The US government reported this week that highway fatalities related to drunk driving dropped in 32 states. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, approximately 13,000 deaths involved motorists with a blood alcohol content at or above the .08% legal limit for intoxication. That is about a 4% drop from last year

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Police in Beaumont arrested a bus driver for DWI, after he had delivered a group of hurricane evacuees to Tyler, Texas.

The evacuee school bus was observed being driven down the middle of the street, leading police to assume the bus was stolen. After initiating a traffic stop, officers found open beer containers on the bus. The driver reportedly failed a field sobriety test and he was taken to a local jail for booking on suspicion of drunk driving in Texas.

Beaumont, which is in southeast Texas near the Texas-Louisiana state line, is about 225 miles from Tyler.

Arrested for DWI in Texas? You will need to hire DWI attorney in Texas for legal representation.

The Plano Police Department recently used grant money to fund extra Texas DWI patrols. That led to 80 arrests for driving while intoxicated in Texas during the month of August.

The focus of the Texas Department of Transportation Impaired Driving Mobilization grant was to reduce highway accidents and injuries during the summer season, especially over the extended Labor Day weekend. The grant allowed for additional officers to be placed on patrol. A Plano police information officer cited the 80 DWI arrests as evidence that there still is a problem on North Texas roadways.

TxDOT provides Impaired Driving Mobilization grants four times a year, when statistics show that drunk driving in Texas is most prevalent. The four periods are the Christmas-New Year holiday, spring break, the Fourth of July and Labor Day.

Arrested for DWI in Plano? Contact a Collin County DWI Lawyer for help.

Birmingham Alabama DUI defense attorney Louise Duckwell recently graduated from the National College of DUI Defense (NCDD) after attending specially focused summer sessions at Harvard Law. The NCDD program was developed to help DUI attorneys develop and hone their legal skills and thus better defend clients accused of driving under the influence.

Duckwell also obtained certification from the NHTSA in the administration of standardized field sobriety tests after completing courses in Seattle, Washington. The test training is the same as that received by law enforcement officers. Since officers use field sobriety tests to determine suspected drunk driving, it is important that a DUI defense lawyer understand where and how errors in making that determination may occur.

Duckwell received her law degree from the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University. She is a member of the Kreps Law Firm, which focuses on defending those accused of driving under the influence in Alabama.

Driving while impaired is a serious crime and not condoned. All defendants, including those accused of Alabama DUI, are entitled to legal rights. A qualified DUI defense attorney with experience and knowledge of technical processes can ensure the protection of those rights.

A four acre patch of land east of Albuquerque is dotted with markers memorializing victims of drunk driving in New Mexico. The Memorial of Perpetual tears was erected by Sonja Britton, whose son was killed by a drunk driver in 1991.

The memorial sits about 50 yards off of Interstate 40 in the town of Moriarity. The land currently has more than 900 powder gray steel markers. They were designed by Britton and feature a curved top that forms an eye. Tears are cut into the marker below the eye. Britton said steel was chosen because of the steel machines that felled the DWI victims.

The number of markers reflects the total number of New Mexico DWI victims for the previous five years. Each year the number of markers is adjusted to reflect the most recent statistics. The memorial has room for 1500 markers, though Britton hopes one day there will be no markers at the memorial.

Britton would like to expand the project into a national memorial for victims of drunk driving. She envisions landscaping, paths and plaques for each state with the number of DWI related fatalities for that year. An outdoor fountain is planned with a sculpture representing injured victims and their caretakers. A 2,100 square foot visitors center is being erected that will feature streaming videos with personal accounts of drunk driving incidents and DWI information.

Alabama State patrol troopers have concluded their state-wide traffic blitz. Titled

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