An impaired driving collided with a vehicle on Thursday at the intersection of Hemlock Street. Wayne Wowk, 57, was taken to Greater Sudbury Police headquarters after the crash, where he took an intoxilyzer test. Wowk was over the legal limit and attempted to give police a fake name.
He was also found to be a prohibited driver and was charged with impaired operation of vehicle, exceeding the legal limit, obstructing police and driving while disqualified. These charges haven't been proven in court and all accused are innocent until proven guilty, police said. Wowk is the first to have his name released under the police's new impaired driving policy.
SOURCE
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Business owners and entrepreneurs who own any social venue and who are looking to start a cash business can now do there part in the prevention of Drunk Driving. Please visit alcobuddy.com. World's premiere Breathalyzer Vending Machine for more information.
Showing posts with label Impaired Driving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Impaired Driving. Show all posts
Friday, June 10, 2011
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Police to target drink/drug-impaired drivers
A MONTH-LONG campaign is being launched by Sussex Police to target people who put their own and other people’s lives at risk by driving while impaired.
During the month of June police officers across the county will be carrying out action to catch people who think drink or drug driving is acceptable.
The fire service and local councils will be working alongside the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership, which Sussex Police is part of, to carry out targeted days of action across Sussex, as well as high visibility mobile checks, and covert checks at all times of the day.
The campaign aims to reduce the number of collisions in which people are seriously injured or killed as a result of people driving while impaired through alcohol or drug consumption.
Chief Inspector Di Roskilly, of Sussex Police Roads Policing Unit, said: “Drink driving can ruin lives and this June we are aiming to crack down on those who think it is acceptable to get behind the wheel of their car while impaired through drink or drugs.
“We will also be looking to raise awareness of the amount of time alcohol remains in your body. If you have been drinking the night before please think before you get into the car the following morning - you may still be over the drink-drive limit.
“The minimum sentence for anyone caught drink driving, no matter how little over the legal limit you are, is a 12-month disqualification from driving and a fine. The maximum penalty is six months’ imprisonment, even if you haven’t been involved in a collision.
“If you cause a serious injury or fatal accident then not only will you receive a sentence to reflect the result of your actions by the courts, you will also have to live with the consequences for the rest of your life.
“There is an increased risk of you being involved in a collision if you are driving whilst drunk or drugged and the statistics support this.”
As well as carrying out stop checks on the roads, teams will be visiting licensed premises to educate drinkers about the consequences of driving while impaired and encouraging people to plan how they are going to get home from a night.
FULL ARTICLE
----
Business owners and entrepreneurs who own any social venue and who are looking to start a cash business can now do there part in the prevention of Drunk Driving. Please visit alcobuddy.com. World's premiere Breathalyzer Vending Machine for more information.
During the month of June police officers across the county will be carrying out action to catch people who think drink or drug driving is acceptable.
The fire service and local councils will be working alongside the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership, which Sussex Police is part of, to carry out targeted days of action across Sussex, as well as high visibility mobile checks, and covert checks at all times of the day.
The campaign aims to reduce the number of collisions in which people are seriously injured or killed as a result of people driving while impaired through alcohol or drug consumption.
Chief Inspector Di Roskilly, of Sussex Police Roads Policing Unit, said: “Drink driving can ruin lives and this June we are aiming to crack down on those who think it is acceptable to get behind the wheel of their car while impaired through drink or drugs.
“We will also be looking to raise awareness of the amount of time alcohol remains in your body. If you have been drinking the night before please think before you get into the car the following morning - you may still be over the drink-drive limit.
“The minimum sentence for anyone caught drink driving, no matter how little over the legal limit you are, is a 12-month disqualification from driving and a fine. The maximum penalty is six months’ imprisonment, even if you haven’t been involved in a collision.
“If you cause a serious injury or fatal accident then not only will you receive a sentence to reflect the result of your actions by the courts, you will also have to live with the consequences for the rest of your life.
“There is an increased risk of you being involved in a collision if you are driving whilst drunk or drugged and the statistics support this.”
As well as carrying out stop checks on the roads, teams will be visiting licensed premises to educate drinkers about the consequences of driving while impaired and encouraging people to plan how they are going to get home from a night.
FULL ARTICLE
----
Business owners and entrepreneurs who own any social venue and who are looking to start a cash business can now do there part in the prevention of Drunk Driving. Please visit alcobuddy.com. World's premiere Breathalyzer Vending Machine for more information.
Sudbury to post names of motorists charged with impaired driving
A Northern Ontario police department is launching a highly unusual program to publicize the names of all motorists charged with impaired driving, raising concerns it will stigmatize suspects before any guilt has been determined.
The impaired drivers list, which will be released every Tuesday on the force’s web site starting on June 7, is meant to “detect, deter, and prevent the commission of impaired driving,” Frank Elsner, chief of the Greater Sudbury Police Service, said in a press release.
He noted that despite enormous effort to curtail drunk driving, charges continue to rise. In 2009, the city was traumatized when three teens walking along a road were struck and killed by a drunk driver, said Const. Bert Laplame, a police spokesman.
For a time the number of charges seemed to drop but now have begun to rise — so the department felt the need to try something new as a way to stem the problem, he said.
Many Canadian police forces regularly release lists of all charges laid against people facing a range of charges — everything from murder to robbery to assault. But what appears to make Sudbury different is the intention to issue a specific list of just those charged with impaired driving and make that information easily available.
“We recognize that impact drinking and driving can have on communities and that it’s a very difficult task for police to come up with new strategies for combatting this problem,” said Graeme Norton of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. “I think, though, the risk is people are going to assume that [the accused are] guilty of the crime without that person being found guilty in a court.”
There is no real issue when the police take special effort to release the name of an accused in a case that has been followed by the media for months or is of significant public interest, he said. “But for police to selectively publicize names outside of obvious interests of protecting the public seem to me to go too far.”
He said there might be an assumption that every impaired driving case will lead to a conviction, making publicizing the names of the accused less of a civil liberties issue.
“Drunk driving cases can be very complex and there are different ways people can end up not being convicted.”
This is not the first time that police departments in Canada have tried similar tactics. In a number of jurisdictions police have released the names of “johns” as a way to discourage prostitutes and shaming customers.
Two years ago a public list of accused johns was proposed by police in Lethbridge, Alta., and in 2004 Winnipeg police began posting clips of men soliciting sex on the web but with faces and automobile licences blurred.
The most daring attempt to shame potential criminals came in Cornwall, Ont., in 2009 when police began posting lawn signs in front of homes in which drug warrants had been executed and charges laid.
The province’s privacy commissioner ultimately ordered the practice stopped.
SOURCE
----
Business owners and entrepreneurs who own any social venue and who are looking to start a cash business can now do there part in the prevention of Drunk Driving. Please visit alcobuddy.com. World's premiere Breathalyzer Vending Machine for more information.
The impaired drivers list, which will be released every Tuesday on the force’s web site starting on June 7, is meant to “detect, deter, and prevent the commission of impaired driving,” Frank Elsner, chief of the Greater Sudbury Police Service, said in a press release.
He noted that despite enormous effort to curtail drunk driving, charges continue to rise. In 2009, the city was traumatized when three teens walking along a road were struck and killed by a drunk driver, said Const. Bert Laplame, a police spokesman.
For a time the number of charges seemed to drop but now have begun to rise — so the department felt the need to try something new as a way to stem the problem, he said.
Many Canadian police forces regularly release lists of all charges laid against people facing a range of charges — everything from murder to robbery to assault. But what appears to make Sudbury different is the intention to issue a specific list of just those charged with impaired driving and make that information easily available.
“We recognize that impact drinking and driving can have on communities and that it’s a very difficult task for police to come up with new strategies for combatting this problem,” said Graeme Norton of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. “I think, though, the risk is people are going to assume that [the accused are] guilty of the crime without that person being found guilty in a court.”
There is no real issue when the police take special effort to release the name of an accused in a case that has been followed by the media for months or is of significant public interest, he said. “But for police to selectively publicize names outside of obvious interests of protecting the public seem to me to go too far.”
