Although it falls on a Tuesday this year, many Angelinos will be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day today and that likely involves drinking lots of green beer.  The problem then arises when the celebration is over and it’s time to go home.  It is at this moment when many will choose to get in their car and make that journey while legally intoxicated.  Remember, buzzed driving is likely, and technically, legally drunk driving.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is planning to deploy “rolling DUI patrols” in a few of their high-incident areas, in addition to the normal enforcement operations.  The Los Angeles Police Department will be setting up checkpoints in Downtown and Hollywood and will be conducting “saturation patrols” in other areas where DUI incidents are high.  According to the Sheriff’s Department, St. Patrick’s Day has typically been a day of higher than normal drunken-driving fatalities and that nearly 75% of those DUI fatalities involved drivers whose blood alcohol concentration was double the legal limit of 0.08%.

While the general public knows that DUI enforcement is high on holidays, especially one like St. Patrick’s Day, many will still think they are sober enough to drive or will drive without regard to how intoxicated they are.  Getting arrested for, and convicted of, a DUI in Los Angeles County can bring the potential for jail time, a license suspension or revocation, a period of probation, community service, fines and fees to the court, the need to install an ignition device in your vehicle and the possibility of losing your job.  Depending on the circumstances, some of these consequences can be more or less severe and it is always a good idea to act on an arrest earlier than later.

You have 10 days from the date of arrest to contact the DMV and request an Administrative Per Se hearing regarding the suspension of your driving privilege and a stay on that suspension pending the outcome of this hearing.  If you do not contact the DMV within those first 10 days, your driving privilege will be suspended automatically and you will not have the ability to challenge the DMV.

Furthermore, the earlier you contact attorney Ross Erlich, the earlier steps can be taken to open up communication with the prosecuting agency and to discuss potential mitigating steps that you can take prior to your first court date.  Taking these steps can lead to a reduction in charges or other potential benefits to your case.

If you or someone you know has been arrested for DUI in Los Angeles County, Hollywood, Koreatown, Burbank, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood or anywhere in Southern California, contact attorney Ross Erlich as soon as possible for a free case consultation.  Attorney Ross Erlich handles DUI matters in the Metropolitan Court, Airport Court, East LA Court, Burbank Court and all courts in Southern California.