At the present time, Minnesota law (Statute 169.71) says that a motorist may not operate a vehicle with a cracked or discolored windshield “to the extent that it limits or obstructs proper vision.” But how does one ascertain whether the crack does, in fact, limit or obstruct the driver’s vision?
The holidays should be a time of family, friends, and merriment; however, far too frequently, drinking and driving can put a serious damper on holiday celebrations. Driving while intoxicated (DWI) continues to be a very real problem across the US.
Here’s how you can protect yourself this holiday season.
Be cognizant of your actions
1. Don’t drink and drive. It is that simple. To stay safe while on the road, if you have been drinking or using drugs, then don’t get behind the wheel. Even if you’ve only had a few drinks and feel fine, it is best to not drive. Not only might you underestimate the impact of any alcohol you may have consumed, but DWI patrols are oftentimes out in force during the holidays, and if you are stopped—even with a BAC of less than the legal limit of .08—you could still be charged with DWI.
2. If you are celebrating with others, choose a designated sober driver before the festivities are underway. A designated driver is responsible for staying sober for the entire day and during any events in order to ensure that everyone gets home safely.
3. Take advantage of public transportation and rideshare programs. If you don’t have a designated driver, there are many options of which to take advantage: taxi, bus, Uber or Lyft, party buses, and others.
4. If you see someone who is intoxicated trying to get into his/her vehicle to drive home, try to get his/her car keys and offer alternatives for him/her to get home safely.
Get the keys
Getting an intoxicated person’s car keys can be difficult, but if s/he ends up being responsible for a traffic accident or fatality, the situation is much worse, and if you were aware of his/her intoxicated state, you could end up living with a lifetime of guilt.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) offers tips for preventing an intoxicated person from driving by collecting his/her keys:
• Use a calm approach. Suggest to him/her that s/he has had too much to drink and, perhaps, it would be better for him/her to get a ride home instead of driving him/herself.
• Make light of or joke about the situation to minimize friction. Avoid embarrassment at all costs.
• Make it sound as though you are doing him/her a favor.
• While s/he is preoccupied, find the keys and take them. In many cases, the intoxicated person will simply think s/he lost the keys and find another way home.
• If you are close to the person—good friend, spouse, family member, significant other, etc.—inform him/her that you will not be riding if s/he insists on driving.
• If you don’t know the person, talk to his/her friends and ask them to try to persuade their friend to give up his/her keys.
How you can keep yourself safe on the road
Above are tips you can take to ensure you don’t drive drunk, but how do you keep yourself safe from drunk drivers?
1. When on the road, drive as if everyone around you is intoxicated. Keeping your distance from the vehicle in front of you, staying alert for oncoming traffic, and being prepared for evasive maneuvers, if necessary, are all steps you can take to keep yourself safe while driving during the holiday season.
2. Avoid highways, if possible.
3. Avoid driving very late at night as this is when many drunk drivers are on the road.
4. Report any driver you believe is driving while under the influence. By being proactive and reporting a motorist who you suspect of driving drunk, you may save a life.
5. Utilize extra caution at intersections. Many alcohol-related accidents occur at intersections. Therefore, don’t simply assume that someone else will stop at a red light.
6. Under no circumstances, let your friend or family member drive drunk. Regardless of how angry s/he might get at you at the moment, s/he will invariably thank you in the morning.
Whether you drive drunk or sober is up to you; however, while you can’t make someone else not drink, you can minimize his/her effect on the road. The holidays should be celebratory, not tragic.
Happy Holidays and stay safe!
With an increasing number of states legalizing marijuana medicinally, recreationally, or both, questions arise as to how—if at all—this legalization will impact DWI law. Given that more states are legalizing marijuana begs the question of how law enforcement officers are supposed to detect drivers who are under the influence. Additionally, questions are raised as to what it means to be over the limit in this context.
Effects of legalization in Washington and Colorado
A 2016 CATO Institute Policy Analysis examined the impact of state marijuana legalizations on several factors. With respect to road safety and DWIs specifically, this report evaluated opposing prior literature that suggested: first, that marijuana impairs driving ability and, thus increases accident incidence; and second, that marijuana legalization improves traffic safety because marijuana is a substitute for alcohol and may even improve the driving of persons who use marijuana to alleviate chronic pain.
