The "Hidden" DUI Law in Utah

We Can Virtually Guarantee That You Do Not Understand The Law Regarding Driving Under the Influence in Utah . . .

Utah has some of the harshest laws against impaired driving in America. The worst part is, that instead of looking for visibly impaired drivers, who are driving improperly, Utah police routinely "fish" for DUI's by stopping people almost randomly for bogus traffic infractions, such as failure to signal for two seconds before changing lanes, etc., in an effort to "sniff" test the driver. No smell of alcohol equals a warning, and any smell of alcohol, even from occupants, warrants a full fledged investigation using unfortunately, unproven field sobriety tests and inaccurate Intoxilyzers; snaring innocent people intending to obey the law, in the criminal justice system, which then treats them as any other criminal.

Many people make the mistake of concentrating on .080 as the legal limit, and although they are partially correct; that is only one part of the two - pronged statute. In Utah, one can be arrested for having ACTUAL PHYSICAL CONTROL of a VEHICLE with either:

(1) Per Se - Having an alcohol concntration of .080 or greater in blood or breath testing, OR;

(2) Impairment - Having ANY alcohol OR drug in one's blood, such that one is "impaired," which is from the officer's point of view.

VEHICLE: Means any device upon which a person may be drawn or transported on a highway except those devices on stationary tracks. Please note that this includes boats, ATV's, Snowmobiles, and even bicycles (our recent case at the District Court level in Vernal), even though those devices are not used on a highway.

ACTUAL PHYSICAL CONTROL: An easy definition is as follows; if the keys to the device are in the ignition, and you are in the vehicle, you are in ACTUAL PHYSICAL CONTROL. Thus sleeping in the back seat of a car even with radio playing, is actual physical control and you can be charged with a DUI.

Warning ! - if you have even a sip of alcohol, or took a Lortab three days ago; if you "fail" those field sobriety tests, which have NEVER been demonstrated to distinguish between sober and  impaired drivers, you ARE deemed impaired and you will get a DUI. Most people, even after arrest forget one very important point - the driver is arrested before they are asked to take an Intoxilyzer test - very simply; every DUI is arrested and charged before the officer knows the result of the Intoxilyzer or Drug test. Those "Standardized Field Sobriety Tests," are anything but standardized and they are not tests.

*One of your first steps should be hiring an attorney that specializes in Utah DUI Defense.

Read On Using The Pull Down Menus Under  "The DUI Law In Utah" Section And Become Educated About Utah DUI Law, and Learn How To Successfully Defend Your Case . . .