The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety in Georgia will be cracking down on drunk drivers. Officers throughout the state will be putting an increased emphasis on looking out for impaired drivers between Aug. 15 and Sept. 1. This is in response to a large number of accidents and deaths in the state during this time last year.
Between Aug. 3 and Sept. 2 of 2013, there were 3,497 accidents and 22 deaths. A person died every 34 minutes on average due to DUI crashes during the Labor Day weekend last year. Although many people think that DUI charges are only for those driving under the influence of alcohol, drivers impaired by any substance can be given a DUI.
Drivers who are charged with a DUI face a variety of penalties if convicted of that charge. In addition to a possible jail sentence, a driver may be fined, lose his or her license temporarily and be required to install an interlock ignition device in his or her car. Those charged with DUI should also be aware that they may be required to pay for court costs and more expensive auto insurance policies.
With the help of a DUI attorney, it may be able to have charges reduced or dropped entirely. For example, an attorney may challenge the legality of any drunk driving charges incurred during a sobriety checkpoint. This is because the legality of such checkpoints is not universally accepted. An attorney may also be able to argue that a test to determine whether a driver was impaired was not conducted correctly or that its results were not accurate or timely.
Source: Online Athens, “Drunk drivers targeted in Georgia Labor Day crackdown”, August 15, 2014