Beginning August 21, 2009 and continuing through September 7, 2009 Michigan’s law enforcement officers will be out in full force as they take part in the Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest crackdown on impaired driving. In Michigan, the DUI law enforcement blitz will last through the holiday weekend.
According to NHTSA:
“Drunk driving is simply not worth the risk. Not only do you risk killing yourself or someone else, but the trauma and financial costs of a crash or an arrest for impaired driving can be significant. Violators often face jail time, the loss of their driver’s license, higher insurance rates, attorney fees, time away from work, and dozens of other expenses.”
The NHTSA press release regarding this event indicates “police will be redoubling their efforts during this high-risk travel period to ensure that impaired drivers are detected and arrested.”
It is interesting to note that this increase in enforcement comes at a time when 10,000 of Michigan’s state troopers have been laid off for lack of funding.
During this period law enforcement will be looking for any reason to pull you over and they smell alcohol on your breath then there’s a good chance you’ll be arrested. Here are some things you can do to avoid a DUI arrest and some suggestions on what to do if you are arrested.
This information is from Chapter Two of Patrick T. Barone’s supplement to “The DUI Book”:
2.22. Here are some things you can do if you are going out this evening and may have anything alcoholic at all to drink. Most people are so certain that being confronted by a police officer investigating a possible OWI offense will not happen to them that they make little or no preparation for the possibility. About one million people made that error last year, and not a single one thought it could happen to him or her either. Before you head out, make sure you have the following:
- The name and phone number for the top OWI attorney in your area.
- The “hard line” phone number for a person who will be willing and able to bail you out of jail. Many jails only allow “collect” calls to be made, and cell phones can’t take collect calls. Don’t plan on using stored numbers on your cell phone, because it will be confiscated.
- The phone number of someone who can remove your vehicle from the roadway.
- Clean your vehicle totally of any alcoholic beverage containers, including empties.
- $300 cash or more to cover your bond, more if you have a criminal record.
- Take a credit card and a debit card. You may be forced to use one or the other to pay for bond fees or an independent test, if one is available.
- Because police have an unbelievable amount of latitude about towing your vehicle, do NOT have even the slightest amount (this includes ashes in the ash tray) of contraband drugs or any other medications in your vehicle that: (a) are not prescribed to you; (b) are not in their individual, proper containers (original pill bottles from the pharmacy); and (c) be sure to remove all paraphernalia (pipes, wrapping papers, bongs, clips, etc.).
- Keep in your possession the phone numbers of a co-worker who can cover for you if you do not get bonded out of jail in time for the next work day.
- Get the red out. Take Visine® with you to use after being in the smoky rooms and harsh lights. Red eyes are a symptom of a long day. Don’t let the police use this against you.
- Use gum or mints, or even brush and floss your teeth before leaving to drive home. Take steps to freshen your breath before getting in your vehicle and remove that alcohol odor.
If you get caught up in this DUI arrest blitzkrieg, call the Barone Defense Firm today to learn how we can help you.
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baronedefensefirm – who has written 203 posts on Michigan DUI and License Restoration Lawyers.
Patrick T. Barone is the author on two books on DUI defense including the well respected two volume treatise Defending Drinking Drivers (James Publishing), and The DUI Book – A Citizen’s Guide to Understanding DUI Litigation in America. He is also the author of a monthly DUI defense column for the Criminal Defense Newsletter, published by Michigan’s State Appellate Defender’s Office. Mr. Barone is an adjunct professor at the Thomas M. Cooley Law School where he teaches Drunk Driving Law and Practice. He is also on the faculty of the Criminal Defense Attorney’s of Michigan’s Trial Lawyer’s College where he provides trial skills training to Michigan’s criminal defense practitioners. Mr. Barone lectures nationally on various DUI defense topics, and he has appeared in newspapers, on television and on radio as a drunk driving defense expert. Mr. Barone has been certified as an instructor and practitioner of the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests and has also attended a 24-hour certification course at National Patent Analytical Corporation (the manufacturer of the DataMaster) and has thereby been deemed competent by the manufacturer to operate, perform essential diagnostic verifications and calibration checks on the DataMaster. Mr. Barone is a Sustaining Member of College for DUI Defense. Mr. Barone is the principal and founding member of The Barone Defense Firm, whose practice is limited exclusively to defending drinking drivers. The Firm is headquartered in Birmingham, Michigan.