Is California Failing to Prevent DUI Offenders from Continuing to Drive Impaired?
by James Ballidis
(Orange County, CA)
Motorists who have been convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol are significantly more likely to continue to drive impaired. Studies have indicated that more than 30 percent of people convicted of DUI are repeat offenders and have partially attributed the high rate of recidivism to cognitive deficits concerning decision making, according to researchers at the Bakirkoy Research and Training Hospital in Istanbul and the Imperial College London.
Moreover, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has found that DUI offenders are eight times more likely to be involved in fatal motor vehicle accidents than non-offenders. A series of car accidents in Orange County, California support these findings.
The accident that has perhaps received the most media attention occurred on April 9th, 2009 in Fullerton. On that night, after consuming several beers and shots of tequila at a bar in Covina, Andrew Thomas Gallo took the wheel of his parents’ minivan and ran a red light at the intersection of Lemon Street and Orangethorpe Boulevard, crashing into the Mitsubishi that was carrying four young occupants, including Angels rookie pitcher Nick Adenhart. Adenhart and two other occupants were killed and one was seriously injured.
Gallo, who had been convicted of driving under the influence in 2006, was found guilty of three counts of second-degree murder, two felony counts of driving under the influence causing great bodily injury, and one felony count of hit-and-run, reported the Los Angeles Times.
Another crash that captured the attention of local media occurred a few years later in Irvine. On May 29th, 2011, a group of high school students were being driven home from a birthday party by one of their parents when a convicted drunk driver attempting to make a left turn against a red light at the intersection of Culver Drive and Irvine Boulevard struck their vehicle.
Three of the girls were injured, one critically, and another, 14-year-old Ashton Sweet, was killed. Austin Jeffrey Farley, who received a DUI conviction in 2009, was charged with murder, driving under the influence of alcohol, and causing injury.
In response to the high rate of recidivism among drunk drivers, several states have enacted laws requiring the installation of ignition interlock devices in the vehicles of first-time and repeat DUI offenders. In 2010, California implemented a pilot program in Los Angeles, Sacramento, Alameda, and Tulare counties with the objective of expanding the program statewide if it proved successful.
The devices require a driver to submit to a breathalyzer test; if he or she fails, the vehicle will not start. Unfortunately, the offenders are not complying with the law: only 8,173 of the 27,700 drivers who have received DUIs have installed the devices, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles.
The low compliance rate can largely be attributed to monetary reasons, as budget and staffing issues have prevented the DMV from automating its computer systems so as to process driver records more quickly, and the recession has left many Californians without the funds necessary to install and maintain the equipment, which can cost more than $400 for a five-month period, reported The Sacramento Bee.
Without such a program, preventing DUI offenders in Orange County and throughout the state from causing alcohol-related fatal and injury car accidents is largely dependent on enforcement—a matter of officers being at the right place at the right time, explains an Orange County injury lawyer.
------------------
Practicing in Orange County for more than 25 years, lawyer James Ballidis has written extensively on car accidents and the injury claims process. To request a free book or article feel free to call 866-981-5596.
