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Alameda County to Use Special Flashlight for California DUI
Flashlight detects alcohol but there is a debate about its legality.
Law enforcement agencies around Alameda County California are gearing up for their holiday effort to keep drunk drivers of the streets. They have a new tool to help them, though there are questions about its legality. Members participating in the ‘Avoid the 21’ campaign starting this weekend will be issued a flashlight that doubles as a passive alcohol detector. When a motorist is stopped for a traffic violation the device detects alcohol in the air and alerts the officer to suspicion of driving under the influence.
The flashlights have been used in Livermore California and are beginning to see wider acceptance. The sensor has a color-based measurement scale that goes from green to red depending on the amount of alcohol detected. A Livermore officer says they are a great tool for California DUI enforcement, when used properly.
The California Vehicle Code, however, clearly states that a law enforcement officer requires the permission of the driver to take a preliminary alcohol test. Typically a portable breath test device is used when drunk driving in California is suspected. The American Civil Liberties Union and other critics say the special alcohol detecting flashlights infringe on an individual’s rights. They clarify that the device only tests the ambient air, meaning that a completely sober person, like a designated driver, could be forced to undergo further tests and even be arrested for CA DUI.
Police say the flashlight is just another tool. When alcohol is detected, the officer is supposed to perform additional investigative techniques, such as conducting a field sobriety tests or taking a breath or blood sample.
Traffic injuries attributable to California DUI in Alameda County are down 10% over the past five years.
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Wild Turn of Events Ends with California DUI
Man escapes from train accident but is busted for drunk driving in Stockton.
Andre Becerra, Jr. reportedly looked down momentarily just as a line of cars ahead of him started stopping for an on-coming train. To avoid hitting the other vehicles, he swerved to the left, hit the concrete base of the railroad crossing arm and his car came to a stop on the railroad tracks.
Becerra, 18, and his two passengers managed to get out of the vehicle before the oncoming train hit his car. The impact though forced the car from the tracks, and into Becerra.
The responding California Highway Patrol officers found Becerra to be driving under the influence. In addition to being treated for minor injuries, he was charged with California DUI in Stockton.
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Man Charged With California DUI While Trying to Fill Car With Jet Fuel
Motorist broke through security fence to fill car with special fuel.
San Jose Police patrolling the Reid-Hillview Airport around 8:30 pm found Robert Rodebush, 20, had got through a locked gate and was trying to fill his gas tank with fuel formulated for airplanes. Upon investigation they determined the man was intoxicated and arrested him for driving under the influence in California.
The high lead content of aviation fuel can harm a conventional car engine but police reportedly have had several people try to illegally fill their gas tanks thinking it would boost performance. The fuel is accessible from a self-serve pump using a credit card. The illegal effort wasn’t to save money as aviation fuel costs $5.97 per gallon.
It is speculated that Rodebush received the combination to the gate lock from someone who works at the airport. He was charged with unauthorized use of the gas pump, attempted theft, trespassing and California drunk driving.
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Teen Charged with California DUI After Morning Collision
16-year old repeatedly rammed another car in effort to escape police.
Around 9:00 am a Hillsborough police corporal on patrol noticed a black BMW with two teenagers parked the wrong way on the street, and he went to investigate. In response, the young driver started the BMW and sped off. The policeman pursued the vehicle and found the BMW had broadsided a Cadillac at a nearby intersection.
The Cadillac was blocking both lanes due to the accident, and the policeman watched as the BMW deliberately rammed it two times in order to clear the way. While the corporal attended to the two unhurt middle-aged women in the Cadillac, another officer stopped the fleeing BMW a short distance away.
A male passenger in the BMW was questioned and released. The 16-year female driver however was taken to juvenile hall and booked for reckless driving, hit and run, possession of marijuana, assault with a deadly weapon and California driving under the influence in San Mateo County.
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New Smog Law in California
California's smog check laws, already among the toughest in the country, are about to get a lot tougher.
Under a new program being made public slowly across the state, the way drivers get smog tests for their cars or trucks will depend largely on where they live. The amount and types of pollutants cars are allowed to spew will change. Getting waivers for problem cars will be more costly -- and more difficult.
Smog certificates will be sent by computer from smog check stations straight to the Department of Motor Vehicles. And in another high-tech twist, mobile smog sensors on the roadside will test cars as they roll by and immediately report them to the state.
The program, dubbed "Smog Check II,'' is state officials' answer to changes mandated by the 1990 federal Clean Air Act. The new laws are appearing in bits and pieces -- some parts of the program require expensive new smog check stations and equipment -- but should be fully in place by 1998.