He said there might be an assumption that every impaired driving case will lead to a conviction, making publicizing the names of the accused less of a civil liberties issue.
“Drunk driving cases can be very complex and there are different ways people can end up not being convicted.”
This is not the first time that police departments in Canada have tried similar tactics. In a number of jurisdictions police have released the names of “johns” as a way to discourage prostitutes and shaming customers.
Two years ago a public list of accused johns was proposed by police in Lethbridge, Alta., and in 2004 Winnipeg police began posting clips of men soliciting sex on the web but with faces and automobile licences blurred.
The most daring attempt to shame potential criminals came in Cornwall, Ont., in 2009 when police began posting lawn signs in front of homes in which drug warrants had been executed and charges laid.
The province’s privacy commissioner ultimately ordered the practice stopped.
SOURCE
----
Business owners and entrepreneurs who own any social venue and who are looking to start a cash business can now do there part in the prevention of Drunk Driving. Please visit alcobuddy.com. World's premiere Breathalyzer Vending Machine for more information.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Alco-Buddy Prevents Drunk Driving
The New York Times published an article on April 16, 2011 entitled “Helping Drunk Drivers Avoid Tickets, but Not Wrecks.” The article is intended to alert the public about a controversial new BlackBerry, iPhone and Android app that helps drunken drivers evade sobriety checkpoints. To the law-abiding sober driver, there’s nothing more annoying than being delayed at a sobriety checkpoint. But to the drunk driver, is the information these apps providing going to be particularly useful? The writer says, in summary, “General alerts are good: they help spread the word and deter drunken driving.” But pinpointing the location of sobriety checkpoints with a pushpin on a GPS device still does nothing to help prevent the deaths of the approximately 11,000 people a year that are killed by alcohol-impaired drivers. Isn’t there a way to stop drunk drivers BEFORE they get behind the wheel?
The answer might just be hanging on the wall in your local pub. And with its bold colors and bright flashing lights, it’s hard to resist the temptation to try it after a couple of drinks. It’s called Alco-Buddy and it’s the newest vending machine concept from President and CEO of Alco-Buddy, John Berlingieri.
Berlingieri gives credit to his grandfather for teaching him how to machine metal at a young age. While on vacation in Europe as a young man, Berlingeri came across an alcohol breathalyzer vending machine in a pub. He took the idea stateside and together with the engineering experience he inherited, he created the Alco-Buddy.
Berlingieri believes he is saving peoples lives by offering this valuable service to the community. “The Alco-Buddy alcohol breathalyzer vending machine is an intelligent and simple way to check your B.A.C. (blood alcohol content) before venturing out on the roads” say Berlingieri. “It reduces the number of impaired or intoxicated people driving and assists to educate patrons to moderate an appropriately pace their drinking.”
The law comes down hard on drunk drivers, these days. The Times & Transcript reported that “a judge who previously warned that she would consider jailing first-time drunk drivers who had high blood-alcohol levels and exhibited poor driving followed through on that pledge in court” when she sentenced a drunk driving offender, whose B.A.C. was three times the legal limit, to eight days in jail.
Could a device like the Alco-Buddy breathalyzer vending machine help drunk drivers avoid jail time, prevent them from even getting behind the wheel or encourage them to call a designated driver? Berlingeiri believes that it does. “Prevention is key. Drunk driving is a serious problem in this country and can not only lead to tragedy but also jail time, loss of your license and increased insurance rates” says Berlingieri. “Alco-Buddy can help prevent drunk driving by providing patrons with accurate information quickly so they can make a responsible decision, stay off the roads and find another way home.”
----
Business owners and entrepreneurs who own any social venue and who are looking to start a cash business can now do there part in the prevention of Drunk Driving. Please visit alcobuddy.com. World's premiere Breathalyzer Vending Machine for more information.
The answer might just be hanging on the wall in your local pub. And with its bold colors and bright flashing lights, it’s hard to resist the temptation to try it after a couple of drinks. It’s called Alco-Buddy and it’s the newest vending machine concept from President and CEO of Alco-Buddy, John Berlingieri.
Berlingieri gives credit to his grandfather for teaching him how to machine metal at a young age. While on vacation in Europe as a young man, Berlingeri came across an alcohol breathalyzer vending machine in a pub. He took the idea stateside and together with the engineering experience he inherited, he created the Alco-Buddy.
Berlingieri believes he is saving peoples lives by offering this valuable service to the community. “The Alco-Buddy alcohol breathalyzer vending machine is an intelligent and simple way to check your B.A.C. (blood alcohol content) before venturing out on the roads” say Berlingieri. “It reduces the number of impaired or intoxicated people driving and assists to educate patrons to moderate an appropriately pace their drinking.”
The law comes down hard on drunk drivers, these days. The Times & Transcript reported that “a judge who previously warned that she would consider jailing first-time drunk drivers who had high blood-alcohol levels and exhibited poor driving followed through on that pledge in court” when she sentenced a drunk driving offender, whose B.A.C. was three times the legal limit, to eight days in jail.
Could a device like the Alco-Buddy breathalyzer vending machine help drunk drivers avoid jail time, prevent them from even getting behind the wheel or encourage them to call a designated driver? Berlingeiri believes that it does. “Prevention is key. Drunk driving is a serious problem in this country and can not only lead to tragedy but also jail time, loss of your license and increased insurance rates” says Berlingieri. “Alco-Buddy can help prevent drunk driving by providing patrons with accurate information quickly so they can make a responsible decision, stay off the roads and find another way home.”
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Business owners and entrepreneurs who own any social venue and who are looking to start a cash business can now do there part in the prevention of Drunk Driving. Please visit alcobuddy.com. World's premiere Breathalyzer Vending Machine for more information.
Helping Drunken Drivers Avoid Tickets, but Not Wrecks
FRIENDS don’t let friends drive drunk. If they can’t take their friend’s keys away, they take their smartphone. Why? The phone may have an app that can help them avoid sobriety checkpoints.
Last month, Senators Harry Reid, Charles E. Schumer, Frank R. Lautenberg and Tom Udall asked Apple, Google and Research In Motion, the maker of BlackBerrys, to remove apps from their online stores that help drunken drivers evade sobriety checkpoints.
On March 23, the day after the letter went out, the group said BlackBerry agreed to pull the apps and thanked the group for bringing them to its attention.
Apple and Google? Nothing.
An Apple spokeswoman said the company would not comment. A Google spokesman said the apps did not violate the company’s content policies.
In supplying the precise locations of sobriety checkpoints, these apps do nothing illegal. They do not supply sexually explicit material, nor do they bully anyone, nor do they embody hate speech. Those are three of the nine categories that Google forbids for Android apps. But it might be time for Google to proscribe a 10th category: enablers of drunken driving.
Sobriety checkpoints — locations where officers stop some drivers and perform breath tests on those suspected of being drunk — are not used primarily to catch impaired drivers and issue tickets: the number of intersections that can be covered is too few for the actual arrests to make much of a dent. The checkpoints are intended to deter drunken driving by simply being out there, vaguely.
J. T. Griffin, vice president for policy at Mothers Against Drunk Driving, says, “There’s a difference between a broad announcement that there will be sobriety checkpoints in a general location versus a specific location that can be downloaded to your smartphone with the intent of allowing a drunk driver to evade a checkpoint.”
In 2009, 10,839 people were killed by alcohol-impaired drivers, which was about a third of total traffic fatalities for the year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
“There’s a face on every one of those 10,839,” said James McMahon, chief of staff of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. “There’s a mourning family behind every one.”
The total would be significantly greater were it not for the deterring effect of sobriety checkpoints that are permitted to exist as a widely publicized, but geographically indeterminate, presence.
When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention convened scientists to review 23 studies that looked at the effectiveness of sobriety checkpoints, the panel concluded that the checkpoints typically reduced alcohol-related crashes by about 20 percent. That was way back in 2002, well before the arrival of smartphone apps like PhantomAlert and Trapster, which warn of the locations of speed traps, red light cameras and other kinds of alerts, in addition to sobriety checkpoints. They can feed GPS navigation devices, too.
