Traffic Law DUI/DWI Newsletters

Auto Insurance for Individuals Convicted of DUI/DWI

Car insurance companies frown upon drunk drivers and enforce serious penalties to those who have been charged with drunk driving, or other alcohol-related driving offenses. Convictions for such offenses will cause many insurance carriers to raise the rates significantly or cancel an insured, either during mid-term or at the end of insurance term.

Criminal Offense of Attempting to Elude

It is against the law to attempt to elude a police officer by willfully failing to stop a vehicle if the officer gives you an audible or visual signal to stop and the police officer is in uniform, prominently displaying a badge or other insignia. If a police officer is in an appropriately marked official police vehicle when he or she gives the signal stop, whether or not the officer is in uniform, the vehicle driver may not attempt to elude the officer by willfully failing to stop the vehicle.

Criminal Offense of Impeding the Flow of Traffic

It is not uncommon for a state motor vehicle code to incorporate an individual chapter addressing the "rules of the road." One such rule is the prohibition against impeding the flow of traffic.

Physician-Patient Privilege in Drunk Driving Cases

It is common for a motorist suspected of drunk driving to come into contract with a physician. For example, if the motorist is injured in a traffic accident, first aid may be administered by a physician at the accident scene or the motorist may be taken to a hospital for treatment. In addition, law enforcement agencies often have policies in place that require them to take any motorists that are suspected of being intoxicated to a physician.

Sleep Disorder Defense to a DUI Charge

In its report, Drowsy Driving and Automobile Crashes, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NCSDR/NHTSA Expert Panel on Driver Fatigue and Sleepiness, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) conservatively estimated that 100,000 police-reported crashes were the direct result of driver fatigue each year, resulting in an estimated 1,500 deaths, 71,000 injuries, and $ 12.5 billion in monetary losses.