The retired professional basketball star, Shaquille O’Neal, will be giving lectures to teenagers about avoiding distracted driving and drunk driving. The talks are intended to educate teens about the dangers associated with underage DUI in the hopes of discouraging them from engaging in such activities. According to the District Attorney’s Office of DeKalb County, Shaq plans to join them along with fire and rescue workers to lecture high school students in Lithonia.
Georgia’s Department of Highway Safety will also be involved in the presentation, which will be held at Arabia Mountain High School. The talks will not only center on the topics of safety and preventing injury. Speakers will also address the potential legal consequences of getting arrested for underage DUI, especially when such an arrest involves allegations of vehicular homicide.
In addition to Shaq and rescue workers, a victim of a DUI crash will also appear. He plans to give his chilling account of how a DUI accident nearly ended his life. These and other events, such as mock DUI simulations, may indeed have a positive effect on the lives of Georgia students. If just one life is saved as a result of students maintaining safer driving habits, then the results could be considered a success.
Georgia teenagers who are arrested for underage DUI face the threat of different legal consequences if they are convicted. Those consequences also depend on whether the teen is under or over the age of 18. That said, just like any adult who is accused of drunk driving, a teenager maintains the right to defend him or herself in court against the charges. While the success of a criminal defense can never be predicted with certainty, many of those accused of DUI can improve the outcome of their case by getting Breathalyzer test results thrown out and reaching a plea bargain arrangement with the prosecution.
Source: sacbee.com, “Ex-NBA star to teach GA teens about traffic safety”, , April 3, 2014