The aim is to clear California's notoriously hazy air, especially in smog-choked areas such as Sacramento and Los Angeles. The number of cars failing smog tests, about 18 percent of all vehicles tested in 1994-95, is expected to go up because of more sensitive testing equipment.
The big target is the smog- belching cars the state deems "gross polluters.'' About 10 to 15 percent of cars and trucks cause about half the state's smog problem. The state wants those off the road, so much so that officials may start offering to buy cars that cannot pass a smog test.
"This program is serious about getting high-polluting vehicles repaired,'' said Maria Chacon Kniestedt, spokeswoman for Smog Check II. "Cars that used to be out on the road year after year causing big pollution problems will not be able to do that anymore.''
The new smog laws are nothing if not complicated. Some of the new laws are in effect, while others are just around the corner:
-- As of last month, all California smog certificates are issued electronically. Cars and trucks to be tested are first identified by the DMV computer, and if the vehicle passes, the results are sent straight to the DMV. The procedure has required garages that conduct smog checks to spend about $2,500 to update each smog machine and adds about 10 minutes to the length of the test.
-- Smog tests will vary widely by area. Drivers in many rural regions and most parts of the Bay Area, where air pollution is less severe, will still have their cars tested at any garage offering the service. The test still measures tailpipe gases while the car is standing still, although some emission limits have changed for some cars. The new test also checks for oxides of nitrogen, a pollutant the state has never screened for before.
In very smoggy areas, such as Vacaville, Fresno and San Diego, 15 percent of vehicles will have to be checked at special new "test-only'' smog centers. And all cars, whether checked at a garage or a test-only center, will have to be tested on a treadmill-like machine called a dynamometer. Sacramento already has the new system, and the rest of the Central Valley is next, scheduled for next spring.
-- Waivers for problem cars will be much harder to get, and drivers will have to go to special test or referee centers to get them. Owners will have to spend a minimum of $450 to bring their cars into compliance before applying for a waiver, and waivers will be issued only once every four years. Drivers who cannot afford the repair bill can apply for a one-time, one-year extension.
SLOW CHANGES, BIG REACTIONS
The changes are being phased in gradually, but they already have some drivers up in arms.
Owners of older cars worry that the new tests are too restrictive for classic roadsters, and they are especially concerned about a new part of the smog test that requires revving the engines of cars manufactured before 1981 to test emissions. State officials counter that the new laws are not part of any campaign to force someone's classic Ford Mustang off the road.
Cars manufactured before 1966 do not have to have smog checks, and older cars that must be tested do not have to meet the same standards as newer vehicles. Many mechanics say good maintenance, not age, is the key to passing the test.
Still, similar programs in other states have sparked grassroots campaigns to repeal the laws.
"I'm sorry to hear California will have something like this,'' said Greg Bell, spokesman for the Coalition to Repeal Ohio E-Check, a group fighting a similar program and picketing smog check stations in Ohio. "It is too restrictive, and it just doesn't work.''
Even if California's new program is only half in place, some drivers are already noticing -- and sometimes fuming about -- parts of Smog Check II already in effect.
At Stauder Chevron in Oakland, a garage that does about 10 to 15 smog checks a day, co-owner Mike Stauder has already seen some irate customers.
"People who fail the test by a big margin can have their car fixed here, but then they have to go get retested at the referee center, and there can be a big backlog,'' Stauder said. "Some customers are not too happy about it.''
Just trying to get in touch with the referee centers indicated that customers may indeed have to wait for tests -- 15 phone calls over three days yielded only a busy signal each time.
At San Francisco Auto Repair Center, owner Jerry Lewis said the new laws have just about everyone confused. "I get calls from customers wondering about the law. I get calls from other garages,'' he said. "To many people, the rules seem very vague right now.''
In the middle of all the crossed signals, however, the drivers who seem the most unhappy are those who don't want to spend the money to fix their smoky road machines, Lewis said.
"We get a certain number of people who are very upset,'' said Lewis. "I tell them to go live in L.A. and see what it's like.''
Some watching the new tests in action say most drivers have nothing to worry about. At the California State Automobile Association office in Sacramento, senior auto service specialist Bob Kelleher has been checking with garages that administer the new tests.
MOSTLY POSITIVE BUZZ
"There are customers who don't like it, but overall what I've heard has been pretty positive,'' said Kelleher. "About 90 percent of the vehicles that failed the test the first time passed it after being repaired.''
