St. Cloud Personal Injury Lawyer - Implied Consent

Recent Drunk Driver Caused Deaths Need To Be A Warning

Mike Bryant — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:49:00 GMT

While highway deaths continue to be reduced, the number of deaths caused by drunk drivers continues to rise. This just isn't acceptable and needs to be addressed.

Last year, 190 people in Minnesota died in accidents where someone had been drinking. That's up from the year before and the year before that.
Most alcohol-related crashes happen Saturday between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m.
More than 75 percent of those drivers are men and 56 percent are between the ages of 20 and 34.
About 40 percent have drunk driving records and their average blood alcohol level is 0.15.
About 12 percent of Minnesotans have been arrested for drunken driving.

This past week, two separate deaths will hopefully increase the attention to this issue.

On Tuesday, Christopher Iverson's family took him off life support. Prosecutors say a drunken driver hit him early Sunday morning while he stood at a Minneapolis bus stop.

That same morning in Champlin, police say a drunken driver hit and killed Heather Solberg and then took off. She had been walking home with friends from a fireworks display.

The numbers suggest problems that law enforcement and maybe the legislature will have to further address. It may require another look at the joint and several laws. When the recent law was revised, bars were granted reduced liability when they serve a drunk and the drunk causes a tragedy. It's time that the law change be revisited.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mike Bryant

Sobering Facts About Drinking And Driving

Mike Bryant — Thu, 14 May 2009 12:27:00 GMT

I recently came upon an article from the Rochester Post-Bulletin that looked at DUI's on both the statistical and the real story level. The stories are sad and a lot like we see in our personal injury practice. The numbers were a little staggering:

one in eight licensed motorists in Minnesota has a DWI incident on their record;
one in 39 has three or more convictions;
In Olmsted County the last 10 years have seen more than 9,000 people charged with misdemeanor DWI;
A person died in an alcohol-related accident every three hours in Minnesota;
A crash involving a driver younger than 20 occurred every 28 minutes in the state;
A motorist not wearing a seat belt was killed or injured in Minnesota every three hours.
Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death for Minnesota teenagers, eclipsing suicide, other accidents, cancer and homicide combined.
The risk of dying in a crash doubles when a teen driver has a teen passenger in the car and is five times greater with two or more passengers.

These numbers need to be reduced. Hopefully, continuing to review the stories and looking to more education on the issues, we can do that.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mike Bryant

Minnesota Legislature Looking At DUI Laws

Mike Bryant — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 09:35:00 GMT

Presently, in Minnesota if you are stopped for DUI in Minnesota there are two and sometimes three separate legal issues that you will deal with. First, there are the criminal charges for the offense which involves the fine, jail time and probation issues. Second, there are the civil issues which involve the driver license revocation and sometimes the revocation of your license plates and forfeiture of your vehicle.

There are time limits of as little as 30 days to judicially appeal the civil claims. Some time ago the double jeopardy of the separate parts was OKed by the Minnesota appellate courts. The courts found that the right to drive is a privilege and simply being charged with a crime is enough take someone's license. People who don't have a criminal hearing until the 30 days has past, may not even have considered the judicial review of their civil claim.

The Minnesota legislature has a bill that will eliminate the separate systems. Instead there is one criminal route with the civil penalties arising out of the consequence of being convicted. This is a system like many other states have.

Critics argue that it will set back law enforcement of these charges. But, it does seem odd that even the most severe crimes really only come with consequences after a conviction. It make sense that uniformity exist in the DUI system also.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mike Bryant

DUI- You Don't Have To Be Driving

Mike Bryant — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 13:35:09 GMT

A recent Minnesota Court of Appeals case reinforced the law that you don't need to be driving to get a DUI. If you are in control of the vehicle, you can be found guilty. In the case at issue, the defendant was asleep in a car that was parked. The court held that because the keys were available, the police didn't have to prove that the person was actually driving.

Years ago, before "control of the vehicle" was added to the definition of DUI, the question concerned whether the person had been "driving within the last two hours." For the person who was safely just sleeping it off in his or her vehicle, the driving within the last two hours definition made sense. In the recent case, the court was not troubled by the fact that the person had no idea where the keys were when the police questioned him. The fact that the keys were on the dash board was enough for control of the vehicle to exist.

If you are charged with a DUI, it's important that you talk to an experienced criminal attorney. The defenses may have dwindled, but they should be reviewed and discussed.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mike Bryant