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Articles Posted in DUI Field Sobriety Tests

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The San Rafael police department will be running a state funded drunk driving and driver’s license checkpoint tonight beginning at 6:00 p.m. and ending at 2:00 a.m. on New Year’s Eve. The DUI Checkpoint will be conducted in connection the Marin Avoid the 13 DUI campaign.

San Rafael police officers said that the checkpoint will start on A Street and Andersen Drive and may later move to Irwin Street and Fifth Avenue. DUI Checkpoints have been a common sight in Marin County during 2010 as officers throughout California seek to crack down on drunk driving and to get unlicensed driver’s off the roads.

Driver’s suspected of being under the influence will be asked to pull over for further investigation and may be asked to submit to field sobriety testing. Submission to field sobriety testing and/or a PAS breath testing device is voluntary and not required under California Law. However, if a police officer has cause to arrest a person for DUI they must submit to a chemical test to determine their blood alcohol concentration. Refusal to take a chemical test can result in a drivers license suspension for one year on a first offense or a two or three year license revocation on a second or third offense.
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The San Rafael Police Department will be conducting a DUI and driver’s license checkpoint this Friday from 6 p.m. until 2 a.m. on Saturday, August 7, 2010. The location of the checkpoint has not been disclosed.

This weekend’s checkpoint will be funded by a DUI mini grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The last checkpoint conducted under the same grant in San Rafael on July 23, 2010 resulted in 17 drivers submitting to field sobriety tests but no drivers were arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.

Submission to field sobriety testing and/or a PAS breath testing device is voluntary and not required under California Law. However, if a police officer has cause to arrest a person for DUI they must submit to a chemical test to determine their blood alcohol concentration. Refusal to take a chemical test can result in a drivers license suspension for one year on a first offense or a two or three year license revocation on a second or third offense.
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45 year old Primitivo Piceno of Santa Rosa was arrested on May 30, 2010, by the CHP in Cloverdale. Police officers contacted Mr. Piceno after being notified that a driver was traveling well under the speed limit and impeding other drivers.

Responding officers found Mr. Piceno parked on the shoulder being detained by other drivers. He was apparently so drunk that was unable to speak coherently and fell to the ground while attempting to perform field sobriety tests.

Mr. Piceno was arrested and booked in to the Sonoma County jail for numerous counts including felony drunken driving and driving with a suspended license. Anyone charged with their fourth DUI in a ten year period or who has a prior felony DUI within the last ten years can be charged with a felony for driving under the influence. Mr. Piceno was charged with a felony due the number and recency of his prior DUIs.

Police officers said that Mr. Piceno had an order to drive any vehicle not equipped with an ignition interlock device installed in it. The Vehicle he was driving did not have an IID in it.
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The Santa Rosa Police Department will be conducting a DUI and driver’s license checkpoint beginning this evening at 7:00 p.m. and ending at 2:00 a.m. on Saturday. The checkpoint will take place at an undisclosed location where police indicate a significant number of DUI-related collisions and DUI arrests have occurred.

Police checkpoints aimed at stopping people from driving under the influence and getting unlicensed drivers off the roads have become more common in recent years. Police Departments throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and California have been receiving grants from the California Office of Traffic Safety and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to fund such checkpoints. This Friday’s DUI checkpoint is being funded by such a grant.

Court cases dealing with the legality of checkpoints mandate that cars entering a checkpoint will stopped based on a predetermined mathematical formula. If a driver who is stopped appears to the police to be driving under the influence they will be asked to pull into a screening area where officers will conduct a DUI investigation. The driver may then be asked to exit the vehicle and submit to field sobriety testing which may include the administration of a preliminary alcohol screening (PAS) device. Submission to field sobriety testing and/or a PAS breath testing device is voluntary and not required under California Law. However, if a police officer has cause to arrest a person for DUI they must submit to a chemical test to determine their blood alcohol concentration.
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The California Highway Patrol announced on Monday, January 4,2009, that they made 18 arrest for suspected driving under the influence over the New Year Holiday. Officers stated that the number of DUI arrests made between December 31, 2009 and January 3, 2010, is up 8 from the New Year Holiday last year.

Arrests for DUI can be made for the suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, California Vehicle Code 23152(a), or for driving with a blood alcohol level of .08% or more, VC section 23152(b). Drivers contacted by police officers and suspected of DUI or driving with a .08 or more will likely be asked to submit to a series of Field Sobriety Tests (FSTs) to determine if there is cause for the officers to a make an arrest. In California drivers are not required to submit to FSTs or road side Preliminary Alcohol Screening breath tests.

However, all California licensed drivers have given their implied consent to submit to a chemical test of their blood or breath if requested by a peace officer on suspicion of DUI. Refusal to submit to a chemical test, blood test or evidentiary breath test, can result in enhanced punishment if the driver is convicted of driving under the influence. Further, a refusal can result in a driver’s license suspension or revocation of one year or more depending on whether the driver has prior DUI convictions.
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The San Rafael Police Department will be conducting a DUI and driver’s license checkpoint beginning this Friday at 6:00 p.m. The checkpoint will take place at an undisclosed location in San Rafael and will end at 2:00 a.m. on Saturday.

Police checkpoints aimed at stopping people from driving under the influence and getting unlicensed drivers off the roads have become more common in recent years. Police Departments throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and California have been receiving grants from the California Office of Traffic Safety and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to fund such checkpoints. This Friday’s DUI checkpoint is being funded by such a grant.

Cars entering a checkpoint will stopped based on a predetermined mathematical formula. If a driver who is stopped appears to the police to be driving under the influence they will be asked to pull into a screening area where officers will conduct a DUI investigation. The driver may then be asked to exit the vehicle and submit to field sobriety testing which may include the administration of a preliminary alcohol screening (PAS) device. Submission to field sobriety testing and/or a PAS breath testing device is not required under California Law. However, if a police officer has cause to arrest a person for DUI they must submit to a chemical test to determine their blood alcohol concentration.
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The City of Napa Police Department will be out in force looking for people driving under the influence this Saturday night. This DUI saturation patrol is being funded by a grant from the Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Napa police officers will concentrate their anti DUI efforts on areas of the city with a history of traffic accidents and large numbers of arrests for driving under the influence. They are cautioning residents to take public transportation or to use a designated driver. Remember that driving under the influence is illegal.

In California it is not illegal to drink and drive but it is illegal under Vehicle Code sections 23152(a) and (b) to drive while under the influence and to drive with a .08% or greater blood alcohol concentration. Although it is legal to consume alcohol and drive a car it is best not to take the risk.
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