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Drunk Driving in Louisiana

By Timothy Young

You hear it on Public Service Announcements, your parents and teachers (depending on your age) have repeated it over and over, and yet it is still one of the most commonly ignored bits of driving advice you can find. What advice am I talking about?

Don't drink and drive.

At the risk of desensitizing my readers to this message, I am going to reinforce it, because it really is that important.

According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), almost 12,000 people died in 2008 in alcohol-related crashes, and 3 out of every 10 people will be involved in a drunk-driving accident in their lifetime. In Louisiana, 37% of the traffic fatalities in 2008 involved a driver whose blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was over the legal limit of .08.

Not only does drinking and driving pose a deadly risk to yourself and the other people on the road, but it has serious legal consequences too. Every state in America has two statutory offenses for people who are caught driving under the influence:

The first (and original) offense is known either as driving under the influence (DUI), driving while intoxicated/impaired (DWI), or operating while intoxicated/impaired (OWI). This is based upon a police officer's observations (driving behavior, slurred speech, the results of a roadside sobriety test, etc.)

The second offense is called "illegal per se", which is driving with a BAC of 0.08% or higher. Since 2002 it has been illegal in all 50 states to drive with a BAC that is 0.08% or higher.

In Louisiana, you have two chances to get pulled for a DUI before you are charged with a misdemeanor or a felony, and on the fourth offense, you are automatically given a felony.

It seems to me like the risk of serious injury or death, the guilt that comes with knowing you could have killed (or did kill) an innocent person, and the chance of becoming a felon just aren't worth getting behind a wheel while you're anything but sober.

Please, be responsible the next time you're out at a bar or a party. Bring a designated driver, or take a taxi home. Don't let your friends or loved ones drive drunk either. Let's all work together to make drunk driving and the deaths that it causes a thing of the past.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Timothy Young

Full post as published by New Orleans Personal Injury Lawyer on March 14, 2010 (boomark / email).