The way to pass the new smog check, state officials and mechanics say, is to keep your car well- maintained. Tampering with any part of a vehicle's emission system is asking for trouble, because such changes will mean a trip to a special test or referee center when smog check time rolls around.
"We get people who come in here who drive around with their engines two to three quarts low on oil,'' said Mike Stauder at Stauder Chevron. "Cars are just not kept up like they used to be.''
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NEW SMOG RULES FOR CALIFORNIA
Under California's complicated new Smog Check II program. how your car or truck will be testred depends a lot on where you live. Parts of the state with the dirtiest air -- mostly the Sacramento, Central Valley, Los Angeles and San Diego areas -- will face the toughest tests on new equipment. For other parts of the state, including most of the Bay Area, there are also strict new rules and standards.
HOW REMOTE SMOG SENSING WORKS
Remote smog sensors are appearing along California roadsides to measure emissions from cars as they drive by. The entire process takes about three seconds.
(1) An infrared beam shot across the highway picks up the contents of a car's exhaust. A calibrator and computer on the other side of the road screen and measure the emissions.
(2) At the same time, a camera snaps a pictire of the vehicle's license plate. The state uses that in information to find and notify the vehicle's owner if emissions are too high.
SMOG TESTS DEPENDS ON WHERE YOU LIVE
HOW OFTEN VEHICLES ARE TESTED
Toughest testing (a) Once every two years, unless vehicle is a high polluter, and when vehicle change owners.
Less strict Once every two years, unless vehicle is a high polluter, and when vehicle changes owners.
Least strict Only when vehicle changes owners.
HOW VEHICLE IS TESTED
Toughest testing (a) 15 percent of all vehicles tested at new smog centers, others tested at private garages. All tested on treadmills. Test results sent by computer to DMV.
Less strict All tested at private garages, no treadmill. Test result sent by computer to DMV.
Least strict All tested at private garages, no treadmill. Test results sent by computer to DMV.
IF VEHICLE FAILS
Toughest testing (a) High polluters must be repaired and retested at new smog centers. Less severe polluters must be repaired and retested at either private garages or smog centers.
Less strict High polluters must be repaired and retested at special referee centers. Less severe polluters must be repaired and retested at private garages.
Least strict Allvehicles must be repaired and retested at private garages.
REPAIR COST WAIVERS (b)
Toughest testing (a) Vehicle owner must spend at least $450 on smog-relatred repairs before getting a waiver if vehicle fails test.
Less strict Vehicle owner must spend at least $450 on smog-related repairs before getting a waiver if vehicle fails test.
Least strict N/A
Toughest testing (a) If you cannot afford needed smog repairs, you may apply for a one-time, one-year extension.
Less strict If you cannot afford needed smog repairs, you may apply for a one-time, one-year extension.
Least strict N/A
(a) The new program for more polluted areas will only take effect as Smog Check II becomes fully operational in those areas. Currently, Sacramento is the only area where the program is completely in place. The Central Valley will follow next spring. (b) Waivers are not avaiable for vehicles that are changing ownership or are being registered in California for the first time.
PAGE ONE -- Stricter Smog Rules For Cars
State Zeroes in on Most-Polluted Areas
April Lynch, Chronicle Staff Writer
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Who's Running Red Lights?
S.F. Finds Educated Men Run More Red Lights Survey Profiles Typical Lead-footed Scofflaw
Motorists who run red lights in San Francisco are, by and large, highly educated, stressed-out men in a hurry who have a dozen excuses for running the light but almost never own up to making a mistake, a new behavioral survey shows.
The most interesting finding of the survey, which was conducted by a division of the San Francisco Department of Public Health, is the suggestion that the person being interviewed understands the problem of barreling through a red light but says it's never his fault, says a city psychologist.
"The study suggests that people accurately see why others run red lights -- they're `in a hurry' or `not paying attention,' "said psychologist Stan Lipsitz, "But in terms of their own behavior, they make excuses, they deny responsibility."
The informal random survey was conducted in the summer of people waiting in line at the San Francisco office of the state Department of Motor Vehicles. The San Francisco Emergency Medical Services Agency said yesterday that while its survey was more casual than scientific, it still found enough material from the 460 people interviewed to suggest that maybe the city should put officers on every intersection in town, 24 hours a day, or at least keep college-educated men out of cars.
Here's what the survey found:
- Twice as many men run red lights as women, although there are nearly as many female drivers as male drivers in San Francisco. But twice as many men "can accurately define running a red light.'' (Entering an intersection on the yellow light is OK, police say. Entering it on a red is not.)
