Many states have changed DUI and DWI laws in the last few years to close loopholes, make them more fair or stiffen penalties. Sometimes the changes work, but they often create more problems than they solve. Many DUI and DWI laws can be exploited by good drunk driving attorneys.

In this Drunk Drivers Rights guide outline the top 8 flaws in current drunk driving laws.

Field sobriety testing is subjective

There is very little uniformity in the field sobriety test phase of evaluating whether or not a driver is under the influence. Many cops are poorly-trained in how to adequately test. This means that there is no good standard. Some drunk drivers are let go while some who are not under the influence are taken in for blood or urine testing. 2. Field breathalyzer tests are faulty. Many officers incorrectly “tune” the machine before testing while others improperly administer the test. Some drivers don’t get a fair test and end up with a DUI on their record when they weren’t over the limit. Sometimes there is nothing that even a good DUI attorney can do to help.

Rising blood alcohol isn’t accounted for

If you’ve got a 10-minute drive home from the bar where you’re drinking with friends, you may have a couple quick ones for the road. The alcohol you drink doesn’t immediately impact you. If you get stopped for suspicion of DUI on the way home, your blood alcohol content might not be over the limit. If you refuse a breathalyzer and take a blood test later, the last few drinks you had may have hit your system, pushing it into the DUI zone. If you hadn’t been stopped, you might have been home before the full effects of the last few drinks would have impacted you. The law has no way to account for that. Rising blood alcohol is occasionally a successful defense that DUI attorneys use, but most of the times, it doesn’t work and you’re convicted.

Less experienced officers make DUI arrests more aggressively

This occurs for many reasons, but the main one is that the officers would rather “play it safe” and make the arrest because they don’t have the experience to differentiate whether or not some people are under the influences when it’s debatable. Again, the lack of uniformity is a flaw in the law.

Many drivers with a BAC of .08 are not impaired

It’s true that a few drinks will impair some people even if it doesn’t push their BAC over .08. For many others, a BAC of .08 is just a number. The person may not be, in any tangible way, impaired at that level. But they’ll be arrested and prosecuted anyway.

State laws allowing roadblock checkpoints ignore probable cause

A lot of state DUI laws are not fair in that regard, and they don’t deter problem drinkers who are often significantly impaired from getting behind the wheel. Drunk driving attorneys have fought checkpoints for years but without success in most states.

Low legal limits diminish effective drunk driving enforcement

Most DUI drivers that cause accidents resulting in serious injury and death are significantly over the legal limit. The low DUI and DWI limits cause law enforcement to use their resources trying to apprehend drivers in a BAC range that usually doesn’t result is serious issues. DUI and DWI lawyers have pointed out for years that injuries and deaths from drunk driving could be reduced more than they have been by focusing money and enforcement personnel on stopping heavy drinkers – the ones who cause most serious injuries and fatalities – from driving drunk.

Mandatory sentencing laws don’t take into account individual circumstances

There’s no “human element” in mandatory sentencing. The judge’s hands are tied, and frankly, some of them are happy about that. It alleviates the responsibility to “judge” the people that come before them and determine what is in their best interest and in the best interest of society as a whole.

To learn more about DUI attorneys, Federal DUI laws, State DUI laws, and terms relating to drunk driving , please visit our helpful articles and guides.