| |
One drink may be one drink too many. A DUI or DWI arrest will cost you legally, professionally and economically – and it could cost you or someone else their life.
Drinking and driving remains a significant safety issue. After several years of decline, alcohol-related fatalities are on the rise and injuries have leveled off at an unacceptable level. More than 260 people were killed in drinking and driving-involved crashes in Maryland in 2006.
Maryland's Lieutenant Governor Honors State's Victims of Drunk Driving
December 7, 2010 - In an emotional State House ceremony today, Maryland’s Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown memorialized the state’s victims of drunk driving while simultaneously calling for increased enforcement of drunk driving laws during what is “the deadliest time of year when it comes to drunk driving.”
Noting the fact that between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day is historically the period when the largest number of U.S. alcohol-related traffic fatalities occurs, Lt. Governor Brown urged Maryland drivers this holiday season to “think ahead” and not drink and drive.
Augmenting his plea, a procession of Maryland families each bearing photographs of loved ones killed in alcohol-related traffic crashes began the state’s seventh-annual Maryland Remembers ceremony. Each family member was allowed an opportunity to address the crowd, many solemnly stating the name of their loved one killed as a result of an impaired driving crash.
Nationally, 10,839 persons were killed in alcohol-related traffic crashes in 2009, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Locally in Maryland, 162 persons died in alcohol-related traffic crashes on Maryland’s roadways during 2009, representing almost 30 percent of the year’s traffic fatalities. Despite significant education and enforcement efforts throughout the State, including sobriety checkpoints and increased DUI patrols, the level of local drunk driving deaths actually increased from 2008 when 145 alcohol-related traffic fatalities occurred.
“We are steadfastly working towards reductions in drunk driving related crashes here in Maryland, however, it will be the marriage of public will and desire to bring the cultural shift required for continued and significant reductions in drunk driving fatalities,” said Lieutenant Governor Brown. “As a victim of the continued and repeated impaired driving tragedy, it is your unique message and the volume and frequency at which you deliver it that will determine the impact it will have on Maryland motorists.”
In addition to both paying tribute to Maryland’s victims of drunk driving as well as serving as a call for safety during that holiday period when nearly four-out-of-ten U.S. traffic deaths are alcohol-related, today’s “Maryland Remembers” event served as the culmination of both the state’s weekly sobriety checkpoint campaign, Checkpoint Strikeforce, and monthly dedications of sobriety checkpoints to Maryland’s drunk driving victims.
Speakers at today’s State House ceremony also included Maryland Sheriff’s Association President, Sheriff Gary Hofmann, Queen Anne's County. In addition, Victoria Brown, a resident of Anne Arundel County who lost her 12 year old son, Darius Brown to a drunk driving crash, also spoke, reminding everyone present of the often tragic consequences of driving while impaired.
A recent public opinion survey of Maryland drivers (residents from Baltimore, the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., Hagerstown and Salisbury) conducted for Checkpoint Strikeforce, by MWR Strategies, found that over half of the Maryland drivers perceive drunk drivers as a dangerous threat with 61% saying drunk drivers are among the most serious dangers they face on the road. Sobriety checkpoints are also strongly supported with nearly nine out of ten Maryland drivers surveyed supporting the anti-DUI initiative.
“Maryland Remembers” is an initiative of the Maryland State Highway Administration’s Highway Safety Office and Maryland’s Impaired Driving Coalition
Local and National Statistics
- 268 people were killed in Maryland during 2006 in alcohol-related crashes.
- Nationally, someone is killed every 30 minutes.
- According to NHTSA, the average alcohol-related fatality in Maryland costs $3.5 million.
- A first-time conviction for an impaired driving offense will cost anywhere from $1,500 to $6,000 in attorney fees, towing, bonding, court costs, sentencing fees, and insurance increases.
- In 2006, more than 25,100 people were arrested for DUI in Maryland, with over 15,000 of these people losing their driving privileges.
- More Marylanders were arrested in 2006 for drunk driving than the combined populations of Bel Air, Chevy Chase, Crisfield and La Plata.
What you should know
- Impaired driving crashes are among the most preventable – simply don’t get behind the wheel after drinking.
- Host responsibly. If hosting a party, don’t let your family and friends drive after drinking.
- Designate a sober driver. If you plan on drinking, designate a sober driver. Take a taxi, use mass transit, call a friend for a ride.
- The best defense against a drunk driver is your seat belt – wear it at all times.
- There are no excuses – don’t drive after drinking.
Maryland Outreach and Education Programs
Checkpoint Strikeforce is a multi-state, zero-tolerance initiative designed to remove impaired drivers from Maryland roads using checkpoints and patrols when and where drunk driving is most likely to occur and to educate the public about the dangers and consequences of drunk driving. Learn more at www.fredericknewspost.com.
