A lawyer in Springfield, MO is running a radio advert that says,

"If you get stopped for drunk driving... DO NOT submit to a roadside sobriety test. DO NOT submit to a breathelizer test. Call me immediately."

As a cyclist who has to share the road with motorists (drunk or not) this scares the chain grease out of me. I want all drunk drivers removed from the road permanantly! The last thing America needs is a dirtbag attorney who specializes in helping drunk drivers avoid punishment. If there is any justice in the universe this scumbag will get killed by a drunk driver (preferably one of his own customers).

On the basis that US law is basically common English law, if you refuse or are unable to give a breath sample, the police have the right to take you in and either get a blood test and/or urine test. I can't imagine the law in the USA is that different.

yeah, I thought that "right to an attorney" came after the arrest? besides, what are you going to tell the cop? Gee, officer, I'd rather not take the test, but there is a phone call I'd like to make If you can direct me to the nearest payphone??

The bad news is that suspects can decline the breath test.

The good news is that in most (all?) states, that will cost you your license and they can still do a "field sobriety test" (walk a straight line, stand heels together look up and touch your nose, etc.) and use that to convict you.

Now if the juries would just catch up.

Kevin S.

very simple you give an attitude to a police officer, your looking at the asphalt road at a very close proximity to your face and a knee at your neck and hand cups bihind you back, and this is probably what the police are going to be doing to you , by the time they true with you, you either need a chiropractor, to help align your bones

Get mad.
Join MADD.
Get active.
Save someone's life.

I'm really surprised this thread didn't draw a bigger reaction. Doesn't it bother anyone that an attorney would specialize in helping drunk drivers beat the law?

I don't think it's that it doesn't bother anyone, it's just that it doesn't surprise anyone. More's the pity...

The title of the thread says it all. What more needs to be said?

First off I don't drink, much less drink and drive.

That attorney gives excellent advice. Although most states(perhaps all?) have laws on the book that your license will be revoked upon refusal of a breathalyzer and FST(field sobriety test), that means there is no real physical evidence against the alleged drunk. Can you say expunged record?

Of course the masses do not know any better and submit to a breathalyzer or FST, but, you can bet attorneys and politicians will never do so.

Remember that regardless of how much pressure MADD may put on legislators, the legislators still must follow the rule of law - or attempt to.

Of course we haven't even addressed the states that will arrest you and force you to submit to a blood test on suspicion. Can you say constitutional protections?

These revocation and forced submittal laws have yet to be tested to the Supreme Court and MADD prefers it that way I'm sure. Record expungement is the dirty little secret that keeps the revocation laws from being tested in a higher court.

No Lawers have no principles. They scare me more than drunk drivers. Driving drunk or using a cell phone only increases your chance of an accident by a factor of 4. Lawers are much more dangerous than that.
Joe

There are a number of problems with our criminal justice system. I think unethical lawyers balance the bad cops.

I don't know if this is the same thing or not, I found it in the lastest Bicycling magazine. www.bicyclelawyer.com

Wow! I don't buy that logic. Bad cops are bad maybe that means some folks won't get cought or do you mean some cops that manufacture evedance? Any way both are bad but I don't see them in opposite directions, at least not very often. But at least if a cop is caught what he is doing is illeagle. The lawyer is "just doing his job".

Joe

Let's see, how's that go - "The trouble with lawyers is that 99% of them make the other 1% look bad"


How about BADD? - "Bicyclist against drunk drivers"

My man, I'll have to attach that link to my will!

Here in Florida, a driver can stay seated in his car, close his window upon approach by an officer, slap his license up against the closed window and tell the officer he requests his lawyer. By the time the lawyer gets there, the alcohol blood level has a chance to settle down and the case begins to die. I'm hoping most drunks don't know this or they're too drunk to figure it out at the time. We had an accident out here around a year ago where a guy was walking on the sidewalk along the beach. A drunk driver ran him down. The side walk for God's sake. We do have our share down here and they are by far the biggest danger to cyclists and pedestrians alike. Then there was another drunk who ran down a woman and her infant child in the stroller as they walked along the Blue Heron Bridge. How terribly sad. That guy is thankfully behind bars for a long time.

Kathy

In California accepting a driver's license, which is a privilege not a right, means that you agree to submit to a blood alcohol test if asked. The BA can either be by breathalyzer or by a blood draw. If you refuse both, the police can do a forced blood draw. It's right there in the handbook you get when you apply for a license. Of course the drunk drivers conveniently forget that for the most part.

I hope I am not stepping on toes of members here that are Lawyers, but for us to have a better Earth, we should all get rid of Lawyers, they are pain in the butt, I hate them when they will try to make a fast buck, with out regards to their clients and anybody who want to know my personal reason inhating Lawyers and doctors, can email me and I will gladly answer them, I hate my Doctor, I hate my Lawyer, grrrrrrrrrrr

Ah the old privilege vs. rights card. Yes, that became the PC thing to say during the Clintonista years. Perhaps someday people will get over their PCness and learn to think for themselves, instead of repeating what their fascist masters have put into their pea-sized brains over the past eight years.

Actually, driving is neither a privilege or a right in reality. Given the lack of public transportation in most areas of the US, driving is more of a requirement for many people due to their physical limitations or economic conditions.

As I mentioned previously, the forced blood draw issue has yet to be challenged to the Supreme Court. It will be interesting when that happens.

I'm all for putting drunk drivers out of commission for good since I do not drink alcohol or take drugs, and wasted drivers on the road are a menace.

More important, however, I do not like to see the government force bodily fluids out of citizens at the whim of some half-wit cop who may or may not have an axe to grind. The slippery slope is being descended here.

Great post Martin
Joe

I know I'll be seen as naive by some, and I expect some responses decrying Orwellian doom, but since I don't abuse contraband substances I feel no fear at the prospect of being asked to render samples of my bodily fluids.

I feel that drivers' licenses should be viewed as privileges rather than rights. Judging from observations I've made of the way certain of my fellow cyclists pilot their machines, riding a bike should be seen in the same light.

Basically I hate any behavior that suggests that the driver, rider, or in fact pedestrian feels he/she is entitled to the whole of the road and is heedless to the safety of others.

-Rob (...and then there are those mouth-breathers on the bus! Don't get me started!...)

I resent the implication that I can't think because I agree with that sentiment. What I do think is that sometimes (SOMETIMES, not all of the time) maintaining the protection of many is more important that the "rights" of the few. In this case, getting a driver's license is entering into a contract with the state. If you don't want to ever have your blood drawn (or take a breathalyzer) then don't get a license. Get a job where you can walk to work, or live in an area where you can take the bus, etc. There are ways around driving if you feel that strongly about it.

I work in an ER. I've seen the carnage caused by drunk drivers. Stopping the ones out there is worth stepping on a few toes as far as I'm concerned.

roadie gal,
just think that you are more mature than this guys out there, I know how you feel, and i am very sorry for the response that you got

I think drunk drivers should be banned from driving for at least 5 years after their 1st offence. That should send a strong message. Drunk drivers ruin lives, period.