The fatal Alligator Alley Crash Included a $150M Powerball Winner

A man who had reportedly won a massive payout in a Powerball drawing was seriously injured in the Alligator Alley crash that killed a young woman from Minnesota. The crash took place earlier this week when a pickup collided with a van along the Interstate 75 stretch known as Alligator Alley in western Broward County. Lauren Vanreese of Andover, Minnesota was the victim who did not survive the crash and was confirmed by family members as aged 18. Florida Highway Patrol also stated that all of the injured victims were from Minnesota.

Another passenger in the van was Paul White aged 49, who got seriously injured and was reportedly a winner of $150 million share of a Powerball drawing in 2013. The crash that took place on Tuesday at 5:34 p.m. near Mile Marker 41 on the eastbound side of the highway and that is when both the vehicles heading east collided. NisbanySuritGarcias, of Fort Myers, the driver of the pickup had a blood alcohol level of 0.182, which is twice the legal limit and was arrested. He would be facing multiple charges and not just the over 80 charge criminal code.

The occupants of the van who had survived the crash told the investigators that they saw Garcias crawling out of his pickup and gathered the “items in the median that had come from his vehicle in the rollover,” as per the arrest report. The van was carrying 15 occupants and all of the occupants were rescued by crews from Boward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.

Read the full article here: https://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fl-sb-crash-fatal-alligator-alley-20180307-story.html

For more local DUI news and information please visit https://www.toronto-dui-lawyer.ca/

Florida man dials 911 to report his own drunk driving

The Associated Press
Published Saturday, January 6, 2018 2:46PM EST
Last Updated Saturday, January 6, 2018 2:48PM EST
WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — Florida authorities are sharing the details of an unusual 911 call on New Year’s Eve, from a man who said he wanted to report himself drunk-driving.

Polk County Sheriff’s officials say the dispatcher kept him talking while directing officers to the scene.

When the dispatcher asked Michael Lester where he was, he said, “I’m too drunk. I don’t know where I’m at.”

And when she asked what he’d been doing all night, he said “I don’t know, driving around, trying to get pulled over, actually.”

“I’m driving on the wrong side of the road,” he said later.

The operator repeatedly urged him to park his truck and wait for officers to find him. Unfortunately, he chose the wrong spot.

Read the full article here: https://www.cp24.com/world/florida-man-dials-911-to-report-his-own-drunk-driving-1.3748459

For more local DUI news and information please visit our website https://www.toronto-dui-lawyer.ca/

Ontario in Need to Change the Way it Charges Drunk Drivers?

Drunk driving has always been one of the biggest issues for the Ontario government to deal with and it is because drunk driving causes a large number of accidents each year. Different DUI charges are imposed on a lot of people each year due to the stringent laws against drunk driving in Ontario. But, even after several years of hard working exercise against DUI offences, it seems no visible progress has been made against deterring drinking and driving in Ontario.

It now appears that time is now ripe for changing the way to deal with people caught driving under the influence of alcohol by implementing partial decriminalization. The Mother’s Against Drunk Driving Canada has been calling the Ontario government to implement this change as according to them partial decriminalization of DUI charges reduces the deaths cause by drunk driving.

British Columbia had introduced decriminalization of DUI offences through legislation in 2010 vide which the police officers offer people caught driving under the influence for the first time with the option of choosing administrative sanctions or criminal charges as long as they have not caused damage to any property or have injured anyone.

Since the introduction of this new provision, there has been a dramatic reduction in the number of road deaths related to impaired driving. In British Columbia, if an offender chooses administrative charges after a breathalyzer test is conducted on them, their license is suspended for a period of 90 days, they are issued a $500 fine, enrolled in a responsible interlock program and ignition interlock program and their vehicle is impounded for 30 days.

This seems to be working so far and it appears that Ontario government needs to introduce this change as well to curb the growing .

Read the full article here: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/decriminalize-drunk-driving-madd-ontario-1.4473689

For more local DUI news and information please visit our website https://www.toronto-dui-lawyer.ca/

Ways to Avoid Getting Charged With a DUI Offence While You Party

We all love a good time out with friends on a weekend or on a holiday. An evening out with friends or loved ones in D.C. is surely something we all love to go to and look forward to all the time. Partying out with friends during the holidays or the weekend is always fun but sometimes this fun leads to consumption of excessive alcohol and if one needs to drive back home after such a party, all the fun may go down the drain if you get charged with a DUI offence. It’s no secret that DUI laws are quite stringent in United States and in D.C. things are even stricter as there is no tolerance against drinking and driving. So in order to avoid getting charged with a DUI there are a few things you need to follow so that you can enjoy every bit of the time out with friends without you worrying about getting on the wrong side of the law. Here’s what you should do.

