Monthly Archives - May 2012

A conviction for a DUI in California can have various serious consequences. You can lose your license for an extended period of time, face steep and heavy fines that you and ill-afford and also face the possibility of jail time. This can change the entire course of your life, as well as your family’s life, even if you are a first time offender. When you have your day in court you do not want to go it alone and should look for knowledge and experience when choosing a San Jose DUI attorney.

When you search for the right attorney to defend you, what you need are choices. There are several resources you can use and in today’s world of Internet technology gathering information and doing research has become easier. You can look for testimonials and descriptions of how a DUI attorney in San Jose may try to defend you, as well as get a feel for whose specific experience may suit your specific case. You can also use the California bar association as a source, as they can provide you with a list of lawyers in the San Jose area who specialize in DUI cases. Finally, ask friends of family. They may have been through such an experience before or know a criminal attorney who can help.

Once you have gathered together a short list of several choices, call each San Jose DUI lawyer one by one and briefly explain your case. Make sure to tell the absolute truth because anybody who defends you needs to know exactly what happened to lead to your arrest. You can often get a feel for someone’s attitude and also professionalism from one phone call. Make arrangements to meet with one or two people you felt comfortable with on the phone. When you do meet, you want to ask about their experience and success rate with DUI cases, but you also want to look for integrity. Honesty often equals integrity and a lawyer who will be blunt with you about what you are up against may be the best choice.

Do not let a mistake you already regret change the course of your life. Know that there are options and various defenses an attorney can use so you don’t end up with a criminal record or don’t receive the maximum possible penalty. If you are facing serious DUI charges, call a DUI lawyer in San Jose today for the help you need.

A lot of people are ignorant of alcohol’s effects of driving and are completely unaware that even small amounts of alcohol can cause impairment.

At a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.01% to 0.03%, there are hardly any noticeable effects. Impairment is not even noticeable except with special tests that detect subtle effects. Once you start going over 0.03%, that is when you begin to feel the effects. The most common effects at that blood alcohol content are mild euphoria and relaxation. There may also be some loss of inhibitions. Impairment is only limited to concentration. Once your blood alcohol content gets up to around 0.06% to 0.09%, this is when you start seeing serious impairment. Depth perception suffers, which means drivers cannot properly perceive what they’re seeing on the road in three dimensions, such as the distance of an object, vehicle, or pedestrian. Peripheral vision is decreased as well, limiting what the driver can see off to the sides. Another serious impairment is the increased duration of glare recovery. This is especially noticeable at night when facing bright street lights or headlights of oncoming traffic.

Because of this, there are almost no jurisdictions in the world which allow people to legally drive with a BAC above 0.08%, and many set the limit even lower. The only notable exception is the Cayman Islands, which sets the BAC limit to 0.1%. In the State of California, the BAC limit is 0.08%.

Does drinking coffee help combat the effects of alcohol? In a word: no. While caffeine’s stimulating effect may appear to stem the effects of alcohol, it only makes you more awake, not more alert. With a BAC of 0.08% or higher, you will still be impaired even after drinking a cup or two of coffee. The dangerous thing about mixing caffeine with alcohol is that people end up feeling like they are fine to drive because they don’t feel alcohol’s drowsy effects. But in reality, they are still impaired and are still a danger on the road.