Jul 9, 2014 | DUI & DWI, Uncategorized
Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) Test 
If you have been arrested for a DUI then you have probably been subjected to the DUI Eye Test, more commonly known as the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN). This test is actually one of three (3) standardized tests recognized by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA). If properly administered, many police departments swear by the results and often take the position no other testing is necessary. Nystagmus is an “involuntary jerking” of the eyes which officers claim cannot be “faked” by those individuals who have been drinking or using certain types of drugs. Of course, even NHTSA research has concluded this test is only accurate to a limited degree in the best of conditions. In this article, we show other possible, non-impaired, reasons why some people will have HGN without any relation to alcohol consumption.
In the HGN test, the officer observes the eyes of a suspect as the suspect follows a slowly moving object such as a pen or small flashlight, horizontally with his or her eyes. The examiner looks for three indicators of impairment in each eye: if the eye cannot follow a moving object smoothly, if jerking is distinct when the eye is at maximum deviation, and if the angle of onset of jerking is within 45 degrees of center. If, between the two eyes, four or more clues appear, the suspect likely has a BAC of 0.08 or greater. As you’re probably thinking right now, this test is far from being scientifically accurate. As you also guessed, there are many reasons other than alcohol that are medically known to cause this jerk. Many of these medical conditions are listed below. Do any of these apply to you?
- inner ear infection or condition
- irrigating ears with warm or cold water
- influenza
- streptococcus infection
- natural or induced vertigo
- measles
- syphilis
- arteriosclerosis
- muscular dystrophy
- multiple sclerosis
- Korchaff’s syndrome
- brain hemorrhage
- epilepsy
- hypertension
- motion sickness
- sunstroke
- eye strain
- eye muscle fatigue
- glaucoma
- atmospheric pressure changes
- excessive caffeine
- excessive nicotine
- aspirin usage
- circadian rhythm changes
- acute head trauma
- chronic head trauma
- certain prescription drugs, tranquilizers, pain medications
- barbiturates
- neural disorders of the vestibular apparatus and brain stem
- cerebellum dysfunction
- heredity
- diet
- toxins
- exposure to solvents, PCBs, dry cleaning fumes, carbon monoxide
- extreme chilling
- eye muscle imbalance
- certain lesions
- the continuous movement of the visual field past the eyes
- antihistamine use
As you can now see, there are many reasons for HGN in persons without having consumed any alcohol. There are also improper testing reasons for a false HGN finding that we will show in a subsequent posting. For now, just know that DUI suspects who “fail” HGN testing may have a number of valid and persuasive defenses at their disposal. And, HGN testing is just one of many factors that can be challenged in a DUI arrest.
Be Safe. Get Home.
Jul 9, 2014 | DUI & DWI, Uncategorized
What is ADSAP? 
ADSAP is the South Carolina Alcohol and Drug Safety Action Program. It is a statewide substance abuse program for:
1. Individuals who are convicted of Driving Under the Influence (DUI) [S.C. Code Ann. Section 56-5-2930] or driving with an unlawful alcohol concentration which equates to a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08% or greater. [S.C. Code Ann. Section 56-5-2933];
2. Individuals who are referred by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources for boating under the influence (BUI); and
3. Individuals whose licenses are suspended through the state’s Administrative License Revocation (ALR) procedure. Drivers fall in this category if they are charged under the provisions known as “zero tolerance” which targets drivers under age 21 or “.15” which is in addition to a charge of DUI or driving with an unlawful alcohol concentration for drivers of any age who operate a vehicle with a BAC of .15% or greater.
4. An individual also is subject to ALR if he refuses to take a blood, breath or urine test for the presence of alcohol or other drugs.
If you are convicted of DUI or driving with an unlawful alcohol concentration you must enroll within 30 days of your conviction.
When should I contact ADSAP?
You should contact an ADSAP representative immediately after you are notified that you must successfully complete the program. Again, you must enroll within 30 days of your conviction.
What happens if you don’t enroll in ADSAP?
The court will be notified if you fail to enroll in a certified program within 30 days or if you fail to participate in the pan of education or treatment. The court can also hold you in contempt of court if you can’t show cause as to why you didn’t enroll in the 30 days or if you can’t explain why no progress has been made on the plan of education. You need to understand that this is serious and contempt could mean you having to serve jail time.
The ins-and-outs of fighting a DUI can be complex and if you’ve been arrested you already have enough on your mind worrying about your job, career, or future. This is why it’s so important to hire an experienced DUI/BUI attorney to help you navigate the shifting channels of the court system.
