Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/619701
Law 101 Trucking by Jim C. Klepper - Attorney at Law 800-333-DRIVE www.interstatetrucker.com www.driverslegalplan.com 20 www.studentdriverplacement.com January '16 DWI Justifi ed? L et me set the stage for you. It's 7:00 pm on a dark and snowy night in the middle of nowhere USA. Truck driver is driv- ing in blowing snow and hits black ice which causes the truck to slide ever so slowly into the median. The truck becomes stuck and will have to be towed from the median. The driver contacts dispatch and they tell him they have contacted three tow trucks in the area and due to the weather it will be at least after 6 pm tomorrow night before any of them can come for the truck. Driver remembers a mom and pop store about two miles back down the road and heads back to get some- thing to eat and stay warm for a while. While there he buys a six pack of beer and drinks it before "pop" gives him a ride back to his truck at 11:00pm when the store closes. Driver gets back into truck sleeper and with motor running goes to sleep. 5:00 am next morning trooper stops by to see if he is OK and ends up arresting him for DWI. Do you think the driver is guilty of DWI? The answer is it depends on several things whether or not he is guilty. Let's look at some things the prosecutor will consider before he fi les the charge of DWI the trooper has written the ticket for. What was the driver's blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at the time of the arrest? The FMCSA has set the BAC level for CDL holders at 0.04%. The average person's body can eliminate one drink (beer) per hour and it looks like about 6 hours from last drink to ar- rest. Is this driver an average person? The next thing to consider is in what state did this occur? Some states require the offi cer to see the vehicle driven and other states only require the offi cer to determine that the vehicle got there by the actions of the driver/ person charged with the DWI. Was the vehicle capable of be- ing driven? Some states require the vehicle to be capable of being driven. Such as keys in the ignition, gas in the tank, engine that will run, etc… some states only require the engine to be running or the keys to be in the ignition or in the possession of the charged person.