PhantomAlert’s iPhone app boasts that the company’s database has 400,000 “enforcement” locations. “See Them Before They See You!” it cheerily advises.
Buzzed, a smartphone app that shows nothing but sobriety checkpoints, is matched with a Web site with a self-explanatory address, EveryCheckpoint.com.
PhantomAlert was one of the apps that Research In Motion pulled from its online store at the request of the senators. R.I.M. did not respond to requests for comment. But Joseph Scott, chief executive of PhantomAlert, defended real-time alerts of sobriety checkpoints as a convenience to law-abiding citizens who do not want to be delayed by a checkpoint. “Assuming someone who gets a D.U.I.-checkpoint alert is going to drink and drive is like assuming anyone who owns a gun is a murderer,” he said.
Corinne Geller, a spokeswoman for the Virginia State Police, said that two years ago, PhantomAlert broadcast the existence of sobriety checkpoints in a general area, but without real-time location information. “The original concept was it could deter someone from driving drunk because there might have been a D.U.I. checkpoint on the way home and one didn’t know for sure,” she said. “Today, the way the program is used, it defeats the purpose of deterring illegal behavior.”
Mr. Scott says that he is talking with Research In Motion about positioning his company as a “responsible corporate citizen.” He is offering to suspend real-time reports of sobriety checkpoint locations. In an e-mail he sent me last week, he also said that he wanted to send out a joint news release with Research In Motion, “praising the senators for fighting the epidemic of drinking and driving and for giving us the chance to help them tackle this huge problem.”
Before he was flooded with civic-mindedness, however, he had taken a different tack, complaining to me that it wasn’t fair for the senators to single out him and the online app stores. “People have formed Facebook and Twitter groups to alert people of D.U.I. checkpoints, but no one is going after Facebook or Twitter,” he told me two weeks ago.
Those Facebook and Twitter feeds are not going to be particularly useful to the inebriated driver, however. It’s not the transmission of checkpoint information, in any form, that poses the public health problem. It’s when checkpoint information is transmitted instantly and precisely and is automatically incorporated into navigational software.
SOBRIETY checkpoints are the rare case in which the public interest would best be served with information that is less precise than technology is capable of providing. General alerts are good: they help spread the word and deter drunken driving. But they should blanket the town rather than show up as pushpins on a smartphone’s street map.
SOURCE
----
Business owners and entrepreneurs who own any social venue and who are looking to start a cash business can now do there part in the prevention of Drunk Driving. Please visit alcobuddy.com. World's premiere Breathalyzer Vending Machine for more information.
Last month, Senators Harry Reid, Charles E. Schumer, Frank R. Lautenberg and Tom Udall asked Apple, Google and Research In Motion, the maker of BlackBerrys, to remove apps from their online stores that help drunken drivers evade sobriety checkpoints.
On March 23, the day after the letter went out, the group said BlackBerry agreed to pull the apps and thanked the group for bringing them to its attention.
Apple and Google? Nothing.
An Apple spokeswoman said the company would not comment. A Google spokesman said the apps did not violate the company’s content policies.
In supplying the precise locations of sobriety checkpoints, these apps do nothing illegal. They do not supply sexually explicit material, nor do they bully anyone, nor do they embody hate speech. Those are three of the nine categories that Google forbids for Android apps. But it might be time for Google to proscribe a 10th category: enablers of drunken driving.
Sobriety checkpoints — locations where officers stop some drivers and perform breath tests on those suspected of being drunk — are not used primarily to catch impaired drivers and issue tickets: the number of intersections that can be covered is too few for the actual arrests to make much of a dent. The checkpoints are intended to deter drunken driving by simply being out there, vaguely.
J. T. Griffin, vice president for policy at Mothers Against Drunk Driving, says, “There’s a difference between a broad announcement that there will be sobriety checkpoints in a general location versus a specific location that can be downloaded to your smartphone with the intent of allowing a drunk driver to evade a checkpoint.”
In 2009, 10,839 people were killed by alcohol-impaired drivers, which was about a third of total traffic fatalities for the year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
“There’s a face on every one of those 10,839,” said James McMahon, chief of staff of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. “There’s a mourning family behind every one.”
The total would be significantly greater were it not for the deterring effect of sobriety checkpoints that are permitted to exist as a widely publicized, but geographically indeterminate, presence.
When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention convened scientists to review 23 studies that looked at the effectiveness of sobriety checkpoints, the panel concluded that the checkpoints typically reduced alcohol-related crashes by about 20 percent. That was way back in 2002, well before the arrival of smartphone apps like PhantomAlert and Trapster, which warn of the locations of speed traps, red light cameras and other kinds of alerts, in addition to sobriety checkpoints. They can feed GPS navigation devices, too.
PhantomAlert’s iPhone app boasts that the company’s database has 400,000 “enforcement” locations. “See Them Before They See You!” it cheerily advises.
Buzzed, a smartphone app that shows nothing but sobriety checkpoints, is matched with a Web site with a self-explanatory address, EveryCheckpoint.com.
PhantomAlert was one of the apps that Research In Motion pulled from its online store at the request of the senators. R.I.M. did not respond to requests for comment. But Joseph Scott, chief executive of PhantomAlert, defended real-time alerts of sobriety checkpoints as a convenience to law-abiding citizens who do not want to be delayed by a checkpoint. “Assuming someone who gets a D.U.I.-checkpoint alert is going to drink and drive is like assuming anyone who owns a gun is a murderer,” he said.
Corinne Geller, a spokeswoman for the Virginia State Police, said that two years ago, PhantomAlert broadcast the existence of sobriety checkpoints in a general area, but without real-time location information. “The original concept was it could deter someone from driving drunk because there might have been a D.U.I. checkpoint on the way home and one didn’t know for sure,” she said. “Today, the way the program is used, it defeats the purpose of deterring illegal behavior.”
Mr. Scott says that he is talking with Research In Motion about positioning his company as a “responsible corporate citizen.” He is offering to suspend real-time reports of sobriety checkpoint locations. In an e-mail he sent me last week, he also said that he wanted to send out a joint news release with Research In Motion, “praising the senators for fighting the epidemic of drinking and driving and for giving us the chance to help them tackle this huge problem.”
Before he was flooded with civic-mindedness, however, he had taken a different tack, complaining to me that it wasn’t fair for the senators to single out him and the online app stores. “People have formed Facebook and Twitter groups to alert people of D.U.I. checkpoints, but no one is going after Facebook or Twitter,” he told me two weeks ago.
Those Facebook and Twitter feeds are not going to be particularly useful to the inebriated driver, however. It’s not the transmission of checkpoint information, in any form, that poses the public health problem. It’s when checkpoint information is transmitted instantly and precisely and is automatically incorporated into navigational software.
SOBRIETY checkpoints are the rare case in which the public interest would best be served with information that is less precise than technology is capable of providing. General alerts are good: they help spread the word and deter drunken driving. But they should blanket the town rather than show up as pushpins on a smartphone’s street map.
SOURCE
----
Business owners and entrepreneurs who own any social venue and who are looking to start a cash business can now do there part in the prevention of Drunk Driving. Please visit alcobuddy.com. World's premiere Breathalyzer Vending Machine for more information.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Elderly drunk driver who killed two passengers jailed 4 years
Eric Kannstadter has led a long, decent life, except for one problem — his drinking.
“A functioning alcoholic,” he doesn’t drink constantly but finds it hard to stop at one glass.
He’s often the last to leave the bar or a party. He’s tried and failed at treatment programs.
So it was with three times the legal limit of alcohol in his blood that the then 70-year-old retiree set out in his Hyundai Elantra on a Friday morning 3 ½ years ago to drive two elderly ladies, fellow residents in an Etobicoke seniors’ home, for their customary shopping trip.
They were almost safely home when he misjudged a curve on Bergamot Ave., near Islington Ave. and Rexdale Blvd., and slammed head-on into an oncoming TTC bus, killing the two women.
Laura Dupuis, 82, and her friend Eileen Broadhurst, 81, were rushed to hospital, where they died within days.
On Thursday, the frail 73-year-old man stood unsteadily as Ontario Superior Court Justice David Aston sentenced him to four years in prison.
