What Is Driving Under the Influence (DUI)?
Driving Under the Influence (DUI) is when a person operates a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or controlled substances.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA): “Every day, almost 30 people in the United States die in drunk-driving crashes… that’s one person every 50 minutes.” Due to the dangers and potential fatality it poses to both the driver and others on the road, it is considered a serious offense. DUI laws vary by jurisdiction but generally involve legal limits for blood alcohol concentration (BAC) or impairment by drugs.
While policies vary by state, penalties can include fines, license suspension or revocation, mandatory substance abuse education or treatment programs, and sometimes imprisonment. Repeat offenders often face more stringent punishments, with the goal of deterring individuals from driving while impaired. Some states have strict “zero tolerance” policies for underage drivers, while others may impose harsher penalties for high BAC levels or multiple offenses.
While critics argue that overly harsh penalties may disproportionately affect certain demographics or discourage individuals from seeking help, the benefits of stringent DUI enforcement include safer roadways and decreased instances of impaired driving-related accidents.
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Pennsylvania Attorney Marion Munley Chosen to Serve on AAJ Board of Governors
SCRANTON, PA – October 9, 2014 – Marion Munley, a partner in the Pennsylvania personal injury law firm of Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys, was elected to serve on the Board of Governors of the American Association for Justice (AAJ). Munley was elected during the organization’s recent national convention in Baltimore, Maryland.
“I look forward to serving on the Board of Governors, and helping to advance the AAJ’s mission of protecting the legal rights of Americans who have been injured by negligence or misconduct, even when it means taking on the most powerful corporations and interests,” Munley said. “The AAJ plays a significant role in promoting justice and fairness for injured persons and in strengthening our country’s civil justice system. I am excited about the opportunity to help our organization continue this important work.”
Munley represents individuals and their families in complex personal injury litigation, […]
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Drunk driving kills 12-year-old boy in Old Forge, PA
Drunk driving continues to be a serious problem in our area and across the country. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) found that across the country, about one in every four people who were convicted for drunk driving was a repeat offender. A Philadelphia Inquirer article published earlier this week reported that Pennsylvania has a high rate of offenders. The article said that although someone dies on average every day in Pennsylvania from a DUI accident, it is one of the few states that require a conviction before yanking a license for DUI.
Although than 600 Pennsylvania police departments, including the state police, participated in a nationwide DUI crackdown over Labor Day weekend, with DUI checkpoints and roving patrols, drunk driving that weekend caused heartbreak for many families. Locally, there was a much accident-related tragedy. WNEP TV reported that crashes killed nearly a dozen people, […]
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DUI Memorial Moving Across Pennsylvania
A memorial wall with the names of 1,000 drunk driving victims is traveling across Pennsylvania to raise awareness of impaired driving in the holiday season.
The Pennsylvania DUI Association’s Victims Moving Memorial starts at West Chester on December 10 before visiting Norristown, Scranton, the Delaware County Courthouse and ending up in Harrisburg by week’s end.
Addressing DUI at all stages – education, prevention, enforcement, adjudication and rehabilitation – is the mission of the Pennsylvania DUI Association.
In 2010, there were 459 motor vehicle deaths in Pennsylvania in which alcohol was a factor. On an average day, there were 34 alcohol-related traffic accidents, leaving 26 people injured and at least one dead.
This is from the Scranton Times-Tribune:
Housed in a 30-foot trailer, the Moving Memorial features a wall with the names of 1,000 drunken-driving victims who have been honored in the Pennsylvania DUI Memorial Garden. […]
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Pennsylvania Drunk Drivers Target of Police Crackdown
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is once again getting the message out to Americans to “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.” Pennsylvania State Police and law enforcement agencies across the country are joining in the latest campaign, that runs through Labor Day, in an effort to get impaired drivers off roads.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s 2010 State Motor Vehicle Fatalities statistics, there were 10,228 alcohol-impaired-driving fatalities nationwide in 2010. Pennsylvania saw 433 alcohol-related highway deaths in 2010. These deaths represented 24 percent of the 1,324 fatal accidents in the state that year. Pennsylvania Department of Transportation reports preliminary data shows there were 428 alcohol-related accident fatalities and approximately 11,700 alcohol-related crashes statewide in 2011.
In a ceremony in Berks County where officials unveiled a memorial for victims of DUI accidents, Trooper Ethan Brownback said, […]
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Pennsylvania State Police Announce Pursuit Statistics
The Pennsylvania State Police announced Monday that the number of pursuits across the state increased in 2011. Pennsylvania police were involved in 1,453 vehicle pursuits last year, a slight increase over the 1,413 pursuits reported in 2010.
A pursuit is initiated by police “when the driver of the vehicle is resisting the apprehension by maintaining or increasing his speed or by ignoring the police officer’s audible or visual signal to stop.”
According to the press release, thirteen pursuit-related deaths were reported in 2011. Twelve of those killed were fleeing from police; one death involved an uninvolved person. No Pennsylvania police officers were killed as the result of pursuits. However, in a case we reported in February, a West Virginia policeman died in the midst of a pursuit that crossed the PA line.
Many police chases result in serious car accidents. Last year, […]
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