DUI And Authorities

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.

There is a good reason that so many people have been worried about DUI. It is the cause of many fatal accidents and affects the lives of many innocent people, as well as the offender. To make matters worse, it is legal for an adult to drink how much they want to and that only increases the number of drivers on the road who are under the influence.

Drivers who are under the influence (DUI) believe they can drive a straight line or well enough to avoid being detected by officers, but that is not the case. Even the best drivers will give themselves away when intoxicated since they are not functioning at 100% and will be caught.

Traffic authorities have different ways and means to detect whether a person is drunk or intoxicated from drugs or other neural compounds. One of their ways is by administering a test to measure the amount of alcohol content in the blood. This is also known as BAC. This is measured as the percentage of alcohol in the blood. In the United States, driving with a BAC of 0.08% or higher is illegal and the any driver found to have a BAC ranging in this percentage will be held liable for an offense.

Another test that traffic authorities administer in determining if the driver is intoxicated is through a Breathalyzer. As the name implies, it involves analyzing the breath of the driver. This is usually done at the time that authorities apprehend violators. Drivers are asked to literally blow some air into a device that reads the blood-alcohol-concentration and if it does not fall in the range of being drunk, the driver is free to go.

Some other officers without Breathalyzers would require drivers to take laboratory test such as urine tests to determine the amount of alcohol in the body of the drivers.

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.

Some states do consider the age of the offender. In those states if an offender is still a minor, then they have a chance of a more lenient punishment than an adult would get.

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.

About the Author:
If you are in need of more information about OUI Maine, please visit this site which has lots more info on Maine OUI Lawyer.

Published by: Assistant Editor on August 30th, 2009 | Filed under Legal



Leave a Comment

rss feed