The judge also banned him from driving for life, a penalty he didn’t oppose.
The judge, who received victim impact statements from Dupuis’s family, said he was struck by the magnitude of their loss.
“Laura Dupuis was a huge and important part of many lives,” he said.
In a trial earlier this year, Aston found Kannstadter guilty of impaired driving and two counts of impaired driving causing death.
A woman testified that Kannstadter drank a scotch at about 11 p.m. the night before the Oct. 19, 2007 accident. “I have a strong suspicion that Mr. Kannstadter did not leave it at one drink that night,” Aston said.
However, the judge in his ruling also said that: “He was a good provider for his family and maintained gainful employment before his retirement.
“Mr. Kannstadter was a productive member of society for many years and supported his family before retirement. His son says, ‘Alcoholism never made him a bad father,’” the judge noted in his ruling.
Crown prosecutor Patrick Travers sought a seven-year penitentiary sentence, noting Kannstadter’s previous convictions.
One is for driving over the legal alcohol limit and another is for careless driving in which alcohol may have played a role.
Defence lawyer David North asked for two or three years in jail, noting that his client, who uses a walker and has suffered a stroke, is approaching the end of his life.
The judge noted that Kannstadter has expressed remorse, apologizing to the families.
But Aston observed that “there is a world of difference between regret over the outcome of what happened that day and regret that he did not act differently at the time.”
Perhaps Kannstadter has difficulty accepting responsibility because he has no memory of the collision, owing to the head injury he sustained, the judge said.
Outside court, Dupuis’s family recalled an energetic, thoughtful mother of six, who had worked for many years for the Scott Mission and was still a volunteer with a food bank.
“I’m content with the sentence,” said one of her daughters, Linda Cowles, adding that the family was concerned that Kannstadter should never again get behind the wheel.
“Hopefully this sends the message to people that drink and drive,” said another daughter, Melanie Cole.
SOURCE
----
Business owners and entrepreneurs who own any social venue and who are looking to start a cash business can now do there part in the prevention of Drunk Driving. Please visit alcobuddy.com. World's premiere Breathalyzer Vending Machine for more information.
“A functioning alcoholic,” he doesn’t drink constantly but finds it hard to stop at one glass.
He’s often the last to leave the bar or a party. He’s tried and failed at treatment programs.
So it was with three times the legal limit of alcohol in his blood that the then 70-year-old retiree set out in his Hyundai Elantra on a Friday morning 3 ½ years ago to drive two elderly ladies, fellow residents in an Etobicoke seniors’ home, for their customary shopping trip.
They were almost safely home when he misjudged a curve on Bergamot Ave., near Islington Ave. and Rexdale Blvd., and slammed head-on into an oncoming TTC bus, killing the two women.
Laura Dupuis, 82, and her friend Eileen Broadhurst, 81, were rushed to hospital, where they died within days.
On Thursday, the frail 73-year-old man stood unsteadily as Ontario Superior Court Justice David Aston sentenced him to four years in prison.
The judge also banned him from driving for life, a penalty he didn’t oppose.
The judge, who received victim impact statements from Dupuis’s family, said he was struck by the magnitude of their loss.
“Laura Dupuis was a huge and important part of many lives,” he said.
In a trial earlier this year, Aston found Kannstadter guilty of impaired driving and two counts of impaired driving causing death.
A woman testified that Kannstadter drank a scotch at about 11 p.m. the night before the Oct. 19, 2007 accident. “I have a strong suspicion that Mr. Kannstadter did not leave it at one drink that night,” Aston said.
However, the judge in his ruling also said that: “He was a good provider for his family and maintained gainful employment before his retirement.
“Mr. Kannstadter was a productive member of society for many years and supported his family before retirement. His son says, ‘Alcoholism never made him a bad father,’” the judge noted in his ruling.
Crown prosecutor Patrick Travers sought a seven-year penitentiary sentence, noting Kannstadter’s previous convictions.
One is for driving over the legal alcohol limit and another is for careless driving in which alcohol may have played a role.
Defence lawyer David North asked for two or three years in jail, noting that his client, who uses a walker and has suffered a stroke, is approaching the end of his life.
The judge noted that Kannstadter has expressed remorse, apologizing to the families.
But Aston observed that “there is a world of difference between regret over the outcome of what happened that day and regret that he did not act differently at the time.”
Perhaps Kannstadter has difficulty accepting responsibility because he has no memory of the collision, owing to the head injury he sustained, the judge said.
Outside court, Dupuis’s family recalled an energetic, thoughtful mother of six, who had worked for many years for the Scott Mission and was still a volunteer with a food bank.
“I’m content with the sentence,” said one of her daughters, Linda Cowles, adding that the family was concerned that Kannstadter should never again get behind the wheel.
“Hopefully this sends the message to people that drink and drive,” said another daughter, Melanie Cole.
SOURCE
----
Business owners and entrepreneurs who own any social venue and who are looking to start a cash business can now do there part in the prevention of Drunk Driving. Please visit alcobuddy.com. World's premiere Breathalyzer Vending Machine for more information.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Police Catch 8 Drunk Drivers At Checkpoint
Bakersfield police officers caught eight people drunk driving last night during a checkpoint along California Avenue Friday night.
Bakersfield Police screened 1826 cars between 5 p.m. Friday and 1 a.m. Saturday.
Eleven drivers were asked to perform field sobriety tests, and eight of them were determine to be drunk behind the wheel. Three of those arrested had a prior DUI conviction, and police said one of the drivers was impaired by both alcohol and marijuana.
Officers also impounded 50 cars and caught 15 people driving with an invalid license. They report one woman was caught with three outstanding warrants, and 31-year-old Marco Mejia was arrested for possession of a loaded, concealed, stolen handgun.
Police said the DUI/Drivers License Checkpoint was in an effort to reduce the number of persons injured or killed each year in DUI related collisions and encourage people to assign a sober designated driver.
Funding for the program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Police encourage the public help keep roadways safe by calling 911 if they see a suspected impaired driver.
SOURCE
Bakersfield Police screened 1826 cars between 5 p.m. Friday and 1 a.m. Saturday.
Eleven drivers were asked to perform field sobriety tests, and eight of them were determine to be drunk behind the wheel. Three of those arrested had a prior DUI conviction, and police said one of the drivers was impaired by both alcohol and marijuana.
Officers also impounded 50 cars and caught 15 people driving with an invalid license. They report one woman was caught with three outstanding warrants, and 31-year-old Marco Mejia was arrested for possession of a loaded, concealed, stolen handgun.
Police said the DUI/Drivers License Checkpoint was in an effort to reduce the number of persons injured or killed each year in DUI related collisions and encourage people to assign a sober designated driver.
Funding for the program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Police encourage the public help keep roadways safe by calling 911 if they see a suspected impaired driver.
SOURCE
Friday, February 25, 2011
Some Call Tags for Drunk Drivers Wrong Turn
Washington has become the latest state to see a push for a so-called whiskey-plate law to combat drunk driving, a move defense lawyers and civil libertarians say can unfairly stigmatize offenders, and sometimes their families as well.
The law would require first-time drunk drivers to replace their license plates with easy-to-spot tags that end with the uppercase letter "Z," a signal to police to pay close attention to the car. Minnesota, an early adopter of such a law, uses the letter "W"—hence the term "whiskey plate"—on a plain white background.
Offenders in Washington would be required to display the special plates for three years after their driving privileges are restored. Republican Rep. Norma Smith of Clinton, Wash., who introduced the bill earlier this month, said it would give police another tool to crack down on a dangerous practice.
"The recidivist rate on drunk-driving is extremely high," she said. "Too many people continue to die these needless deaths."
The bill won't come to a vote for several months, but opponents are already making their voices heard.
"There's just no point to this other than to give someone a Scarlet Letter," said Matthew Leyba, a criminal-defense lawyer in Seattle. "It's only going to subject people to more harassment from the police."