- Most people think they won't get caught running red lights, and so they keep on doing it.
- Few drivers will actually admit they tried to beat the light. Most say they couldn't stop or tried too late to stop.
- More than half of the people who confessed to being chronic red-light runners had a college degree. (Less than 36 percent of San Francisco's population has graduated from college.)
The survey by the medical services agency, the ambulance-running arm of the city health department, is part of a Federal Highway Administration campaign to warn drivers across the country of the seriousness of running red lights. The ambulance agency got a $30,000 federal grant to help with the survey.
In 1995, more than 41,000 people were killed in the United States because of traffic accidents, according to the city health department. More than 20 percent of those crashes were caused by drivers who ignored traffic signals.
For its part in the nationwide campaign, San Francisco is already cracking down on red-light running with the installation last year of three cameras at bad intersections around town.
The cameras -- at Fifth and Howard streets, 19th and Holloway avenues, and Seventh and Mission streets -- automatically take pictures of any car traveling faster than 15 mph that enters an intersection after the light has turned red. The private companies that operate the cameras develop the film and ``zoom in on each frame,'' said city traffic engineer Bond Yee, and then give the Police Department the car's license plate number.
The picture also identifies the driver through the windshield. The police mail the car owner a ticket, Yee said, and if the registered owner wants to challenge the citation, he or she "has to come down to court and tell the judge, `It wasn't me.'"
Yee said there are some loopholes in the system -- "If the picture is not conclusive, or there's glare, or if the front license plate is out of focus, then those are not mailed out." And motorcycles go free -- they have no front plates, and it is nearly impossible for a camera to accurately identify the face of a motorcyclist wearing a full-face helmet.
So far, there don't seem to be any major complaints by those who have been ticketed -- 442 citations were issued in November and 508 in December.
Deputy City Attorney Katharine Albright said her office consulted with the state Legislature to see if "it was possible that somebody would allege an invasion of privacy. It's clear, however, that the privacy concern is balanced overwhelmingly by the compelling need to enforce red-light laws. Any time you have a law and hope to enforce it, you hope they'll obey the law."
Hope is one thing, getting people to obey is another.
"We say other people should live better lives, but we don't necessarily do it ourselves,'' Lipsitz, the psychologist, said.
"Then there's the whole psychology of driving behavior and the meaning of cars. People see cars as extensions of themselves -- their private selves, rather than their public selves. So they're more likely to act out on the basis of aggressive impulses or fantasies than they would ordinarily do in their public behavior."
And a San Francisco traffic cop with nearly three decades' experience, a man who has the unique perspective of dealing with those impulses and fantasies at street level day after day, says the problem can be summed up this way:
"If they see the yellow, they step on the gas. What they should do is step on the brake. But they don't.''
The San Francisco Chronicle
By Michael Taylor, Chronicle Staff Writer
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Ads for Latinos Attacked
Alcohol Ads for Latinos Attacked: Rules Sought Like Those for Cigarettes
Promoting liquor in Latino neighborhoods is like pouring gasoline on smoldering embers, a coalition of health and community groups said Thursday, as it called for marketing standards similar to those for tobacco.
Aggressive, multimillion-dollar alcohol advertising campaigns geared toward Latinos exacerbates a community already disproportionately plagued by social ails, said Edwardo Hernandez, author of a report presented by CalPartners Coalition.
"A substantial number of Latinos are dying because of substantial alcohol use," said Hernandez.
At stake is one of the nation's fastest growing populations: Latino youths, who will have a dramatic effect on public health, schools and criminal justice, he said. Advertising seems to soak in at an early, vulnerable age, said Hernandez, noting a Corona beer campaign that insists it is the "Drinko for Cinco."
The group launched its report to counter Cinco de Mayo celebrations around the state where, at some, drunken brawls have eclipsed cultural significance.
Attention from public health leaders, legislators and the industry would create more responsible marketing and sales in the way that public outrage curbed cigarette advertising in recent years, the coalition contends.
"We have a lot to learn from our friends in the tobacco industry," said Mark Capitolo, spokesman for the coalition.
Industry giant Anheuser-Busch Co. markets to influence adults' brand choice, said spokesman Louis Deleon in a written statement. The ads are as diverse as the marketplace, he said.
"To suggest that people of a certain ethnic origin should be protected from certain types of advertising is elitist, condescending and insulting." The company works with Latino-owned advertising agencies to develop culturally sensitive campaigns, he said.