Jun 21, 2014 | Car Accidents, Child Accidents, Uncategorized
Child Injury from Automobile Accidents 
Children, especially toddlers, are the most vulnerable to serious injury and wrongful death from car crashes. Even if placed in size and age-appropriate car seats, auto accidents are still a primary cause of child injury. One reason is that they never see an accident coming. Adult drivers and passengers often know in advance and can brace themselves for impact. Children do not and are unaware until the impact is already occurring.
Side impacts are especially destructive as their heads are jerked violently to the side causing substantial neck injury. The defense in preventing serious child injury from crashes is to make certain they are always placed in appropriately sized car safety seats and that these seats are properly secured inside the vehicle. As your child grows, the technology of safety seats can be defeated or negated if not the proper height and weight limit are exceeded. If you plan to have more children, save the seat for them. If not, you should consider donating the seat to others so that their children can be better protected. Everyone wants their child to be safe and guarded against harm. Another safety measure that can be taken is to position your child in the backseat and center of the vehicle. They will be better secured from frontal impacts as well as side crashes. Also, rear-end collisions can be better absorbed as the child will be effectively centered in the car.
Because children are so fragile and susceptible to injury, you should have your child examined by medical staff after any type of car accident, even if it seems relatively minor and you feel alright. For the reasons we reviewed above, children can be injured more easily than adults, and they may not be able to effectively communicate where or even how much they hurt. Crying can be confused as just being a baby or any number of other reasons. However, it could be from an undiagnosed injury. And, of course, head injury in children is also a major concern as symptoms may be missed and leave your child untreated until it is too late. It is better to be overly concerned and protective than to find out later about something serious. CT scans or an MRI can rule out head trauma. You should also watch for changes in sleep patterns or strange changes in mood or cognitive ability. Because children are so vulnerable, you as the parent need to be hyper-vigilant to rule out any latent injury that may be missed or even ignored by others.
May 27, 2014 | Trucking/Tractor-Trailer Accidents, Uncategorized, Wrongful Death
Semi-Truck Accidents Seriously Injure and Kill
Studies conducted by the National Highway and Safety Administration from 2010 reveal that 3,675 people were killed and 80,000 people injured in crashes involving large tractor trailer or semi-trucks. From this figure, approximately 17,000 were children. Children are oftentimes more seriously harmed in semi-truck accidents due to a multitude of reasons but are clearly more vulnerable. Of course, given the physics of a large, multi-ton semi-truck impacting a passenger car, it is amazing that anyone survives this type of crash. Road safety by trucking companies should be followed and placed in the forefront of everything they do. But, despite heavy regulation by federal and state governments, trucking companies still seem to place getting their loads delivered at whatever cost ahead of public safety. Everyday you see large trucks driving too fast with big loads and cutting over lanes in front of other cars and trucks on the road. The causes of these fatal accidents are many, but we see a persistent pattern of negligence.
Common Causes of Semi-Truck Accidents
The picture to the right is a classic example of overloading and why tractor trailer accidents still occur on our roadways. The load depicted is clearly unsafe and never should have been allowed to leave the terminal. No matter how “secure” in the beginning, an experienced semi-truck driver will tell you ALL loads shift. Braking, turning, and other typical driving maneuvers will make heavy loads unstable and dangerous. If the truck has to take evasive action or a sharp turn, the load will move and cause the driver to lose control. It takes real effort to keep a fully loaded truck on the road. When control is lost, only time and distance will eventually stop the truck. Anything or anyone who gets in the way is just doomed.
Another major cause of tractor trailer accidents is driver fatigue due to long hours on the road and excessive delivery demands. These days, the average age of a semi-truck driver is over 50 years old. Younger people simply do not want to drive trucks. The life of a trucker can be a lonely one. You are gone from friends and family for days or even weeks at a time. In addition, being stuck behind the wheel day after day becomes very boring and monotonous. Semi-truck drivers say they get “stir crazy” even though they are traveling at 60 plus MPH. As a result, there is a real, nationwide driver shortage. Consequently, there are fewer drivers available to deliver more loads which means longer times and distances to get the job done. And tractor trailer trucking companies place more demands on their existing drivers to meet their schedules no matter what.
The final cause of semi-truck accidents we will discuss is improper maintenance on trucks. Given the shortage of drivers, trucking companies use fewer trucks. Semi-trucks are very expensive and have to be in motion to be paying for themselves. Companies still trying to remain profitable have to prolong usage between service rotations. As a result, trucks are going longer before critical updates other than oil changes. Brakes and tires require more time off the road and are costly. While oil changes keep the engine going, brakes and tires keep the truck on the road. Hopefully, as the economy improves, younger drivers will be drawn into the trucking profession. Although it is certainly hard work, the pay is also greatly above average. And with no time to spend it, a person could drive a semi-truck for a few years and really save up some money. It would also help make our roads a little safer as younger drivers can remain alert longer than older truckers. All drivers on the highways just want to get home safely.