Vanita Gupta, deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said whiskey plates were part of a "trend of overcriminalization" in the U.S. "These sorts of laws just create obstacles to offenders getting fresh starts and moving forward with their lives," she said.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving Chief Executive Kimberly Earle said the organization supports whiskey-plate laws as a "useful tool" for police, but that MADD is more focused on measures it believes have a better track record for preventing drunk driving, such as requiring offenders to pass a car-mounted breathalizer to enable their engine to start.
A handful of other states have adopted similar laws. In Minnesota, certain drunk-driving offenders are required to attach special plates to their car for a year after their driving privileges are restored. An earlier version of the Minnesota law was enacted in 1988. Drunk-driving-related fatalities have fallen steadily since. Jean Ryan, Minnesota's impaired-driving program coordinator, said that a host of factors were likely involved in that drop, including strengthened enforcement efforts.
Matt Langer, a captain with the Minnesota State Patrol, said that while he had arrested drivers whose cars had whiskey plates on new drunken-driving charges, it was also routine to drive past them, with "nothing to be concerned about."
David Risk, a criminal lawyer in Minneapolis, said the law could have unwelcome ramifications. He said he had a client whose wife ran a day-care center that owned several vans, all of which were co-registered in his client's name. After his client's blood-alcohol test came back with a reading over the legal limit, Mr. Risk said, the Department of Public Safety told the day-care center it had to get whiskey plates for all its vans.
SOURCE
The law would require first-time drunk drivers to replace their license plates with easy-to-spot tags that end with the uppercase letter "Z," a signal to police to pay close attention to the car. Minnesota, an early adopter of such a law, uses the letter "W"—hence the term "whiskey plate"—on a plain white background.
Offenders in Washington would be required to display the special plates for three years after their driving privileges are restored. Republican Rep. Norma Smith of Clinton, Wash., who introduced the bill earlier this month, said it would give police another tool to crack down on a dangerous practice.
"The recidivist rate on drunk-driving is extremely high," she said. "Too many people continue to die these needless deaths."
The bill won't come to a vote for several months, but opponents are already making their voices heard.
"There's just no point to this other than to give someone a Scarlet Letter," said Matthew Leyba, a criminal-defense lawyer in Seattle. "It's only going to subject people to more harassment from the police."
Vanita Gupta, deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said whiskey plates were part of a "trend of overcriminalization" in the U.S. "These sorts of laws just create obstacles to offenders getting fresh starts and moving forward with their lives," she said.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving Chief Executive Kimberly Earle said the organization supports whiskey-plate laws as a "useful tool" for police, but that MADD is more focused on measures it believes have a better track record for preventing drunk driving, such as requiring offenders to pass a car-mounted breathalizer to enable their engine to start.
A handful of other states have adopted similar laws. In Minnesota, certain drunk-driving offenders are required to attach special plates to their car for a year after their driving privileges are restored. An earlier version of the Minnesota law was enacted in 1988. Drunk-driving-related fatalities have fallen steadily since. Jean Ryan, Minnesota's impaired-driving program coordinator, said that a host of factors were likely involved in that drop, including strengthened enforcement efforts.
Matt Langer, a captain with the Minnesota State Patrol, said that while he had arrested drivers whose cars had whiskey plates on new drunken-driving charges, it was also routine to drive past them, with "nothing to be concerned about."
David Risk, a criminal lawyer in Minneapolis, said the law could have unwelcome ramifications. He said he had a client whose wife ran a day-care center that owned several vans, all of which were co-registered in his client's name. After his client's blood-alcohol test came back with a reading over the legal limit, Mr. Risk said, the Department of Public Safety told the day-care center it had to get whiskey plates for all its vans.
SOURCE
Monday, February 7, 2011
MPD targets impaired drivers with federal grant
Madison drivers were urged to stay alert during Super Bowl weekend as the Madison Police Department staffed extra patrols on the lookout for intoxicated drivers Saturday.
As part of a national grant to combat Wisconsin’s infamous drunken driving problem, MPD had a number of extra patrols specifically targeting at-risk drivers during what was expected to be a large partying weekend as the Green Bay Packers traveled to Dallas.
MPD received a $40,000 grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to combat drunk driving throughout 2011, Lt. Tony Bitterman said.
According to a statement from the MPD, the grant is coordinated through the Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Safety.
“[The initiative has] the objective of detecting and apprehending motor vehicle operators who are committing traffic violations and/or who are operating a motor vehicle while impaired,” the statement said.
In addition to the 31 regularly scheduled Saturday night officers, four patrols were paid overtime with grant funding Feb. 5 to specifically patrol for intoxicated drivers, Bitterman said.
The statement said the department supports the “Zero In Wisconsin” campaign, which advocates zero toleration for drunk driving.
“We hope that we are doing a little education in regard to [driving while intoxicated],” Bitterman said. “If we have more officers out there specifically dedicated to apprehending impaired drivers, that should have an effect.”
The department also received grants for speed enforcement, pedestrian right of way laws and bike law enforcement. The municipalities can apply for the grants on a yearly cycle through a written application process, Bitterman said.
Though the amounts of the grants varies from year to year, Bitterman said approximately $4,000 was extended for both the pedestrian and bike law enforcements, and $45,000 was granted for speed enforcement.
Bitterman said the grant cycle runs from October to September. Because the funding was approved in October, Bitterman said the department has sponsored several initiatives through the winter months.
He said the impaired driving initiatives are going to increase as the temperatures get warmer. While only two alcohol initiatives are planned for February, during the warmer months, there may be as many as eight or nine per month.
There will be additional grant-sponsored officers doing primarily alcohol enforcement nearly every weekend throughout the summer, Bitterman said.
MPD spokesperson Joel DeSpain said the department receives grants from both the federal and state level to periodically do increased enforcement of impaired drivers.
The next initiative night is Feb. 18.
SOURCE
As part of a national grant to combat Wisconsin’s infamous drunken driving problem, MPD had a number of extra patrols specifically targeting at-risk drivers during what was expected to be a large partying weekend as the Green Bay Packers traveled to Dallas.
MPD received a $40,000 grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to combat drunk driving throughout 2011, Lt. Tony Bitterman said.
According to a statement from the MPD, the grant is coordinated through the Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Safety.
“[The initiative has] the objective of detecting and apprehending motor vehicle operators who are committing traffic violations and/or who are operating a motor vehicle while impaired,” the statement said.
In addition to the 31 regularly scheduled Saturday night officers, four patrols were paid overtime with grant funding Feb. 5 to specifically patrol for intoxicated drivers, Bitterman said.
The statement said the department supports the “Zero In Wisconsin” campaign, which advocates zero toleration for drunk driving.
“We hope that we are doing a little education in regard to [driving while intoxicated],” Bitterman said. “If we have more officers out there specifically dedicated to apprehending impaired drivers, that should have an effect.”
The department also received grants for speed enforcement, pedestrian right of way laws and bike law enforcement. The municipalities can apply for the grants on a yearly cycle through a written application process, Bitterman said.
Though the amounts of the grants varies from year to year, Bitterman said approximately $4,000 was extended for both the pedestrian and bike law enforcements, and $45,000 was granted for speed enforcement.
Bitterman said the grant cycle runs from October to September. Because the funding was approved in October, Bitterman said the department has sponsored several initiatives through the winter months.
He said the impaired driving initiatives are going to increase as the temperatures get warmer. While only two alcohol initiatives are planned for February, during the warmer months, there may be as many as eight or nine per month.
There will be additional grant-sponsored officers doing primarily alcohol enforcement nearly every weekend throughout the summer, Bitterman said.
MPD spokesperson Joel DeSpain said the department receives grants from both the federal and state level to periodically do increased enforcement of impaired drivers.
The next initiative night is Feb. 18.
SOURCE
Patrols Set For Super Bowl Sunday DUI Crackdown
Local law enforcement’s Target Zero Teams will have patrols ready to arrest drivers that celebrate Super Bowl Sunday with too much alcohol.
The Washington State Patrol said that nearly three dozen city police officers, county sheriffs' deputies and state troopers will be deployed in the hours after the Super Bowl.
The state patrol is also asking for the help of other drivers in spotting drunk drivers. State law permits drivers to use their cell phones to report emergencies, such as an impaired driver, to 911.