Yet the trend among Latinos runs counter to drinking habits among other ethnic groups, burdening Latinos with a greater share of alcohol-related health problems, Hernandez said.
Between 1984 to 1995, heavy drinking dropped from 20 percent to 12 percent among whites, but edged up among Latinos from 17 percent to 18 percent during the same time, according to a Public Health Institute study.
Specifically, four out of 10 Mexican Americans with alcohol-related problems, like liver disease, die before 50, but only three out of 10 whites with alcohol problems die that young, according to a study published in Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Science.
Latinos must examine traditional drinking habits, some imported from homelands, Hernandez conceded, such as heavy drinking tied to religious ceremonies. And though Latinos drink less frequently than other ethnic groups, when they do they drink more, said Hernandez, citing several government studies.
"They may not be aware that bringing home a six-pack is part of the problem," Capitolo said.
But changing the flow of liquor would be like swimming upstream if marketing strategies are not changed, said Hernandez.
Liquor companies do invest in their markets, offering scholarships and financial support of community events, he said. But organizations should re-consider donations linked to sales of the product, coalition members said.
Centro Guadalupe in Sacramento, a coalition member and Cinco de Mayo fete sponsor, turned down liquor industry money with few sacrifices, said center director Sylvia Villalobos. "Somehow, we got taken care of OK."
By M.E. Enkoji Bee Staff Writer
(Published March 27, 1998)
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California Drivers Required to Use Hands Free Devices
California Requires Drivers to Use Hands Free Devices While Talking on a Mobile Phone Key proponent for the bill included Verizon Wireless the nation largest wireless communications provider.
September 15, 2006
By Sandy Meyer Copyright Sandy Meyer
Sacramento, California - California Governor Schwarzenegger has signed SB 1613 by Sen. Joseph Simitian (D-Palo Alto) that would prohibit the use of a cell phone in a moving vehicle unless the driver is using a hands free device.
SB 1613 will:
- Prohibit the use of cell phones by drivers unless the driver is using a hands-free device starting July 1, 2008.
- Allow drivers of commercial vehicles to use push-to-talk phones until July 1, 2011.
- Allow drivers to make emergency phone calls without using a hands-free device.
- Allow drivers of emergency response vehicles to use cell phone without a hands-free device.
- Prescribes that a conviction is punishable by a base fine of $20 for a first offense and $50 for each subsequent offenses.
Lobbyists for the bill included Verizon Wireless, the nation largest wireless communications provider, law enforcement agencies and local government agencies. All are projected to make a lot of money from the passage of this bill.
Simitian and Verizon had attempted to get a bill on the use of hand held cellular phones passed in 2003. They did not succeed.
Verizon also sells wireless phones with voice-activated dialing and two-way speakerphone capabilities. The 2000 merger of Verizon, Bell Atlantic and GTE created Verizon Communications.
Veriizon has also been active in lobbying for the enactment of similar legislation in other states. States where Verizon lobbied in that have enacted laws to require the use of hands free cell phone devices include Illinois and Massachusetts in 2000, New York ($100. fine) in 2001, Washington, D.C. and New Jersey in 2004, Connecticut in 2005.
In 2002 -- Verizon Wireless began a partnership with the Georgia State Patrol's Safety Education Division to promote safer and more responsible driving. The Atlanta Journal Constition reported that despite a lack of evidence that hand-held phones are more dangerous on the road than hands-free devices, or other distractions, the DeKalb County, Georgia, enacted a fine of up to $500 for drivers who cause a wreck while talking on cell phones.
The county enacted the new law despite a lack of evidence that hand-held phones are more dangerous on the road than hands-free devices, or other distractions, such as eating.
See law: http://www.ahrc.com/new/index.php/src/news/sub/article/action/ShowMedia/id/3128
Source: http://www.ahrc.com
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California DUI General Information
Arrested for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) in California: General Information
I've just been arrested for DUI in California. What happens now?
The officer is required by law to immediately forward a copy of the completed notice of suspension or revocation form and any driver license taken into possession, with a sworn report to the DMV. The DMV automatically conducts an administrative review that includes an examination of the officer's report, the suspension or revocation order, and any test results. If the suspension or revocation is upheld during the administrative review, you may request a hearing to contest the suspension or revocation.
You have the right to request a hearing from the DMV within 10 days of receipt of the suspension or revocation order. If the review shows there is no basis for the suspension or revocation, the action will be set aside. You will be notified by the DMV in writing only if the suspension or revocation is set aside following the administrative review.
