The Canadian Government generally will not allow U.S. citizens to visit Canada if you have a DUI conviction. When a U.S. citizen who has been convicted of a DUI arrives in Canada, the Canadian border security will request that you leave Canada generally the same way that you arrive. This is another example of the importance of fighting a drunk driving case.

According to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a native of El Salvador who had three prior drunk driving convictions was rendered ineligible for asylum. The court found that the Attorney General reasonably found the DUI convictions were “particularly serious” even though they were not aggravated felonies. The Attorney General concluded that the alien would be a danger to the community.

In Indiana, as part of a sentence after being convicted of drunk driving causing serious bodily injury, a woman was required to leave the wrecked car in her front yard until she completes three years of probation. The woman also had a blood alcohol level of a .317, nearly four times the legal limit in Indiana. This was also her third drunk driving offense. What the sentencing judge probably did was create a traffic hazard as a result of the distraction caused by placing the wrecked car in the woman’s front yard for three years. It looks like Alabama may be one of the first states in the country to require DUI convictions to stay on a person’s record for life. Almost all states have a limit as to when prior misdemeanor DUI convictions can be considered when there is a new offense occurring within a certain number of years.

From Canada comes another example of government using drunk driving prosecutions to generate money.In Ontario, a new law will allow the courts to impound a vehicle involved in a drunk driving offense if the vehicle was either owned or driven by somebody whose license was suspended for drunk driving at least twice over a 10 year period. After the vehicle is sold, anyone injured in a drunk driving incident can apply for compensation to spend the proceeds. It wouldn’t surprise me that the government in Ontario takes a substantial portion of the proceeds before any compensation is paid to any victim. There is an exception to the forfeiture in that the vehicle can be released to the owner if the owner agrees to install an ignition lock that requires the driver to pass a breath test or agree that convicted drunk drivers will not have access to the vehicle. It would not surprise me either that there are also fees in order for an owner to retrieve his vehicle, in addition to the fees to install the ignition lock.

In Alabama, a new law would make it clear that anybody who has three prior drunk driving convictions and picks up a fourth drunk driving offense during their lifetime, the forth offense can be charged as a felony.In California, a fourth DUI offense within 10 years can now be alleged as a felony. I am sure that in the near future California will also eliminate the 10 year window and will have DUI convictions stay on a person’s record for lifetime. Consequently, a fourth offense picked up during a person’s lifetime will be considered a felony.

The latest gadget to break into the DUI / DRUNK DRIVING industry is a machine that measures eye movement using infrared light. In California, the California Highway Patrol and City of Orange are interested in the machine. The cost appears to be $3,500 for a hand held machine, $35,000 for a stationary one eye machine and $55,000 for a stationary two eye machine. With an estimated 500,000 police cruisers in the US and hundreds if not thousands of police agencies as potential markets, hundreds of millions of dollars are believed to be involved. The fact that the machines are even being looked at confirms that traditional methods of prosecutions such as breath and blood testing are not sufficient. In addition, I doubt very seriously that judges and/or juries will automatically accept the scientific premises in which the machines are based.

Most people think that as long as they drive under “the legal limit” they will not have to worry about a DUI / Drunk Driving arrest. This is a misperception that could not be further from reality. While in almost all states, the legal limit is .08, people who drive below the legal limit are often times arrested for DUI / Drunk Driving. A police officer in Tampa, Florida was known as one of Hillsborough County’s most aggressive DUI / Drunk Driving arresting officers. In one year alone, the officer arrested 58 people whose alcohol level was below a .08. In 43 of those 58 cases, there was no demonstrated visible impairment while they were driving. In many instances, investigators found that his police reports were inconsistent with what was depicted in his cruiser’s video camera. The officer also failed to activate his audio and video equipment in 40% of his stops from October 2005 to October 2006. Needless to say, the Hillsborough State Attorney’s office concluded the officer hurt his credibility by filing inaccurate police reports that also omitted significant details.

In the never ending effort to clamp down on DUI / Drunk Driving / DWI, a Zamboni (ice cleaning machine) operator was arrested in New Jersey for DUI / Drunk Driving / DWI after it was reported by a fellow employee that the Zamboni was speeding and nearly crashed into the boards. A New Jersey Judge ruled the Zamboni driver can not be prosecuted for DUI / Drunk Driving / DWI because the Zamboni can’t be used on the highways nor carry passengers. Look for states to be more creative in their ability to prosecute people arrested for operating any type of vehicle in any place at any time.

This year, California prosecutors announced they received a Federal grant in the amount of $3.6 million to reduce DUI / Drunk Driving in the State of California. Funding is to assist in the hiring of prosecutors to train other prosecutors on how to better handle DUI / Drunk Driving prosecutions. The ultimate goal is to increase the 77% conviction rate of all DUI / Drunk Driving arrests in the state of California. In addition to convicting more people for DUI / Drunk Driving, the state also hopes to generate more sources of revenue as a result of court fines imposed upon a DUI / Drunk Driving conviction.