, HB 4969, currently is pending before the rules committee.

If passed, the law would require hospitals to comply with an officer's warrant for a blood draw from a suspected impaired driver.

The author of the piece insists that if it becomes law, it will "[set] aside long-established patient consent rights to facilitate prosecutions." It's currently a gray area of law, as patient consent usually is required before a blood sample may be obtained.

A pregnant woman in Georgia suspected of driving while under the influence of alcohol lost her fetus in a collision after fleeing police, ABC News reported. She was charged with a DUI and charges related to evading the police.

She also may face charges of "feticide by vehicle" for the death of her unborn child, according to Douglas County District Attorney David McDade:

"An autopsy is being performed on the child and there will almost certainly be criminal responsibility... Under the Georgia statute it doesn't matter the age of the child as long as it was alive just prior to the incident."

According to FindLaw, the concept known as implied consent refers to the agreement motorists make when they apply for a driver's license that they will consent to a blood-alcohol test if officers have reason to believe they're over the limit. Typically it's done with a breathalyzer test.

Illinois motorists who refuse a breathalyzer test automatically lose their license for at least six months.

But repeat offenders might rather lose their license than provide evidence of yet another DUI, thereby risking an harsher penalty. That's the rationale behind so-called "no-refusal" weekends, described in a Chicago Tribune article, during which officers are urged to secure warrants for blood samples when suspected drunk drivers refuse a BAC test.

A little more than 14 months since Illinois started allowing DUI offenders to drive with a Breath Alcohol Ignition Interlock Device (BAIID), Alton newspaper The Telegraph reported that it seems to be working as planned.

Illinois motorists convicted of a DUI used to face automatic suspension of driving privileges. But ever since Jan. 1, 2009 drunk-driving offenders could apply for a Monitoring Device Driving Permit (MDDP). The BAIID device is a small breathalyzer that locks the car's ignition until the driver proves his or her sobriety.

It's difficult to know exactly how effective the BAIID program really is, since so many factors are at play. However, the Illinois State Police reported 321 DUI-related deaths in 2009 (the year the law took effect), compared to 425 DUI-related deaths the year before. That's a nearly 25 percent drop.

A proposed piece of state legislation that would toughen penalties for Illinois speeders caught traveling at 100 mph seems to be getting the green light from lawmakers, according to the Chicago Tribune. If it passes, it may also affect how some DUI cases are handled. 

The newspaper published an investigative report last Sunday citing court documents indicating that nearly two-thirds of so-called "triple-digit" speeders receive a light form of probation that keeps the offense off their records.

But among the Tribune's findings is one particularly sobering revelation.

The so-called Restoration Act was a federal program initiated more than a decade ago with the purpose of encouraging states to bring their open container laws in line with the federal standard, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (PDF).

NHTSA's theory was that by enforcing laws that prohibit open containers of alcohol in the hands of drivers and passengers, or within arm's reach of the driver, drunk driving would decrease. 

Without open container laws, drivers legally can still drink alcohol while driving as long as they don't exceed the legal limit. But that's not the case in Illinois, so don't tell your Chicago DUI lawyer that you were "saving" that last half-beer for when you got home.

Straddling your 10-speed after downing one too many pints may not be the safest way to get home, certainly not as safe as hailing a cab or getting a ride from a sober driver. But some may argue that it's much safer than driving a car and won't attract the attention of Chicago's finest.

Any Illinois DUI attorneys out there care to weigh in on this one?

Bicyclists are expected to adhere to the same laws and rules of the road as motorists, so why not DUI laws? Let's look at the Illinois Vehicle Code section governing DUI:

A person shall not drive or be in actual physical control of any vehicle within this State while... (2) Under the influence of alcohol.

A report compiled by the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, made up of insurance companies, law enforcement and anti-drunk driving groups, gave Illinois generally high marks for its drunk driving and highway safety laws (ABC Chicago). 

But while the report gave most of the state's DUI laws a "green light," the teen driving category received an "amber," which could be loosely translated to "needs improvement."

Only four states mandate the installation of in-car "interlock" breathalyzers for first-time drunk driving convictions and Illinois is one of them (enacted on Jan. 1, 2009), along with New Mexico, Arizona and Louisiana.

The device serves as a lock between the driver and the car's ignition, requiring the breath of a sober driver as its key. The car won't start if the device registers a blood alcohol level above .05 percent. It also requires periodic breath samples throughout the trip to ensure that someone else hasn't blown into the device to start the car.

Pushing out into the frigid, turbulent depths of Lake Michigan in the dead of winter may not sound like much fun. But eventually the flowers and warmth of spring will summon Chicago boaters back onto the water.

Since recreational boating is, well, recreational, it may be more tempting to booze it up while out on the lake. But drunk boating is not much different than drunk driving.