Tennessee DUI News

Tennessee Governor Lee has signed into law an amendment repealing the Tennessee Motor Vehicle Habitual Offender Law (Tennessee Code Annotated 55-10-601, et seq.), more commonly known as the Tennessee Habitual Motor Vehicle Offender Law (HMVO).  Previously, those who qualified as habitual offenders were required to have their driver’s license revoked without any opportunity to drive on a restricted license. This meant that those who were declared habitual offenders were not allowed to drive at all for at least 3 years.  ... Read More »

The Portsmouth, Virginia CBS affiliate television station, WAVY, has reported that ignition interlock devices may be the cause of injures and death on the roadways.  Not only are false positives a problem for those using the devices, but distractions from the alerts and blowing into the devices while driving have caused crashes. According to the news report posted May 16, 2019, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles indicates that the number of crashes due to the device has gone up ... Read More »

Alcohol that makes you feel drunk without a hangover may be available within five years. Today’s generation has become more health conscious than generations before, causing a decline in alcohol sales in many countries. Therefore, the market for a healthier alcohol alternative is on the rise. This market interest in a healthier alcohol alternative has caught the attention of Scientist David Nutt. Nutt is a professor from England, famous for his research on how psychedelics affect the brain.  His latest ... Read More »

The Tennessee Senate Judiciary Committee has now approved legislation known as Dustin Ledford’s Law.  This would increase penalties for all multiple offenses of driving under the influence (DUI) offenders to Class E felonies with a minimum sentence of 11 months, and 29 days. Under current law, persons convicted of a second DUI offense must be sentenced to no less than 45 consecutive days nor more than 11 months 29 days; third offenses result in a sentence of no less than ... Read More »

According to Inquirer.net, the journal Neuron published a study conducted by Karla Kaun, Emily Petruccelli and a team at Brown University who took it upon themselves to investigate the role of molecules and genes to help determine why  people only remember good feelings associated with  neurotoxins such as alcohol.  First, they studied fruit flies to like alcohol.  Then they worked to find out why there was no real memory of the unpleasant effects on their bodies such as those suffered ... Read More »

It is no secret. DUI arrests have decreased across the country by at least 30% during the last two to three years. It is no coincidence that the U.S. Supreme Court decision of Birchfield v. North Dakota (2016) was decided about the same time as DUI arrests began their decrease. You can read more about how Birchfield affects DUI search warrants here. Police officers have confidentially complained that since the Birchfield decision, it takes too long to legally obtain blood ... Read More »

Not all officers have recording devices on their persons, or even in their cars. Many times it is advantageous for a defendant to record the details of a police investigation. In order to eliminate the swearing contest that often arises between an officer and driver, almost all mobile platforms now have apps which allow the driver to surreptitiously (secretly) record the police officer (or anyone else for that matter). USA Today reports that an add-on called, “Police,” may be used ... Read More »

Periodically, when the need arises to provide information that Mr. Oberman does not feel qualified to give, guest posts are provided to the readers of this blog.  Given that Mr. Oberman is not licensed to practice law in Canada and the fact that he does not practice in the field of immigration law, he asked Canadian attorney Marisa Feil to write a guest blog about the implications relating to Canadian Bill C-46, which will take effect in December of 2018.  ... Read More »

Binge watching Netflix.  FaceTiming a friend. Scrolling through your Spotify playlist. All of these seem like harmless activities–until you try to do them while driving. Due to the rise in distracted driving, lawmakers across America are rethinking their laws on smartphones in vehicles. A study completed by AAA showed that 88% of millennial aged drivers acknowledge their dangerous driving habits, however, some of the drivers think that this behavior is acceptable. For example, the study showed that 78.2% of drivers ... Read More »

The crime of Driving Under the Influence (DUI, DWI, OWI, etc.) may be committed by driving while impaired due to any intoxicant or combination of intoxicants.  These include, among other intoxicants, alcohol, prescribed medication or illegal drugs.   A 2016 study by the Governors Highway Safety Association (“GHSA”) shows a trend in fatal drug related crashes surpassing deadly accidents involving alcohol. Experts say this trend derives from states legalizing marijuana combined with the current opioid epidemic in America. According to ... Read More »