At the time of my DUI arrest, the officer confiscated my driver license. How do I get it back?
Your driver license will be returned to you at the end of the suspension or revocation, provided you pay (on or after January 1, 2003) a $125 reissue fee to the DMV and you file proof of financial responsibility. The reissue fee remains at $100 if you were under age 21 and were suspended under the Zero Tolerance Law pursuant to Vehicle Code §23136, 13353.1, 13388, 13392. If it is determined that there is not a basis for the suspension or revocation, your driver license will be issued or returned to you.
The officer issued me an Order of Suspension and Temporary License. What am I supposed to do with this document?
You may drive for 30 days from the date the order of suspension or revocation was issued, provided you have been issued a California driver license and your driver license is not expired, or your driving privilege is not suspended or revoked for some other reason.
The Notice of Suspension that the officer gave me at the time of my arrest states I have ten days to request an administrative hearing. What is the purpose of this hearing and what can it do for me?
A hearing is your opportunity to show that the suspension or revocation is not justified.
For how long will my driving privilege be suspended if I took the chemical test?
If you are 21 years of age or older, took a blood or breath test, or (if applicable) a urine test, and the results showed 0.08% BAC or more:
A first offense will result in a 4-month suspension. A second or subsequent offense within 7 years will result in a 1-year suspension. If you are under 21 year of age, took a preliminary alcohol screening (PAS) test or other chemical test and results showed 0.01% BAC or more, your driving privilege will be suspended for 1 year.
Do I need a hearing to get a restricted license to go to and from work?
No. A request for a restricted license cannot be considered at the DMV hearing. You may apply for a restricted license to drive to and from work at any DMV field office.
The officer stated I refused to take a chemical test. What does this mean?
You are required by law to submit to a chemical test to determine the alcohol and/or drug content of your blood. You did not submit to or complete a blood or breath test after being requested to do so by a peace officer. As of January 1999, a urine test is no longer available unless:
The officer suspects you were driving under the influence of drugs or a combination of drugs and alcohol, or Both the blood or breath tests are not available, or You are a hemophiliac, or You are taking anticoagulant medication in conjunction with a heart condition.
How long will my driving privilege be suspended for not taking the chemical test?
If you were 21 years of older at the time of arrest and you refused or failed to complete a blood or breath test, or (if applicable) a urine test:
- A first offense will result in a 1-year suspension.
- A second offense within 7 years will result in a 2-year revocation.
- A third or subsequent offense within 7 years will result in a 3-year revocation.
If you were under 21 years of age at the time of being detained or arrested and you refused or failed to complete a PAS test or other chemical test:
- A first offense will result in a 1-year suspension.
- A second offense within 7 years will result in a 2-year revocation.
- A third or subsequent offense within 7 years will result in a 3-year revocation.
How is the DMV suspension or revocation for the DUI arrest different from the suspension or revocation following my conviction in criminal court?
The DMV suspension or revocation is an administrative action taken against your driving privilege only. The suspension or revocation following a conviction in court is a mandatory action for which jail, fine, or other criminal penalty can be imposed.
Source: http://www.dmv.ca.gov/dl/driversafety/dsalcohol.htm
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Brief History of California DUI Laws
The Development of California Drunk Driving Legislation.
The first California DUI laws were established in 1911 long before the state was crowded with over 20 million automobiles and 19 million licensed drivers. The first state to adopt anti drinking and driving laws was New York in 1910.
California followed the following year stating that no "intoxicated" person shall drive. This word "intoxicated" even to this day has proved to be a 'slippery pig' in determining who is drunk (impaired to the extent that they were not able to operate an automobile safely) and who is not.
During the 1980's, various citizens' groups, most notably Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD), mobilized public support around the idea that existing drunk-driving laws were inadequate and that too often the drunk driver went unpunished or underpunished. The problem before MADD wasn't that peace officers weren't arresting drunk drivers it was that they weren't being properly convicted in the courts.
In 1981 the California legislature responded by adopting comprehensive changes in the law. It was in the decade of the 80's the majority of legislation was made into law. Fifty-five pieces of legislation between the years 1980 and 1986 passed the California legislature and turned into law.
These changes reflected two concerns:
(1) prosecution and conviction of those arrested for driving under the
influence and
(2) ensuring that blood alcohol levels (.10) were put on the books to
ease the burden
of proving the driver was under the influence.2 This resulted in
mandatory minimum sentences for all offenders including the requirement
that those convicted of a DUI were required to attended education and
counseling classes.
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