"An impaired driver is definitely an emergency," said Snohomish County Sheriff John Lovick. "If you see someone you think is DUI, it's appropriate to call 911 and report that."
According to the state patrol, Target Zero Teams are structured with a full-time core of state troopers, joined by deputies and officers from local agencies when staffing and funding permit. The teams' goal is to eliminate drunk driving deaths.
The Target Zero Teams were created on July 1, so this will be their first Super Bowl effort.
SOURCE
The Washington State Patrol said that nearly three dozen city police officers, county sheriffs' deputies and state troopers will be deployed in the hours after the Super Bowl.
The state patrol is also asking for the help of other drivers in spotting drunk drivers. State law permits drivers to use their cell phones to report emergencies, such as an impaired driver, to 911.
"An impaired driver is definitely an emergency," said Snohomish County Sheriff John Lovick. "If you see someone you think is DUI, it's appropriate to call 911 and report that."
According to the state patrol, Target Zero Teams are structured with a full-time core of state troopers, joined by deputies and officers from local agencies when staffing and funding permit. The teams' goal is to eliminate drunk driving deaths.
The Target Zero Teams were created on July 1, so this will be their first Super Bowl effort.
SOURCE
Nearly 20 arrested in Super Bowl drunk-driving blitz
Despite warnings to drink responsibly, close to 20 people were arrested in Toronto for impaired driving after the Super Bowl, Toronto police said Monday.
The arrests followed a campaign to crack down on drunk drivers across Toronto on Super Bowl weekend. Four police units conducted R.I.D.E stops on the city's streets overnight.
Those arrested either blew over the legal limit, or refused to take a breathalyzer test or a sobriety test for suspected impairment from drugs, said Sgt. Tim Burrows of Traffic Services.
Police also stopped several drivers whose licenses had already been suspended, he told CP24.
"These were not the numbers we expected," Burrows said of the arrests.
In a statement released on Sunday, Toronto Police Service encouraged anyone planning to consume alcohol to take public transit or taxis, to designate a non-drinking driver or stay in a hotel.
Police are encouraging anyone who sees what they believe is drunk driving to call 9-1-1.
There were no major collisions reported Sunday night, Burrows said.
SOURCE
The arrests followed a campaign to crack down on drunk drivers across Toronto on Super Bowl weekend. Four police units conducted R.I.D.E stops on the city's streets overnight.
Those arrested either blew over the legal limit, or refused to take a breathalyzer test or a sobriety test for suspected impairment from drugs, said Sgt. Tim Burrows of Traffic Services.
Police also stopped several drivers whose licenses had already been suspended, he told CP24.
"These were not the numbers we expected," Burrows said of the arrests.
In a statement released on Sunday, Toronto Police Service encouraged anyone planning to consume alcohol to take public transit or taxis, to designate a non-drinking driver or stay in a hotel.
Police are encouraging anyone who sees what they believe is drunk driving to call 9-1-1.
There were no major collisions reported Sunday night, Burrows said.
SOURCE
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Pick Sober New Year's Driver
State, county and city law enforcement agencies are ready for the third enhanced enforcement effort, during the New Year's Holiday period, to reduce crashes caused by impaired and other dangerous drivers.
This year's New Year's holiday reporting period extends from 6:00 p.m., Thursday, December 30, through 11:59 p.m., Sunday, January 2, 2011.
According to Oregon's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) statistics, since 1986, about 43 percent of traffic fatalities during the New Year's Holiday period have been in alcohol-involved crashes.
There were no traffic fatalities in Oregon during last year's 102-hour New Year's holiday period; only the second time since 1970. According to FARS statistics, during the last ten years more than five traffic deaths occurred on average each year during the New Year's Holiday period.
Since 1970, the highest number of fatalities for this holiday period happened twice, in 1998 and 1999, when 12 people died in Oregon traffic crashes.
Nationally, during the month of December 2009, 753 people were killed in crashes that involved a driver or motorcycle operator with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level of .08 or higher. During the past decade in Oregon, more than 2,000 people have been killed and over 26,000 injured by a drinking or drugged driver.
Alcohol-impaired drivers are not the only concern for law enforcement agencies. Drug impairment and involvement in fatal traffic crashes is reflected in recently released data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Last year, about 1 in 5 drivers who were killed in car crashes tested positive for drugs. Officers trained as Drug Recognition Experts (DRE) are involved in the national "Drunk Driving. Over the Limit, Under Arrest." crackdown to help evaluate possible drug-impaired drivers.
Oregon law enforcement leaders urge all travelers to continue keeping the party off the road, fasten your safety restraints, and always have a designated sober driver to get you to your destination safely. Oregon State Police, Oregon State Sheriff's Association, and Oregon Association Chiefs of Police join ODOT officials in offering these safety tips:
* If you are planning to drink, plan ahead: designate a sober driver or arrange for a taxi to pick you up at a set time. * Volunteer to be a designated driver. * If you are hosting a party, offer plenty of non-alcoholic beverages and help your guests be responsible. Don't let someone who has been drinking get behind the wheel. * Walking or bicycling after dark? Wear bright clothes to help you stand out, and always look both ways before crossing, even at an intersection. * Be watchful when driving for pedestrians on or near the road. * Buckle up, every trip, every time. * Drive defensively at all times.
OSP and ODOT also urge drivers to not let their guard down and be aware of traffic safety corridors, highway work zones, and winter-related road condition changes. Even when workers are not present, all work zone speed limits still apply and fines double. Inactive work zones may have equipment, detours, and incomplete changes in the roadway so drivers need to slow down and be alert. ODOT's travel and road conditions website, www.TripCheck.com, contains up-to-date incident information, weather reports, alerts and other valuable "know before you go" information.
SOURCE
This year's New Year's holiday reporting period extends from 6:00 p.m., Thursday, December 30, through 11:59 p.m., Sunday, January 2, 2011.
According to Oregon's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) statistics, since 1986, about 43 percent of traffic fatalities during the New Year's Holiday period have been in alcohol-involved crashes.
There were no traffic fatalities in Oregon during last year's 102-hour New Year's holiday period; only the second time since 1970. According to FARS statistics, during the last ten years more than five traffic deaths occurred on average each year during the New Year's Holiday period.
Since 1970, the highest number of fatalities for this holiday period happened twice, in 1998 and 1999, when 12 people died in Oregon traffic crashes.
Nationally, during the month of December 2009, 753 people were killed in crashes that involved a driver or motorcycle operator with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level of .08 or higher. During the past decade in Oregon, more than 2,000 people have been killed and over 26,000 injured by a drinking or drugged driver.
Alcohol-impaired drivers are not the only concern for law enforcement agencies. Drug impairment and involvement in fatal traffic crashes is reflected in recently released data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Last year, about 1 in 5 drivers who were killed in car crashes tested positive for drugs. Officers trained as Drug Recognition Experts (DRE) are involved in the national "Drunk Driving. Over the Limit, Under Arrest." crackdown to help evaluate possible drug-impaired drivers.
Oregon law enforcement leaders urge all travelers to continue keeping the party off the road, fasten your safety restraints, and always have a designated sober driver to get you to your destination safely. Oregon State Police, Oregon State Sheriff's Association, and Oregon Association Chiefs of Police join ODOT officials in offering these safety tips:
* If you are planning to drink, plan ahead: designate a sober driver or arrange for a taxi to pick you up at a set time. * Volunteer to be a designated driver. * If you are hosting a party, offer plenty of non-alcoholic beverages and help your guests be responsible. Don't let someone who has been drinking get behind the wheel. * Walking or bicycling after dark? Wear bright clothes to help you stand out, and always look both ways before crossing, even at an intersection. * Be watchful when driving for pedestrians on or near the road. * Buckle up, every trip, every time. * Drive defensively at all times.
OSP and ODOT also urge drivers to not let their guard down and be aware of traffic safety corridors, highway work zones, and winter-related road condition changes. Even when workers are not present, all work zone speed limits still apply and fines double. Inactive work zones may have equipment, detours, and incomplete changes in the roadway so drivers need to slow down and be alert. ODOT's travel and road conditions website, www.TripCheck.com, contains up-to-date incident information, weather reports, alerts and other valuable "know before you go" information.
