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DUI case study posted by Florida
DUI Lawyer:
A Case Study on DUI Policy: Palm Beach
County Florida
Parks & Braxton,
your resource for a Florida
DUI Lawyer has reprinted this case study on
DUI policy in Palm Beach County Florida to demonstrate
why selecting the best Florida
DUI Defense Lawyer is essential:.
System Description
Law Generation. The illegal BAC level in Florida
is 0.08; a new 0.02 law for persons under the
age of 21 went into effect January 1, 1997. If
someone less than 21 is stopped for any reason,
and the officer smells alcohol on the person's
breath, the officer does not need probable cause
for DUI at that point to request a breath test.
If a person less than 21 does not give a breath
test, he or she will be given a citation and will
lose his/her license for one year (upon a second
refusal, the license is suspended for 18 months).
If the under-21 person takes the test and registers
a BAC of 0.02-0.08, the result is the loss of
the driver license for six months.
Enforcement. DWI laws are enforced by the Florida
State Patrol, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's
Department, and the various local enforcement
agencies in the county. Reportedly, cities in
Florida are more active in anti-DUI enforcement
than they were in the past. Sometimes checkpoints
are conducted in cooperation with other agencies.
The Florida State Patrol has a three-person DUI
task force in Palm Beach County working 10-hour
days from Thursday through Sunday. One trooper
believes DUI offenders are not as "prevalent"
as they used to be on the roadways. Traffic is
lighter during the week. One trooper says 2.5
- 3.0 hours are "lost" in processing
a DUI arrestee; more troopers are needed. This
number is down from an estimated 4.0, mainly due
to recent reductions in paperwork requirements.
The Sheriff's Department formerly had a DWI Task
Force, but that has been discontinued. Now, most
of DWI enforcement is done by regular patrol units
and by the traffic homicide unit. Sources indicate
a de-emphasizing of DWI enforcement in recent
years.
Overall, the DWI arrest rate in the county is
low compared to the national average. Available
data indicate some to 2,000 to 3,000 DWI arrests
per year, which amounts to roughly 0.3 % of licensed
drivers.
Read more of this case study posted by a Florida
DUI Lawyer.
Contact
Parks & Braxton ,
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, or a Palm Beach DUI Lawyer
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