Many governments—at federal, state, and local levels—warned that legalization marijuana would increase traffic accidents significantly. However, the data vary. According to the AAA Foundation, when Washington state legalized recreational marijuana, the number of fatal automobile accidents increased. Among the key findings included that between 2010 and 2014, 303 drivers (10% of all drivers involved in fatal accidents) had detectable levels of THC in their blood at the time of the accident with or without alcohol and/or other drugs. Additionally, after recreational marijuana was legalized, the proportion of DWI drivers who tested positive for THC increased significantly nine months after the new law went into effect.
However, data from Colorado demonstrate that highway fatalities were at historic lows following legalization. Further, marijuana legalization in Oregon and Alaska also showed no discernible increase—and even slight decreases—in traffic fatalities.
Marijuana legalization and changing laws
Most of the states which have legalized marijuana have not changed their DWI laws. Generally, these laws are of two types: per se and impairment. Per se DWI laws require the prosecutor to prove the driver had a BAC of .08 or greater at the time s/he was stopped. Impairment need not be proven as the presence of the substance in question in his/her system is usually enough to secure a conviction. However, most of these laws apply only to alcohol consumption as marijuana is not measured in BAC. Thus, a motorist who is driving while under the influence of marijuana cannot typically be convicted of a per se DWI.
On the other hand, impairment DWI charges do, in fact, apply to marijuana use in that these laws focus on the effect of the drugs on the driver, not on the actual amount of the drug in the driver’s system. Further, impairment DWI laws do not limit whether the drug in question was illegal or legal. Thus, even if a motorist has legally ingested marijuana, if s/he is impaired and drives, s/he can be convicted of DWI.
Determining impairment
Proving whether impairment exists and its degree is the difficult part. Complicating matters is that each state has its own degree of impairment requirements. Currently, Minnesota’s laws are zero-tolerance with respect to Schedule I and Schedule II controlled substances (including marijuana.) Thus, if you are driving while impaired—from any substance—you could be charged with a DWI.
According to one
San Diego criminal defense attorney
Depending on the job, being convicted of a DWI—or even having been arrested—may hinder your ability to get a job. Many employers ask about job applicants’ criminal record, and many run background checks to help them find the perfect candidate. While hiring decisions are, ultimately, at the employer’s discretion, there are some protections for job applicants who have had a DWI or other conviction.
Sensitive jobs
A simple DWI arrest generally won’t affect your job search because most states permit employers to ask only about convictions. However, some states permit employers to ask applicants about certain arrests.
Some employers may be more concerned about DWI arrests and convictions than others. Positions requiring driving—particularly a company vehicle such as delivery, bus, and truck drivers—could be problematic. In California, for example, employers require applicants to disclose any DWI- or drug-related arrests if they are applying for certain jobs with access to medications. Similarly, if you are looking to work with children, seeking a government job, or applying for a job that involves handling sensitive and confidential information, a DWI conviction may prove problematic.
Other potential problems
In addition to having a criminal record, getting a DWI can also raise concerns in other areas related to employment. For example, if you get your driver’s license revoked or suspended, you may be left without reliable transportation in order to get to work. This may be particularly troublesome if you live in an area without adequate public transportation or don’t have anyone to rely on for a ride.
The law may protect you
There are two federal laws that provide somewhat limited protection to job applications who may have criminal records: Title VII and The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).
Title VII—Criminal record-based discrimination
Part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII protects job applicants and existing employees from employment discrimination which include hiring and screening practices. Because arrest and incarceration rates are significantly higher for certain minorities in the US, if an employer has a policy that categorically excludes any applicant with a criminal record, s/he may be guilty of racial discrimination.
To address this, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) provides guidance for employers to weed out risky applicants without discriminating against them. Among the factors for consideration include the nature and seriousness of the offense, the time since the offense or sentence, and the nature of the job being applied for. The EEOC also urges employers to afford candidates the ability to explain the circumstances of their case.
Fair Credit Reporting Act
The FCRA handles accuracy concerns because some background checks may include errors. Such errors can include:
What is marijuana? Quite simply, it is a combination of the flower buds, stems, and leaves of the Cannabis sativa plant. It contains delta 9-tetrahydracannabinol (THC) which is the drug’s intoxication chemical as well as at least 500 different chemicals—many of them carcinogenic. Marijuana also contains cannabidiol (CBD) that serves to counteract THC effects. These compounds can affect your body and mind in several ways.