SOURCE
Monday, December 20, 2010
Toronto cop faces drunk-driving charges
A Toronto Police officer faces alcohol-related charges after his car crashed into a pole.
Force spokesman Mark Pugash said Const. Ravneet Dhillon, 25, was arrested following the single-vehicle collision Saturday on Dundas St. W. Dhillion was off duty at the time.
The 14 Division officer, who lives in Brampton, has been with Toronto Police since 2008.
Dhillon is charged with impaired driving and operation of a motor vehicle while having more than the legal limit of alcohol in his system.
He was ordered to appear in an Old City Hall court on Feb. 7.
SOURCE
Force spokesman Mark Pugash said Const. Ravneet Dhillon, 25, was arrested following the single-vehicle collision Saturday on Dundas St. W. Dhillion was off duty at the time.
The 14 Division officer, who lives in Brampton, has been with Toronto Police since 2008.
Dhillon is charged with impaired driving and operation of a motor vehicle while having more than the legal limit of alcohol in his system.
He was ordered to appear in an Old City Hall court on Feb. 7.
SOURCE
Friday, December 10, 2010
Cops begin annual campaign against drunk driving
Montclair law enforcement officials will be cracking down on drunk drivers as part of the annual holiday season "Over the Limit, Under Arrest" statewide campaign. Beginning Dec. 6, 2010 and running through Jan. 2, 2011, local and state law enforcement officials will conduct saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints looking for motorists who may be driving while intoxicated.
A concentrated national effort, the campaign helps to raise awareness about the dangers of drinking and driving through high-visibility enforcement and public education tools, including posters, banners and mobile video display signs. Launched nationally in 1999, the program works to combat drink driving during some of the busiest travel times of the year.
"This is a critical law enforcement program that can save lives during a time of the year when impaired driving traditionally increases by nearly 10 percent," said Lt. Kenneth V. Miscia, Jr., Uniform/Traffic Bureau Commander. "This initiative brings attention to the serious consequences of drunk driving and the grave danger those who choose to drink and drive pose to all who share the road with them."
Last year in New Jersey, 185 people were killed as a result of alcohol-relates crashes. That number represents 31 percent of the 583 traffic fatalities reported in the state in 2009.
Law enforcement agencies participating in the Over the Limit, Under Arrest 2010 Holiday Crackdown offers the following advice:
• Take mass transit, a taxicab, or ask a sober friend to drive you home.
• Spend the night where the activity is held
• Report impaired drivers to law enforcement. In New Jersey, drivers may dial #77 on their cell phones to report a drunk driver.
• Always buckle-up, every ride. It's your best defense against an impaired driver.
• If you're intoxicated and traveling on foot, the safest way to get home is to take a cab or have a sober friend or family member drive or escort you to your doorstep.
Motorists are also asked to subscribe to the pledge of the Ensign John R. Elliot HERO Campaign for Designated Drivers: Drive sober, be a designated driver and don't let friends drive drunk. Under the effort, local business and community groups, law enforcement agencies, and schools work together to keep drunk drivers off the road. Started in New Jersey by the Elliot family following the tragic death of their son, John, in a head-on collision with a drunk driver, the campaign has become a national model for preventing drunk driving.
SOURCE
A concentrated national effort, the campaign helps to raise awareness about the dangers of drinking and driving through high-visibility enforcement and public education tools, including posters, banners and mobile video display signs. Launched nationally in 1999, the program works to combat drink driving during some of the busiest travel times of the year.
"This is a critical law enforcement program that can save lives during a time of the year when impaired driving traditionally increases by nearly 10 percent," said Lt. Kenneth V. Miscia, Jr., Uniform/Traffic Bureau Commander. "This initiative brings attention to the serious consequences of drunk driving and the grave danger those who choose to drink and drive pose to all who share the road with them."
Last year in New Jersey, 185 people were killed as a result of alcohol-relates crashes. That number represents 31 percent of the 583 traffic fatalities reported in the state in 2009.
Law enforcement agencies participating in the Over the Limit, Under Arrest 2010 Holiday Crackdown offers the following advice:
• Take mass transit, a taxicab, or ask a sober friend to drive you home.
• Spend the night where the activity is held
• Report impaired drivers to law enforcement. In New Jersey, drivers may dial #77 on their cell phones to report a drunk driver.
• Always buckle-up, every ride. It's your best defense against an impaired driver.
• If you're intoxicated and traveling on foot, the safest way to get home is to take a cab or have a sober friend or family member drive or escort you to your doorstep.
Motorists are also asked to subscribe to the pledge of the Ensign John R. Elliot HERO Campaign for Designated Drivers: Drive sober, be a designated driver and don't let friends drive drunk. Under the effort, local business and community groups, law enforcement agencies, and schools work together to keep drunk drivers off the road. Started in New Jersey by the Elliot family following the tragic death of their son, John, in a head-on collision with a drunk driver, the campaign has become a national model for preventing drunk driving.
SOURCE
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Troop F, MADD partner to fight drunken driving
Louisiana State Police Troop F and Mothers Against Drunk Driving announced Wednesday they have teamed up to warn others about the dangers of impaired driving.
As part of the collaboration, a Christmas tree was set up at Troop F's headquarters, adorned with pictures of victims of collisions with impaired drivers from around the state and MADD ribbons.
Troop F commander Capt. Kevin Reeves said the idea sprung from a decoration at state police headquarters in Baton Rouge.
"When I was down there about two years ago, I saw this tree in their lobby with pictures all over it," Reeves said.
Reeves said a fellow trooper he was visiting with at the time stood before the tree, looking into the eyes of the people in the pictures for about five minutes.
"He said, 'Do you know who these people are?'" Reeves said. "It's a reminder of why we do what we do. I thought it was a good idea."
Reeves said troopers contacted the local MADD chapter to discuss the matter.
"I take the time to walk in and look into these people's eyes every day," Reeves said. "And I want our troopers to do the same."
Gail Dupuy, the mother of one person depicted on the tree, knows from personal experience how impaired drivers can affect others. Her daughter, Leigh Ann Carlton, a 2001 graduate of Ouachita Parish High School, died in an crash with an impaired driver in July 2001.
READ FULL ARTICLE
As part of the collaboration, a Christmas tree was set up at Troop F's headquarters, adorned with pictures of victims of collisions with impaired drivers from around the state and MADD ribbons.
Troop F commander Capt. Kevin Reeves said the idea sprung from a decoration at state police headquarters in Baton Rouge.
"When I was down there about two years ago, I saw this tree in their lobby with pictures all over it," Reeves said.
Reeves said a fellow trooper he was visiting with at the time stood before the tree, looking into the eyes of the people in the pictures for about five minutes.
"He said, 'Do you know who these people are?'" Reeves said. "It's a reminder of why we do what we do. I thought it was a good idea."
Reeves said troopers contacted the local MADD chapter to discuss the matter.
"I take the time to walk in and look into these people's eyes every day," Reeves said. "And I want our troopers to do the same."
Gail Dupuy, the mother of one person depicted on the tree, knows from personal experience how impaired drivers can affect others. Her daughter, Leigh Ann Carlton, a 2001 graduate of Ouachita Parish High School, died in an crash with an impaired driver in July 2001.
READ FULL ARTICLE
Friday, November 26, 2010
NSW Police safe driving campaign starts
NSW drink and drug drivers are being warned they will be caught, as police launch Australia and New Zealand's biggest crackdown operation.
Operation RAID (Remove All Impaired Drivers) began at 0001 (AEDT) on Friday and will continue until just before midnight on Sunday, December 12.
NSW police Assistant Commissioner John Hartley warned motorists they will have nowhere to hide during the operation.
'If you have taken drugs, or you are drinking and driving, you will be targeted,' Asst Comm Hartley said in a statement on Friday.
'Police will be out in force and we will find you.'
More than 5000 motorists were charged with drink-driving offences around the country during Operation RAID last year.
Asst Comm Hartley said 393 people have died on NSW roads this year, with statistics showing alcohol plays a factor in about a quarter of fatal crashes.
