DUI Deaths in Georgia Down
DUI fatalities and arrests in Georgia have trended down in recent years.
There have been more than 7,200 alcohol-related crashes and 13o fatalities in the state so far this year, according to Department of Transportation data. In 2010, more than 8,100 alcohol-related accidents left 187 people dead.
So far this year, troopers have made 11,375 DUI arrests statewide while last year there were 14,944. In one case where blood test warrants were used, State Trooper M.T. Land pulled over a gray Hyundai Elantra that wasn’t staying in its lane on Roswell Road at 12:30 a.m. The 26-year-old driver mumbled and slurred as he told Land he’d only had three beers and wasn’t drunk. But he had urinated on himself and did poorly on the field sobriety test before refusing to take a “preliminary breath test,” according to Land’s report.
Land said he still had enough to arrest him on a DUI charge, which could mean 12 months in jail, a $1,000 fine, community service and mandatory alcohol treatment if convicted. And once at the Fulton County Jail, Land got a search warrant for his blood — which revealed a blood alcohol content of .325. That finding would buttress his testimony and the video recording.
“It’s hard to convey [in court testimony] everything we see, hear and smell,” Land said. “You see their droopy eyelids and blood-shot eyes, the inability to be cognizant of their surroundings… They [drunk drivers] can’t tell you where they live or where they just came from.” The blood test results provide “real evidence,” Copeland said. “Blood evidence is .. better than a breathalyzer.
We here at North Buckhead Driving and DUI School are trying to make the roads a little safer. We have weekly DUI / Risk Reduction Classes as well as Defensive Driving Classes. You can sign up by calling our office at (678) 510-2099 or by visiting our website at http://www.northbuckheaddrivingandduischool.com/ and using our secure registration system
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