On the Rise and Counting: Female DUI Offenders

Aug 07

Los Angeles LawyerDUI, Personal Injury DUI 3 Comments

While men and troubled young celebrities are most often perceived as the culprits behind the incidence of DUI, you may be surprised to hear that more and more mothers and responsible female executives are getting collared for drunk driving.

The statistics recently released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the FBI reveal that women in the United States drink more and that the gap between drunken-driving arrests among women and men are getting narrower these days.

The spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Rae Tyson said that there are parts in the country where the majority of impaired drivers involved in fatal crashes are female.

Dianne Schuler was described friends and family as a devoted mom and businesswoman but she took 8 lives, including her own in a wrong-way drunken car crash in New York. Autopsy reports also say that she was under the influence of drugs.

Even the daughter of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia pleaded guilty to drunk driving charges when she was stopped by the police after going to McDonald’s with three kids in the car. Another woman caused the death of her daughter’s friend after a night of clubbing.

FBI figures show that nationwide, the number of women arrested for driving under the influence or alcohol or drugs was 28.8 percent higher in 2007 than it was in 1998, while the number of men arrested was 7.5 percent lower.

The rising number of women drunk drivers are attributed to the fact that women are driving more, are behaving as recklessly as men and because of the pressure and recession, more women are getting into excessive drinking, overeating, smoking and drug abuse.

The arrest of drunken mothers with children in the car was even called by Chuck Hurley, CEO of Mothers Against Drunk Driving as the ultimate form of child abuse.

While women empowerment is ultimately a blessing, the abuse of it can become a curse. Women often lead more stressful lives than men because not only are they now required to have a career, but they must also raise their children well and be loving wives. There is indeed pressure to become a “supermom”.

This in turn, leads to the abuse of substances in an attempt to escape or at least, feel better about the burden they bear as women. And sadly, regardless of intent, women end up making bad choices, like drunk driving and often put their lives and those of their families’ at risk.

Most of the DUI ads and campaigns are directed towards men and teenagers but it’s a good thing that now, the government realizes that female DUI offenders can be just as rampant and fatal.

In this generation where the lines of equality have been blurred, where women are just as empowered and driven as men, inevitably, they are also bound to make the same mistakes. Tragically, supermom or not, they are hardly invincible.

“Drunk” Councilman Knocks Down Power of 300 Homes

Aug 06

Los Angeles LawyerDUI, Personal Injury driving under the influence No Comments

From driving under the influence to driving under and with influence.

A Westminster councilman, Andy Quach earned the ire of many of his residents when he lost control of his car, hit another vehicle with three occupants and slammed into a power pole which knocked out the power of more than 300 homes in his city.

The car Quach struck suffered minor damage but the three occupants were fortunately not injured. The police arrested Quach on suspicion of driving under the influence and while he did not submit to a breath test, he took a blood test.

Quach had previous traffic citations: two were dismissed and one he had to pay a fine of $25 for being found guilty of traveling at an unsafe speed for prevailing conditions.

The beleaguered councilor said that he will take full responsibility for the crash and that he was glad no one got hurt (although he did say that he got injured but didn’t elaborate). He explained that he came from dinner with friends and “nodded off.”

Regardless of the fact whether Quach was driving drunk or was sleepy or fatigued while driving, impaired driving is the main reasons for motor vehicle accidents .

Impaired driving, whether it is due to the influence of drugs or alcohol and driver fatigue can cause driving skills to drop even as the driver’s reaction time and concentration on the road gets lowered.

This is often fatal especially since operating a vehicle requires due diligence and skill to avoid accidents that would injure himself and other people.

One of the disgruntled residents remarked that he was disappointed in Quach as he was supposedly a public figure and should set an example. Likewise, he added that “Everyone should be treated equally and held accountable for his actions.”
Mayor Margie Rice commented that Quach made a terrible mistake but that he’s and that they need to accept it and go on from there.

In California, DUI first time convicted offenders are sentenced to no less than 96 hours of jail time and imposes a maximum limit of 6 months with a fine of $390 – $1,000.

Quach, whose blood test results have yet to be released is merely facing a misdemeanor charged. Now that’s an example of the influence of driving drunk.

Killer Common Carriers

Aug 03

Los Angeles LawyerCar Accident, Personal Injury, Vehicle Accident bus accidents, car accident No Comments

Just when you think that it’s much safer to take public transportation vehicles like buses than to drive your own vehicle. A study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reveals that more than 500 of the unsafe tractor-trailer and bus companies who’ve been ordered to shut down are still operational.

These “reincarnated” common carrier companies were found to owe thousands of dollars in delinquent fines with violations ranging from operating without the proper license to failing to test drivers for illegal drugs and alcohol.

Greg Kutz, GAO’s managing director for special investigations in fact said that there were about 300 fatalities from bus crashes last year and that carriers ordered to shut down were made into new companies to evade fines and avoid corrective actions.

According to the investigative report, at least 20 of the roughly 220 commercial bus companies that had been fined and ordered out of service in 2007 and 2008 by federal regulators have found a new lease on their illicit life by going by a different name.

One of these bus lines in fact, is responsible for a fatal crash in 2008 where 17 people were killed when the bus blew a retreaded tire in Texas.

Several unsafe common carriers in current operation despite the order to shut down were found offenders in California, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Texas, New York and Washington.

GAO also found that despite the efforts of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s efforts to regulate errant companies, it did not have the full computer capability to identify fraudulent companies using different addresses and names.

In response to that, Congress is now looking into creating a federal standard that would give the FMCSA more power to revoke licenses and impose fines.

The government should be more rigid about regulating these common carrier companies – the mere fact that it is open for the use of the general public means that higher standards of care and diligence should be expected.

Bus accidents also yield greater and more catastrophic fatalities and injuries just by their size, the mere fact that car accidents are more likely to happen should not make agencies complacent about substandard buses.

Under the law, in case of bus accidents, as common carriers, it is not just the driver who may be held liable. Company owners as well, are vicariously liable for the damages incurred by passengers who availed of their services.

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