'I urge motorists to take personal responsibility for their driving behaviour and to remember that anyone who acts up behind the wheel will be caught and will be dealt with under the full force of the law,' he said.
SOURCE
Operation RAID (Remove All Impaired Drivers) began at 0001 (AEDT) on Friday and will continue until just before midnight on Sunday, December 12.
NSW police Assistant Commissioner John Hartley warned motorists they will have nowhere to hide during the operation.
'If you have taken drugs, or you are drinking and driving, you will be targeted,' Asst Comm Hartley said in a statement on Friday.
'Police will be out in force and we will find you.'
More than 5000 motorists were charged with drink-driving offences around the country during Operation RAID last year.
Asst Comm Hartley said 393 people have died on NSW roads this year, with statistics showing alcohol plays a factor in about a quarter of fatal crashes.
'I urge motorists to take personal responsibility for their driving behaviour and to remember that anyone who acts up behind the wheel will be caught and will be dealt with under the full force of the law,' he said.
SOURCE
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Maker of Four Loko to stop shipments to NY state
The maker of a caffeinated alcoholic drink that has been banned in four states has agreed to stop shipments to New York state.
Gov. David Paterson and the State Liquor Authority announced the agreement Sunday with Chicago-based Phusion Projects, which makes the drink Four Loko, and with the state's largest beer distributors to stop selling caffeinated alcoholic beverages.
"New Yorkers deserve to know that the beverages they buy are safe for consumption," Paterson said.
The company agreed to stop shipping the drinks by Nov. 19. Distributors have until Dec. 10 to finish out their inventory.
The popular drinks have been banned in Washington, Michigan, Utah and Oklahoma.
Four Loko comes in several varieties, including fruit punch and blue raspberry. A 23.5-ounce can sells for about $2.50 and has an alcohol content of 12 percent, comparable to four beers, according to the company's website.
"This drink is too easy for teens to get and too dangerous for them to consume," said state Sen. Joel Klein in a statement. He announced on Sunday, along with the State Liquor Authority, that a minor working undercover for the police was illegally sold Four Loko at 11 of 28 stores in the Bronx on Nov. 9.
College students have been hospitalized after drinking the beverages, including in New Jersey, where one school banned them on campus.
Phusion also agreed to fund alcohol awareness programs as part of the agreement. In a statement, co-founder Jaisen Freeman said the company believes that mixing alcohol and caffeine is safe, but the company wanted "to be known for cooperation and collaboration, not controversy."
"We were the first company to take this voluntary step," he said. "And we think it shows that we are not turning a deaf ear to what's going on: that a select few have chosen to abuse our products, drink them while underage or break the law and sell them to minors."
New York's liquor regulators said there was insufficient evidence to show that the products were safe.
"We have an obligation to keep products that are potentially hazardous off the shelves, and there is simply not enough research to show that these products are safe," said Dennis Rosen, chairman of the state Liquor Authority, in a statement.
Steve Harris, president of the New York State Beer Wholesalers Association, said some of its members have agreed to stop selling the drinks and the association's executive committee is recommending that the entire membership follow suit.
"We are pleased to be a partner in the process of resolving the tangled issues that have surrounded these products," he said.
The federal Food and Drug Administration said in late 2009 that it had notified at least 30 manufacturers of caffeinated alcoholic drinks that they were reviewing the products' safety.
SOURCE
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Review of B.C.'s impaired laws controversial
B.C. restaurant and bar owners are expressing relief at news that the provincial government is mulling changes to strict new impaired driving laws, but not everyone supports relaxing the enforcement.
Solicitor General Rich Coleman said Monday his office would review the new penalties that came into effect in September in light of complaints from the food and beverage industry. The B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association estimates some businesses have seen sales drop between 15 and 30 per cent, and welcomed the news of the review.
"I think it's good for everyone that works in this industry," said Tim Murphy, general manager of the Shark Club in downtown Vancouver.
The new laws introduced tough roadside penalties for anyone caught with a blood alcohol level over .05, leading many people to conclude they cannot legally drive after one drink.
"I think if they're going to review it and look at it and they have a plan for it and it's done properly, it should be a good thing."
No discretion required: MADD
Coleman also said police need to exercise more discretion and shouldn't always tow vehicles for people who blow over .05.
READ MORE
Solicitor General Rich Coleman said Monday his office would review the new penalties that came into effect in September in light of complaints from the food and beverage industry. The B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association estimates some businesses have seen sales drop between 15 and 30 per cent, and welcomed the news of the review.
"I think it's good for everyone that works in this industry," said Tim Murphy, general manager of the Shark Club in downtown Vancouver.
The new laws introduced tough roadside penalties for anyone caught with a blood alcohol level over .05, leading many people to conclude they cannot legally drive after one drink.
"I think if they're going to review it and look at it and they have a plan for it and it's done properly, it should be a good thing."
No discretion required: MADD
Coleman also said police need to exercise more discretion and shouldn't always tow vehicles for people who blow over .05.
READ MORE
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Drunk driving penalties to get tougher
Nova Scotia is about to get tougher on drinking drivers.
As a result of a change to the province’s Motor Vehicle Act that goes into effect on Oct. 26, drivers with blood-alcohol levels between 50 milligrams and 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood will lose their licences for seven days for a first offence, up from 24 hours. The penalty for a second offence is 15 days and 30 days for a third offence.
Drivers also must pay an $89.63 fee to get their licences reinstated.
Those discovered to have 80 milligrams of alcohol or higher in 100 millilitres of blood will continue to face criminal charges.
Margaret Miller, the national past president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said the move is something the organization has been advocating for many years.
"I think, literally, eight to 10 years it’s been on our radar as one of the measures that would significantly reduce impaired-driving deaths and injuries," said the Shubenacadie woman whose son was killed by a drunk driver in 2004.
The change to the Motor Vehicle Act was passed last October but its implementation has been delayed. In an interview in May, Transportation Minister Bill Estabrooks blamed the delay on computer problems at Service Nova Scotia.
Miller said her organization will continue to push for random breath testing as another way to reduce the 70,000 deaths and injuries due to impaired driving that occur in Canada every year.
Random breath testing is used in many countries around the world, where statistics show decreases in deaths and injuries of 18 to 35 per cent after the random tests were introduced, she said.
"The real expectation in Canada is that if random breath testing comes into play, we’re going to see 20 per cent less deaths and injuries. If you take that from the 70,000, that’s a small town in Nova Scotia that will not be affected each year. . . . When you start looking at those numbers, my only question as a mother who has lost somebody is ‘Why didn’t they do this years ago?
Source
As a result of a change to the province’s Motor Vehicle Act that goes into effect on Oct. 26, drivers with blood-alcohol levels between 50 milligrams and 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood will lose their licences for seven days for a first offence, up from 24 hours. The penalty for a second offence is 15 days and 30 days for a third offence.
Drivers also must pay an $89.63 fee to get their licences reinstated.
Those discovered to have 80 milligrams of alcohol or higher in 100 millilitres of blood will continue to face criminal charges.
Margaret Miller, the national past president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said the move is something the organization has been advocating for many years.
"I think, literally, eight to 10 years it’s been on our radar as one of the measures that would significantly reduce impaired-driving deaths and injuries," said the Shubenacadie woman whose son was killed by a drunk driver in 2004.
The change to the Motor Vehicle Act was passed last October but its implementation has been delayed. In an interview in May, Transportation Minister Bill Estabrooks blamed the delay on computer problems at Service Nova Scotia.
Miller said her organization will continue to push for random breath testing as another way to reduce the 70,000 deaths and injuries due to impaired driving that occur in Canada every year.
Random breath testing is used in many countries around the world, where statistics show decreases in deaths and injuries of 18 to 35 per cent after the random tests were introduced, she said.
"The real expectation in Canada is that if random breath testing comes into play, we’re going to see 20 per cent less deaths and injuries. If you take that from the 70,000, that’s a small town in Nova Scotia that will not be affected each year. . . . When you start looking at those numbers, my only question as a mother who has lost somebody is ‘Why didn’t they do this years ago?
Source
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