Headlines across the country have blared with news that a wealthy teenager from Texas was sentenced to seven years probation rather than jail time following a deadly car accident over the summer that killed four people. The teen’s defense attorney argued that he was the victim of affluenza, meaning that his rich parents failed to set proper boundaries and raised him in an environment without consequences. Read More...

Researchers behind two recent studies have revealed that driving hungover can be just as dangerous as driving drunk. One study found that a person with a hangover, but no actual alcohol in their system, drives comparably to a person with a BAC of 0.05 percent. Read More...

As if being the eight wealthiest person in the United States weren’t good enough, Alice Walton,  Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton’s daughter, got even more good news this week when prosecutors in Texas said they would expunge her 2011 DWI arrest from her record. Read More...

A recent study conducted by researchers at New York University found that states with more numerous and punitive drunk driving laws tend to have fewer traffic deaths than those without them. The study was published in the journal Public Health and was designed to explore the effectiveness of increased emphasis on passing and strictly enforcing traffic safety laws. Read More...

The Minnesota Vikings have found themselves busy this season, not with an overwhelmingly positive win record, but contending with the off-field troubles of some players. The latest incident occurred when linebacker Erin Henderson was arrested earlier this month for DWI and having a controlled substance in possession. Read More...

It’s that time of year again, with the busy holiday season and drivers heading out on the roads police departments across the state and the country are preparing to launch an aggressive drunk driving enforcement campaign. One component of many of these campaigns includes creating sobriety or DWI checkpoints where officers stop all cars in an area and watch for signs that drivers may be impaired. Read More...

Drugged driving has recently become the topic of conversation among legislators across the country, with law enforcement officials badgering lawmakers to give them more power to keep drug-impaired drivers off the roads. A recent investigative report in New York that appeared in a an article published found that even though drug-impaired driving arrests are on the rise, law enforcement officers are often unable to prosecute those who present dangers to others due to outdated laws. Read More...

The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office announced earlier this week that it would officially make drunk driving a fireable offense for deputies or other department employees. The new policy, which will go into immediate effect, was institute by Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri after a series of alarming incidents involving impaired officers. Read More...

The website Jalopnik, a site devoted to all things automotive, recently published an interesting info-graphic that showed a map of the world overlaid with the different blood alcohol levels that are allowed before a motorist will be arrested and charged with drunk driving. The rainbow of colors is surprising, especially seeing how shockingly low some countries have set their legal drinking limits. Read More...

Off-Road Recreational Vehicle (ATV, Snowmobile, Dirt Bike) DWIs in Minnesota

If you are operating an off-road recreational vehicle in Minnesota, then it is possible to get a DWI.  If you wondering what qualifies as an off-road vehicle, or any vehicle for that matter, a good rule of thumb is to ask yourself “does this have a motor in it?”  As we learned in State v. Greenman, the Minnesota Court of Appeals analyzed whether a Segway was a motor vehicle for the purposes of a DUI.  Because a Segway does not have a motor, but rather is “an electric personal assistive mobility device”, the court held that a Segway is not a motor vehicle for the purposes of charging someone with drunk driving. Read More...