Apr 3, 2014 | Criminal Defense, DUI & DWI, Uncategorized
Felony DUI Charge in Wrongful Death of Child
A Lexington, South Carolina man, who was accused of killing a 6-year-old girl in a drunken crash, has pleaded guilty to a felony DUI. He has been sentenced to spend the next 10 years in prison and pay a $15,000 fine. It is reported that the man was traveling just under 60 miles per hour when he ran through a red light, smashing into a minivan carrying six members of the little girls’ family. The speed limit in the zone was 35 mph, and there were no skid marks leading to the minivan. The man’s blood-alcohol level was nearly 0.21 percent, which is almost three times the legal limit. The man’s mother apologized to the girl’s family through sobs in the courtroom. Following this statement, the mother of the little girl fell to her knees in front of the people in the courtroom reliving the evening. The crash also critically injured two other family members in the van. Based on this horrific case of a family being traumatized by a drunk driver, South Carolina is poised to pass a new, stricter law for first-time DUI offenders called “Emma’s law.”
Since the incident, the legislature in South Carolina has attempted to enact Emma’s law which targets first-time convicted DUI offenders and requires them to install an ignition interlock device in their vehicle. With the ignition interlock system, if the person blows a .02 or higher, the car will not start and hopefully, keep that driver off the road and keep the public safer. The defendant at issue here, who was convicted, has agreed to appear before the state legislature to push for Emma’s Law. This law was recently been referred to the House Committee on Judiciary in 2013. Emma’s law is one of the harshest DUI laws that has been proposed in quite some time in the state of South Carolina. This new law, if passed, would require that even first-time DUI offenders have to blow into a special device called an “ignition interlock system” to start their vehicle. This system is currently a device that is used for only repeat offenders driving under the influence.
Update:
Since this blog was originally posted, the so-called Emma’s law was passed unanimously and will go into effect October 1, 2014, Now, if convicted of a DUI in which the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level is 0.15 or greater, that driver will be required to install an ignition interlock device in all vehicles that they have access. This hope is this new law will discourage new DUI arrests and/or dissuade convicted DUI drivers from driving while impaired again. Time will tell. Seemingly, the only real deterrent to DUI arrests is more enforcement through checkpoints and public awareness campaigns to phone suspected drunk drivers on the road.
Be Safe. Get Home.
Mar 26, 2014 | DUI & DWI, Uncategorized
DUI with Children in Vehicle 
A Rock Hill resident was arrested recently when she was driving drunk with her three minor children in the vehicle at the time. The Rock Hill Police Department reported that the incident occurred around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday morning when the Traffic Enforcement Unit was alerted to a swerving vehicle traveling down Cherry Road. A Rock Hill Police officer located and then followed the swerving vehicle for a short distance before initiating the stop, which ended at the intersection of Cherry Road and John Street, in downtown Rock Hill. The officer stated he smelled alcohol emanating from the vehicle. The 34-year-old mother had her three children in the vehicle at the time, ranging in ages from six to thirteen.
According to South Carolina law, the child endangerment definition and penalties provide that the state is permitted to take the child into protective custody if certain elements are met. S.C. SECTION 56-5-2947(2013) Specifically, if a person, who is over the age of eighteen (18), they will be found guilty of child endangerment in conjunction with being convicted when the person eighteen years of age or over is guilty and has one or more passengers under the age of sixteen (16) in their vehicle when the violation occurs. Id. In the case at hand, the violation rises to the level of child endangerment when the defendant drove while intoxicated with her three minor children in the vehicle, all under the age of sixteen (16).
A DUI charge is serious enough. But when you add child endangerment, the penalties are significantly enhanced, and you may face having your children taken from you and placed into protective custody. The obvious concern is for their safety in addition to the safety of other drivers on the road. However, it is surprisingly easy to find yourself in the position. We have had clients in the past who simply went out to get more beer from the store. They had consumed seemingly little alcohol, and it was early in the evening. They thought they were fine to drive and would never have knowingly placed their children in harm’s way. Nevertheless, when stopped for suspicion of DUI, their children were taken into custody as well, a frightening experience to say the least.
If charged with child endangerment as part of a DUI arrest, you absolutely need to be experienced DUI representation. We are Rock Hill DUI lawyers and will aggressively defend your case. Call us now for answers and potential options.
