September 4, 2012
Law enforcement officials across Texas were busy during the Labor Day weekend keeping drunk drivers off the road. According to an article from KVUE News, officers, troopers, and deputies were successful in part due to the state’s No Refusal Law.
“No Refusal” means if a suspected drunk driver refuses to give a blood or breath sample to be tested for alcohol or drugs, an officer has the right to obtain a search warrant in order to collect samples.
Officers with the Austin Metro Police Department (APD) began enforcement at around 9 p.m. last Friday night and caught 29 suspected drunk drivers, 10 of whom required search warrants to obtain samples for toxicology. The following day, 26 additional suspected drunk drivers were arrested by APD with 12 requiring search warrants to obtain samples.
Mario Jorge, an expert on drunk driving collisions with the Texas Department of Transportation, said during Labor Day weekend last year roughly 2,000 drunk driving arrests were made statewide, and alcohol-related Texas Car Accidents took the lives of approximately 1,500 Texans.
The Austin Personal Injury Lawyers with Daniel Stark Injury Lawyers want to remind everyone that drunk driving is a leading cause for fatal motor vehicle accidents, but is completely preventable. That’s why the firm asks that we each do our part to keep the Lone Star State’s highways safe by always designating a driver or calling a taxi if you plan to consume alcohol while away from home.