Prevalence of marijuana use in the US
While marijuana—also known as pot, weed, grass, and other slang terms—can be smoked, vaporized, eaten, brewed, and “ingested” topically, the majority of people smoke it. According to a 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), as many as 17.4 million Americans admitted to using marijuana within the past month. A 2016 Gallup Poll found that one out of eight people smoke marijuana while 43 percent of adults have admitted trying it. Today, this number is presumed even higher as many states and Washington, D.C. have legalized marijuana in some fashion, whether medicinally, recreationally, or both.
Over the years, the average THC content has increased from less than one percent in 1972 to nearly four percent in 1990 to as much as 13 percent in 2010. These amounts continue to rise. Today, some marijuana contains 30 percent or more THC. Increased potency complicates determining accurate long- and short-term effects of the drug.
Marijuana ingestion
When marijuana is smoked, THC is absorbed through the lungs and into the bloodstream. Marijuana can be smoked in cigarette form (a joint) or through bongs, glass pipes, bubblers, blunts, and other paraphernalia. More recently, vaporization—or vaping—has emerged as a smokeless delivery system. Because the marijuana is heated at a lower temperature, studies suggest that this method is healthier than regular smoking because the user inhales fewer toxic compounds and carbon monoxide. Either way, smoking marijuana is the quickest way to achieve the desired result—a euphoric high. Generally, your high will peak in about 30 minutes and then taper off between one and four hours.
Marijuana can also be ingested orally. The effects are slower because the THC must first pass through the digestive system to reach the bloodstream. Thus, effects may take up to two hours; however, they will generally last longer—as many as eight hours—than smoking. Cannabis can also be added into baked goods, candies, and even brewed in a tea.
Marijuana and your body
Despite being a Schedule I controlled substance, marijuana does have some medical benefits such relieving chronic pain, reducing the effects of glaucoma, alleviating nausea, and inducing appetite. However, marijuana can also cause damage to your body.
Contrary to popular belief among those who regularly use marijuana, marijuana smoke can, in fact, cause many of the same respiratory problems from which tobacco smokers suffer such as cough, increased phlegm production, more frequent illnesses like bronchitis and pneumonia, and greater instance of lung infections
However, according to a
2013 study
People offer numerous reasons for making the decision to drink and drive. Perhaps they don’t think they are intoxicated. Or maybe they believe the laws don’t apply to them. Others justify driving drunk based on the short distance they are going. Aligned with these dangerous beliefs, there is a slew of drunk driving myths that many people continue to believe. Let’s debunk them.
There are many myths surrounding drinking and driving. Here are the most common.
Actually, it is perfectly legal to have a beer or a glass of wine—or even a shot—and drive as long as you are not legally intoxicated. Most people are not affected enough by one drink over dinner, for example, to render them intoxicated under the law.
In reality, the only way to sober up after drinking is by letting your body naturally metabolize the alcohol. This usually occurs at the rate of two hours per drink. Coffee doesn’t alleviate alcohol effects. All coffee will do is make a drunk person wide-eyed, awake, and nervous—and still in no condition to drive.
As for eating, first of all, you should never drink on an empty stomach; however, eating while drinking is not a sure-fire defense against impairment.
Finally, with respect to a cold shower, while this may momentarily wake you up, it does nothing to speed up your body’s ability to metabolize alcohol.
Most states—including Minnesota—have an Implied Consent law in which everyone with a driver’s license implicitly agrees to submit to a breath test if suspected of drunk driving. Failure to do so can result in additional charges or penalties.
However, only with respect to blood and urine tests, in Minnesota, refusal is not a crime
unless law enforcement gets a search warrant
Back in May, the Minnesota Supreme Court handed down its decision in State v. Hunn which dealt with citizens’ constitutional right to DWI pre-test counsel. At the heart of the case was whether there existed a constitutional right for DWI suspects to consult with a lawyer prior to submitting to a BAC test in criminal cases or whether this right only existed in civil implied consent cases.
Previous law
Per the Sixth Amendment, every individual is provided the right to counsel in criminal prosecutions. In 1963, Gideon v. Wainwright extended this right to the states. Then, in 1991, the Minnesota Supreme Court decided, in Friedman, when the “critical stage” occurs prompting the right to counsel in DWI cases.
In prior cases, the Minnesota Supreme Court held that when a driver is asked to take a chemical test, this represents a “critical stage” in the process. As such, the right to counsel attaches.
Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes §171.177, a blood or urine test refusal in the face of a warrant is a crime subject to immediate driver’s license revocation. The warrant request should represent a “critical stage” in a DWI proceeding and should, therefore, mean that the subject is entitled to consult with an attorney prior to testing. Not allowing the person under arrest to consult with attorney before asking them to submit to the warrant is, clearly, unconstitutional.
