Drugged Driving an Increasing Focus of Law Enforcement
In Houston, TX, you can be arrested if you have a blood alcohol concentration exceeding the legal limit, which is set at .08 BAC. However, you can also be arrested for impaired driving even if you are not over-the-limit on alcohol. If you have drugs in your system, or a combination of alcohol and drugs, then you can find yourself charged with an impaired driving offense. A DWI arrest can lead to the loss of your driver’s license, a criminal record and potentially a requirement to complete a mandatory drug counseling program.
A DUI defense lawyer can provide you with legal representation in both drunk driving and drugged driving cases. Recently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration published a report indicating that there are fewer drunk drivers on the road than in past history but that the number of drugged drivers is increasing. As more evidence comes to light that there has been a shift in who is driving impaired, law enforcement practices are shifting to ensure there is sufficient focus on identifying drugged drivers. This can mean a greater crackdown on people who may have potentially used marijuana or other drugs before getting behind the wheel.
Drugged Driving is On-the-Rise
Over the past 40 years, the NHTSA has conducted five roadside surveys of drivers. These surveys are set up as road blocks, and drivers are given plenty of warning that a road block is upcoming. Motorists who go through the road block have their BAC tested and can be tested for drugs in their system. If someone does turn out to be impaired, he is not arrested. The data on impairment is collected anonymously in order to get a better understanding of how many people are drunk or high behind the wheel at any given time.
The reports from the most recent national roadside survey have been released and they show that there has been a 30 percent decline between 2007 and 2014 in the number of people with a BAC above the legal limit. Just eight percent of motorists were found to have any alcohol in their system and just one percent were found to be over-the-limit. Compared with the first NHTSA roadside survey that was performed in 1973, this was an 80 percent drop in the number of people driving under the influence of alcohol. This low number shows the effectiveness both of public education campaigns organized by groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving, as well as the aggressive policing of drunk drivers.
The number of drivers who were found to be on drugs, however, has increased. From 2007 to 2014, the number of weekend nighttime drivers who had drugs in their system increased by 16.3 percent.
It is more difficult for law enforcement officers to identify drugged drivers in many cases, but as studies continue to show an increase in the number of drugged drivers, it is likely that law enforcement officers and lawmakers will begin exploring new ways to solve the problem of drugged driving.
Call Joseph LaBella & Associates today at 800-395-5951 or visit http://www.texas-dwi-lawyers.com/ to speak with a Houston DUI defense lawyer. Serving Harris County, Montgomery County, and communities along Interstate 45 through The Woodlands and Conroe.