Get a driver. Ensure you have a sober driver to drive you back home after the partying is over. You should also ensure that the said driver does not consumer alcohol while with you at the party.

Opt for public transport. You can opt for public transportation services after you are done with your time out with friends and this is the best way to reach home safely.

Book a hotel. You can choose to book a hotel and stay there for the night after your party and once you are sober the next day you can travel back home.

Get a taxi. You can choose to get a taxi for heading back home. A local taxi, Uber or Lyft can be your best option in case you get too drunk.

Make sure you act responsibly while you party and even after that because getting charged with a DUI offence can be life altering.

Read the full article here: https://wtop.com/ddot/2017/12/tips-to-avoid-a-dui-in-d-c/

For more local DUI news and information please visit our website https://www.toronto-dui-lawyer.ca/

A Shift from Driving to Drinking as a Measure to Control DUI Offences

There aren’t many people who get charged with a DUI more than once and most of the people who get charged with a DUI never get arrested while being under trial for the DUI offence. Then there are those who get charged with DUI offence in a repeated fashion due to their habit of getting drunk and then driving. As per an analysis of the court records around 1400 people were charged with a DUI in Pennsylvania in the year 2016 and out of them 100 people were charged with more than two DUI charges.

Experts believe that DUI offences can be extremely harmful as those getting drunk and then driving a vehicle being intoxicated can cause a lot of harm to the other law abiding citizens of the society and cause irreparable damage to them. In order to deal with cases involving intoxicated driving, the governments are taking a fresh approach and are letting go of the traditional methods that focused on the driving aspects of the intoxicated drivers.

Now a lot of new ways have been adopted in order to deal with DUI cases such as the 24/7 Sobriety program implemented in South Dakota in the year 2005 according to which a habitual offender needs to appear at the office of the county sheriff twice a day i.e. in the morning and the evening to get a breathalyzer test done and if the said offender fails in one such test then the offender is sent to a county jail for a day or two. Another program by York County known as the Target 25 program has won accolades as it uses SCRAM Continuous Alcohol Monitor on habitual DUI offenders as a condition to release them on bail and the alcohol monitor detects alcohol consumption. The idea behind these programs is to hold offenders accountable for their reckless behaviors and it seems that these programs are being popular by the day being accepted on a national level.

Read the full article here: https://cumberlink.com/news/local/closer_look/over-the-limit-dui-solutions-that-target-drinking-not-driving/article_66f90bd4-d79a-5bc2-a020-57d203146910.html

For more local DUI news and information please visit https://www.toronto-dui-lawyer.ca/dui-news/

DUI solutions that target drinking not driving

Most people who get a DUI do not get another.

Most people who get more than one DUI do not get arrested while awaiting the outcome of their first offense.

However, a small but persistent group of habitual offenders remain.

At least 1,400 people were charged with more than one DUI in Pennsylvania outside of Philadelphia in 2016, according to an analysis of court records conducted by The Sentinel.

Nearly 100 of those people were charged with more than two, The Sentinel found.

Each time they get behind the wheel intoxicated, the outcome can be catastrophic.

“It truly can cause some of the most horrific crashes and deaths,” said David Drumheller, traffic safety resource prosecutor for the Pennsylvania District Attorney’s Association. “You can be out with your family driving home from the movies completely law abiding, and next thing you know you’re hit by a drunk driver and your life is changed as you know it.”

In recent years, a new approach to dealing with intoxicated driving has begun to take hold.

Traditional methods focus on the driving aspect of impaired driving by doing things like revoking a person’s driver’s license or requiring the driver to install an ignition interlock that tests for alcohol on the driver’s breath before allowing the vehicle to start.

In some areas, the focus has shifted to the other part of the equation — drinking.

Read the full article here: https://cumberlink.com/news/local/closer_look/over-the-limit-dui-solutions-that-target-drinking-not-driving/article_66f90bd4-d79a-5bc2-a020-57d203146910.html

For more local DUI news and information please visit our website https://www.toronto-dui-lawyer.ca/

Woman unfit to care for horse after DUI while riding

by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Posted Dec 30, 2017 2:17 pm EST Last Updated Dec 30, 2017 at 3:00 pm EST
BARTOW, Fla. – A Florida judge says a sheriff’s office must retain custody of a horse whose owner was charged with drunken driving while riding the animal.