Tipsy?Taxi! is a service that provides free taxi rides (up to $50) that originate in Baltimore City. The service, provided in partnership with State Highway Administration, AAA Mid-Atlantic and Yellow Cab, is intended to provide a safe alternative to drinking and driving during notorious “drinking holidays” such as New Year’s Eve, St. Patrick’s Day, Independence Day and Labor Day.
Soberride is a program of the Washington Regional Alcohol Program, and served as the model for Tipsy?Taxi! More information can be found at http://www.wrap.org/files/soberride.htm
Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving; Over the limit, under arrest; and Friends don’t let friends drive drunk are National Highway Traffic Safety Administration programs. Learn more at www.stopimpaireddriving.org.
Impaired Driving – It’s been done to death is a Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) program that educates adults on the dangers of drinking and driving. Learn more at www.stopdrunkdriving.net
Maryland Laws
Generally, someone involved in an impaired driving case will be facing two separate proceedings, an administration hearing (MVA) and a criminal court case.
Definitions
- BAC – Blood Alcohol Concentration
- DUI – Driving Under the Influence
- DWI – Driving While Impaired by Alcohol
- Under the Influence of Alcohol Per Se – having an alcohol concentration level of .08 or more (TR § 11-127.1)
- Per Se – does not require extraneous evidence or support to establish its existence (Barron’s Law Dictionary)
What the Law Says
- A person may not drive while under the influence of alcohol.
- A person may not drive while under the influence of alcohol per se.
- A person may not drive while impaired by alcohol.
- A person may not drive while impaired by any drugs or drugs and alcohol.
- A person may not drive while impaired by a controlled dangerous substance.
- A person under 21 may not drive with alcohol in their blood.
- A person with an alcohol restriction on their license may not drive with alcohol in their blood.
- A person may not drive, operate, or be in physical control of a commercial motor vehicle with alcohol in their blood.
What the BAC Test Levels Mean
- Driving with Alcohol in Blood - If at the time of testing, a person has an alcohol concentration of 0.02 or more, it shall be prima facie evidence that that person was driving with alcohol in the person’s blood.
- No Presumption, but may Consider - If at the time of testing, a person has an alcohol concentration of more than 0.05 but less than 0.07, the fact may be considered with other evidence but may not give rise to a presumption that the person was DWI or DUI.
- Driving While Impaired by Alcohol (DWI) - If at the time of testing, a person has an alcohol concentration of at least 0.07 but less than 0.08, that will be considered prima facie evidence that the person was Driving While Impaired by Alcohol.
- Driving Under the Influence (DUI) - A person is considered Under the Influence of Alcohol per se, if at the time of testing that person has an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more.
Consenting and Refusing
- Implied Consent - You are deemed to have consented to chemical testing, should you be stopped on suspicion of driving under the influence, driving while impaired, or driving while impaired by drugs and/or alcohol, by virtue of driving, or attempting to drive on the roadway.
- Test Refusal - A test refusal is admissible as evidence at trial.
- Compulsory Testing - If a person is involved in a motor vehicle crash that results in the death or life threatening injury to another person, then that person shall be, if requested by a law enforcement officer who has reasonable grounds to believe that alcohol was involved, required to submit to a chemical test.
Consequences of Test Result of 0.08 or greater - DUI
- Points = 12 points
- First Offense
- MVA shall suspend license for 45 days.
- For test refusal, MVA shall suspend license for 120 days.
- MVA may revoke the license of a person convicted of DUI
- Not more than $1,000 and/or up to 1 year in jail.
- Second Offense
- MVA shall suspend license for 90 days.
- For test refusal, MVA shall suspend license for 1 year.
- MVA shall suspend someone’s license for 1 year if that person has been previously convicted of DUI within the past 5 years.
- Not more than $2,000 and/or up to 2 years in jail.
Consequences of Test Result of 0.07 or greater - DWI
- Points = 8 points
- First Offense
- MVA may suspend the license of someone convicted of DWI for up to 60 days. (
- Not more than $500 and/or up to 2 months in jail.
- Second Offense
- MVA may suspend for 120, the license days of someone convicted of DWI within 3 years of a previous impaired driving conviction.
- $500 and/or 1 year in jail.
Commercial Vehicle Operators
- A person who drives, operates, or is in physical control of a commercial motor vehicle while having alcohol in their system and refuses a chemical test shall be placed out-of-service for 24 hours following the test refusal.
- A test refusal shall disqualify the person’s commercial driver’s license for a period of 1 year for the first offense, 3 years if the person was transporting hazardous materials.
- MVA shall disqualify someone from driving a commercial vehicle if they have been convicted of impaired driving.
For more information, please contact the Maryland Highway Safety Office by e-mail mhso@sha.state.md.us or phone 410-787-4050
Resources
|
|
