In 1897, George Smith, a 25-year-old London taxi driver, was the first recorded person arrested for drunk driving. He crashed his cab into a building, pleading guilty with a penalty of 25 shillings. New Jersey, in 1906, passed the first law that prohibited a person to be intoxicated while driving. The fine was up to $500 with 60 days of incarceration but did not define a level for inebriation. New York, four years later, legislated a BAC limit of 0.15% or higher measured within two hours of being arrested. BAC is the relationship between parts of alcohol and 1000 parts of blood.
The Breathalyzer was invented in 1954 which replaced the Drunkometer. Modernly all fifty states have their drunk driving laws and have adopted the BAC of 0.08%, as a statutory level of inebriation that will lead to an arrest. In California, the total number of arrests for the years 2010 through 2013 for combined misdemeanor and felony arrests, not including juveniles, was 709,372. The total number of fatalities for this period was 4,527. It is reported that thirty percent of all fatalities are a result of impaired or drunk driving.
Each one of these individuals must have legal representation. Only a very experienced DUI attorney should be hired because of the significant financial penalties, an arrest, and conviction record, a suspended license and possible incarceration. A felony conviction has life long damage to all areas of your life, such as where you work and live.
Contact a Garden Grove DUI Lawyer for a free consultation if you have been arrested for a DUI. A Garden Grove DUI Lawyer will immediately begin to investigate your arrest by obtaining any audio or video DUI stop, detention and arrest records to defend you against the DUI charge because the penalty of a suspension of your license is one year if you fail the Breathalyzer test. The law firm can be found on the SoCal Law Network.
Preparing to defend against the charge of a DUI depends upon the basis of the charge such as whether you cooperated in taking the Breathalyzer. In California failure to take a Breathalyzer test is separate from the DUI charge. When you drive your car in California, you have given the”implied consent” to take the Breathalyzer test even if you have not been arrested.
Other than the Breathalyzer the arresting Officer does some tests from walking a straight line, counting backward and repeating the ABCs. Your defense is based upon all the tests you performed. A good DUI attorney will advise you of your best defense to avoid a conviction or reduce the penalty of a conviction.
Source
https://sfvbareferral.com/breathalyzer-laws-in-california/
https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/drunk-driving-and-the-pre-history-of-breathalyzers-1474504117
https://www.shouselaw.com/DUI-breath-testing.html
https://thenewswheel.com/early-history-of-drunk-driving-laws/