Facts of the case
In Hunn, police officers arrested the defendant on suspicion of driving under the influence of a controlled substance. The officer failed to read Hunn the implied consent advisory that contains the limited right to counsel and then asked Hunn to take a urine test. Hunn agreed, and his sample showed the presence of methamphetamine.
At trial, Hunn sought to suppress the sample and the district court granted his pretrial motion. The appellate court reversed this decision on the grounds that the district court erroneously relied on
Friedman v. Commissioner of Public Safety
An effective DWI investigation is comprised of many aspects and steps. In their most basic sense, officers stop motorists suspected of driving while impaired to determine whether they are, in fact, impaired and to obtain as much legally admissible evidence as they can.
Of course, a critical component is ensuring that the officer is trustworthy and believable. Even amidst the best evidence, if jurors doubt the credibility and veracity of the officer, then the investigation may well be for naught.
One highly useful task in ensuring an effective DWI investigation and obtaining useful evidence is the art of conversational interrogation. This technique combines the art of conversation with the skill of interrogation to elicit the most information possible. By their very nature, conversations are two-way: one person says something, the other responds, the first person responds back, and so forth. Interrogations, however, are comprised of asking another person specific questions.
Whereas conversations can help individuals connect with each other, interrogations generally do not.
At the beginning of August, a federal judge held that Albuquerque’s civil forfeiture program was unconstitutional and violative of procedural due process. In this landmark case, the court held that the law forced property owners to prove their own innocence which negates citizens’ constitutional protection to being viewed as innocent until proven guilty.
The judge also asserted that forfeiture officials possess an institutional incentive to prosecute forfeiture cases because the more revenue it raises, the more funds are available to spend. In fact,
between 2009 and 2016, Albuquerque’s civil forfeiture program generated an incredible $11.8 million
Certain times of the year require police crackdowns for drunk driving, and holidays—particularly Labor Day—are atop the list. Despite the difficult winters with which Minnesotans must deal each year, summer driving is far deadlier.
According to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Labor Day is second in alcohol-related traffic fatalities only to the 4th of July over the past five years. Labor Day is particularly worrisome because it is, essentially, the last hurrah of summer before the colder weather of autumn and winter arrives.
Over the last five years, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety reported that on Labor Day alone there were 4.6 DWI arrests per hour—a figure higher than the 4th of July (4.3), New Year’s Eve (3.9), and St. Patrick’s Day (4.2). One truly sobering fact is that 88 people were killed in speed-related automobile accidents during 2017, with 23 of them occurring between Memorial and Labor Day. This period is dubbed the 100 deadliest days because during this time, 35 percent of all roadway fatalities occur annually. In fact, in Minnesota, between 2012 and 2017, 769 people died due to vehicular accidents—DWI, speeding, failure to wear seat belts, or some other transgression—during that time.
Enhanced education and enforcement
Each year during the summer, a statewide awareness campaign seeks to not only provide extra enforcement but also to educate the public on the problems of drunk—and otherwise reckless—driving. Emphasis is placed on the dangers of driving while intoxicated, and police and other safety groups provide tips as to how to improve safety for everyone during this busy time.
Thus—just like each previous year—authorities are planning to increase statewide enforcement efforts leading up to Labor Day with many officers working overtime in order to identify and apprehend drunk drivers.
A word on motorcycles
The summer is also the time for a spike in motorcycle fatalities with speed and alcohol touted as the most cited reason for said accidents. Thus far this year, 24 motorcyclists perished on Minnesota roads—compared with only 22 last year at this time. Compounding the problem is that of these fatalities, only six were wearing helmets.
Law enforcement officials stress that motorcycle riders should, in addition to wearing DOT-approved helmets, don additional brightly colored protective gear to make them more visible while on the road. Essentially, motorcycle riders should be proactive about their own safety, ride sober, follow all rules particular speed limits, and be extra aware of road hazards including inattentive drivers, unexpected road conditions, and other dangers. Another highly touted recommendation is for motorcycle riders to take a training course in order to improve riding skills and learn life-saving maneuvers that may save their others’ lives if necessary.
Similarly, other motor vehicle drivers should be equally cognizant of motorcyclists, be extra aware of their presence, and share the road with them.
Just don’t do it
Top 20 DWI Questions in MN
