Recently in DUI Laws Category

Arizona is one of 43 U.S. states that outlaws the possession of an open container of alcohol while operating a vehicle or while within the passenger compartment of a vehicle. While an open container violation does not carry the same consequences of a DUI, the state of Arizona does have one of the harshest open container laws in the country.

It is against the law in Arizona for a person in a vehicle to have an open empty container that once contained an alcoholic beverage or an open container with an alcoholic beverage still in it. According to Arizona Revised Statute 4-251, a person that violates the open container law can be found guilty of a class 2 misdemeanor, which is punishable with a fine of up to $750 and up to four months in jail. Other states simply have a fine that is less than $50 for such a violation.

Many residents of Scottsdale are probably familiar with the electronic monitoring program, approved by the Scottsdale City Council last April. The program allows home detention centers for DUI offenders as an alternative to incarceration in the county jail and could end up saving the city of Scottsdale millions of dollars.

Instead of extended jail time for DUI offenders, a home detention program would allow for convicted drunk drivers to wear an ankle bracelet that would monitor the location of a particular person. The ankle bracelet would only allow the offender to be away a certain number of feet away from the house. The house arrest program was supposed to go into effect as early as this summer, but now the Arizona Republic reports that the program has been pushed until at least October. This is because Scottsdale city officials are still looking to find a vendor for the program.

It's not only illegal to drive a car under the influence of alcohol or other drugs, but it's also illegal to operate any vehicle in Arizona while impaired. This includes operating a boat under the influence, which is also known as "boating under the influence," which law enforcement officers are now enforcing in the summer season.

ABC News reports that Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies and Arizona Fish and Game Department officials have been conducting sobriety checkpoints on the water to arrest impaired boater operators. The state's checkpoint data indicates that more than 50 percent of the state's boat operators are involved with the consumption of alcohol while operating a watercraft and that 40 percent of all Arizona boating deaths have involved alcohol.

How drunk is too drunk to drive? The Arizona law draws the line at the .08 percent blood-alcohol level. Yet Phoenix DUI attorneys often argue that there are different degrees of impairment from alcohol and that impairment varies somewhat from person to person when it comes to blood-alcohol levels.

However, almost every DUI attorney would agree that a person should not be driving with a blood-alcohol level over .30. The East Valley Tribune reports that 38-year-old John McCombs Wilcox was suspected of DUI after he was in a non-injurious accident in the town of Gilbert. A preliminary BAC test showed that the man had a blood-alcohol level of .303, which is almost four times the legal limit. The Gilbert man was then arrested on suspicion of aggravated DUI.

Increased efforts of DUI enforcement across the state proved this weekend to yield a large number of drunk driving arrests. Associated Press reports that over Memorial Day weekend, Arizona's DUI task forces arrested more than 470 individuals for driving under the influence.

The DUI arrests this year were much higher than last year's Memorial Day drunk driving arrests. Statistics from Gov. Jan Brewer's office showed that there were only 291 DUI arrests during the 2009 Memorial Day weekend.

The Glendale Police Department has more than 110 volunteers, many of which help out with the department's DUI Squad. The Arizona Republic reports that the volunteer work now is crucial with decreasing funds for the department. Last year, for example, volunteers contributed an estimated 22,500 hours, which is equivalent to about $450,000 worth of labor.

Joel Davis, 48, is just one of the volunteers with the Glendale Police Department who works with drunk driving enforcement officers. He reportedly does work with the DUI squad two nights a month and drives the DUI Squad's processing van for impaired suspects. He also performs additional support tasks.

It's likely that Arizona DUI attorneys will be getting some calls this week after police officers in Tempe busted 86 individuals for underage drinking. Fox News reports that Tempe and Arizona State University police arrested 85 minors for possession of alcohol and one adult over the age of 21 who allegedly allowed the minors to gather and consume alcoholic beverages.

Most people are aware that it's illegal to consume or posess alcohol under the age of 21 in Arizona, however many people don't realize that there are serious consequences to such an offense. According to FindLaw, underage drinking can actually lead to a two-year driver's license suspension, even if the underage drinker was not operating a motor vehicle at the time of the arrest. For this reason, Arizona DUI attorneys often get involved with minor in posession cases as well.

Here's a new program that could prevent underage drinking and DUI arrests.

Several Tucson organizations, including Campus Health officials at the University of Arizona, are working with alcohol vendors in Arizona to institute a voluntary keg registration program. The purpose of the program is to ultimately prevent underage drinking by discouraging people who give alcohol to underage individuals.

State Press reports that vendors with the program will tag the keg upon the purchase so that the keg could be traced back to the purchaser. There are currently no required keg registration laws in Arizona, but some lawmakers are hoping to change that. There are at least 26 U.S states that currently have such keg registration laws.