In a report by The Ledger , Polk County Judge Sharon Franklin said 53-year-old Donna Byrne was unfit to care for the horse. Franklin also said Byrne must complete treatment for alcohol addiction.

Byrne was arrested Nov. 2 after riding her horse down a highway. Police said her blood-alcohol level twice Florida’s legal limit.

Byrne’s attorney, Craig Whisenhunt, says he will revisit the custody issue at a Jan. 11 hearing regarding additional pending charges of disorderly intoxication, animal endangerment and culpable negligence.

Whisenhunt questions whether the charges applied to Byrne, saying she had not been disorderly and was a pedestrian under the law.

___

Information from: The Ledger (Lakeland, Fla.), https://www.theledger.com

Read the full article here: https://www.680news.com/2017/12/30/judge-woman-unfit-to-care-for-horse-after-dui-while-riding/

For more local DUI news and information please visit our website https://www.toronto-dui-lawyer.ca/

Randy Travis loses bid to block naked DUI arrest video

By Kristin M. Hall, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NASHVILLE — A federal judge has denied a request by country singer Randy Travis to stop the state of Texas from releasing footage of him naked and ranting during a 2012 DUI arrest.

The ruling on a request for a preliminary injunction issued Thursday paves the way for the Texas Department of Public Safety to release the footage on Friday, which was requested through open records requests.

Travis’ family has been in a long legal battle to stop the release of the footage that went all the way to the state Supreme Court, which denied his petition. Travis filed a federal lawsuit in September in Texas arguing that that the footage should be considered private under health record privacy regulations. But the judge said he did not show a substantial likelihood of success on the claims.

Read the full article here: https://torontosun.com/entertainment/celebrity/randy-travis-loses-bid-to-block-naked-dui-arrest-video

For more local DUI news and information please visit our website https://www.toronto-dui-lawyer.ca/

Should Ontario overhaul how it charges drunk drivers?

The head of Mother’s Against Drunk Driving is calling on the Ontario government to overhaul how it charges people caught driving drunk and to implement partial decriminalization, a change the province appears open to considering.

Andrew Murie, CEO of MADD Canada, told Ontario Today on Thursday that partial decriminalization of driving under the influence charges reduces deaths caused by drunk driving.

Drunk driving to be largely decriminalized in Alberta in 2018
B.C. drinking and driving deaths down significantly
Since British Columbia introduced decriminalization legislation in 2010, police officers have been offering people caught driving under the influence for the first time — as long as they have not caused damage to property or injured anyone — the option of choosing administrative sanctions or criminal charges.

In a few years, the number of road deaths related to impaired driving had fallen dramatically.

“The focus of that program is solely on things that might rehab and reduce recidivism, where the criminal code focuses more on a punishment,” Murie said.

“Immediately behaviour changed [in B.C.],” he added. “People were continuing to go out and purchasing alcohol, but when it came to the actual act of driving their behaviours changed.”

Processing administrative sanctions is also much quicker than processing criminal charges and sending someone to court, so the change is saving money in courts and in police services, he said.

Read the full article here: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/decriminalize-drunk-driving-madd-ontario-1.4473689

For more local DUI news and information please visit our website https://www.toronto-dui-lawyer.ca/

A Tesla owner’s excuse for his DUI crash

The driver had a blood-alcohol content nearly double the legal limit and a tenuous relationship with consciousness when his car slammed into the back of a parked fire truck on San Francisco’s Bay Bridge.

Still, he became maybe the first to add a technologically advanced new entry to the list of drunken driving excuses.

He wasn’t driving, the man told the highway patrolman Monday morning. The car was.

According to the California Highway Patrol, the driver explained that his Tesla electric vehicle “had been set on autopilot,” obviating the need for him to be in control of the vehicle or, well, sober.

He was wrong, of course, and was ultimately jailed under suspicion of driving under the influence. But as word of another Tesla autopilot crash spread, the case of car as designated driver became an interesting thought exercise for anyone with more than a passing interest in vehicles that drive themselves.

If Elon Musk and other forward-thinking automakers have their way, there will soon be a time when there is no more drunken driving, because cars never have to wonder whether they’ve had one too many vodka martinis.

But until we all have our own computer-controlled, two-ton chauffeurs, we’re left with an increasing number of cars with a raft of features that make them semi-autonomous — vehicles that are safer and smarter, if not particularly geniuses.

Carmakers are transparent about that caveat emptor quality of their vehicles.

Read the full article here: https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2018/01/23/a-tesla-owners-excuse-for-his-dui-crash-the-car-was-driving.html

For more local DUI news and information please visit our website https://www.toronto-dui-lawyer.ca/