The Superior Court of Pennsylvania recently reversed the lower court’s dismissal of charges against a defendant charged with a DUI on an allegedly private roadway. In August 2014, Alison Lees was charged with DUI, reckless driving, and careless driving after driving intoxicated from her parking spot and onto a grassy…
The York County organization Center for Traffic Safety recently determined that the cost of the average DUI arrest totals a whopping $10,000. The organization cited this figure while admonishing St. Patrick’s Day celebrants not to drive inebriated, as well as to put drivers on notice of the existence of numerous DUI…
The Pennsylvania Superior Court recently upheld appellant Renaire Lewis’s conviction for DUI despite his argument that the stop violated his Fourth Amendment rights. In the early morning of July 2014, Lower Pottsgrove Police Sgt. Greenwood was investigating a vehicle (“Vehicle 1”) stopped on Buchert Road, which was blocking the lane.…
Like many people in Pennsylvania, you find your self in a situation you never thought to be in. You have just been arrested for a DUI. You think to yourself “how could this happen to me” or “how will this affect my family”. It is important to understand what your…
Every state has their own rules and regulations when it comes to how they treat DUI’s. Pennsylvania is no different and in fact has a program specifically designed for first time offenders. This program is called Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition or “ARD”. The ARD program is a special pretrial diversionary program…
The news occasionally reports on people getting arrested for suspected DUI after police find them asleep in their parked vehicle. This raises the question of how one could be suspected of driving under the influence if the car is parked and you are not actually driving it. Pennsylvania’s DUI statute applies to…
Courts have developed an extensive body of law regarding driving under the influence of alcohol, commonly known simply as “DUI.” Pennsylvania law does not limit the DUI statute to “drunk driving,” however. It also prohibits “drugged driving,” including driving under the influence of certain “controlled substances,” or while “impaired” by…
Most discussions of the laws regarding driving under the influence (DUI) in Pennsylvania focus on alcohol and chemical testing for blood alcohol content (BAC). The Pennsylvania DUI statute also applies to various “controlled substances,” which includes marijuana and other illegal drugs, as well as certain medications obtained with a valid…
About 50 police officers from several Delaware County townships joined Pennsylvania State Police troopers to operate a DUI checkpoint one weekend in June. Officers stopped an estimated 2,500 motorists to check for sobriety. The stops were not based on reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. Anyone driving through that intersection was subject…
The Pennsylvania General Assembly passed a bill in June 2014 that increases the minimum penalties for certain vehicular homicide convictions. The bill provides for an increased minimum prison sentence and permanent license suspension for the offense of “homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence.” It would apply to defendants…