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Illinois DUI defense lawyersBlood alcohol concentration, or BAC, is a measurement of the alcohol in your body’s system. Register high enough, and you could be looking at a DUI charge. The following information can help you learn more about the BAC limits for different drivers, how your BAC at the time of arrest may impact your case, and what a criminal defense attorney can do for you.

General BAC Limits in Illinois

Most Illinois drivers will fall under the general BAC limit of 0.08 percent. However, a driver may still be charged with a DUI if they show signs of impairment with a BAC of 0.05 or higher. Such signs could include anything from slurred speech, failure to pass a sobriety test, or swerving within one’s lane. However, these issues may not necessarily be connected to intoxication.

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Three Tips to Avoid a DUI This Summer

Posted on in DUI

Illinios DUI lawyer, Illinois defense attorneySummer is a time to live footloose and fancy-free. The days are longer, and the schedules are slower enabling a significant portion of the population to sit back, kick their feet up, and have a cold alcoholic beverage. If you add on to the relaxation the fun holiday parties that occur throughout the season and extended vacations, you have yourself the perfect setting to create lasting memories for years to come. No one wants this happy time of year tainted with the memory of a DUI. It is best practice to avoid a DUI whenever possible.

Tip #1: Know Your State Laws

Illinois harshly punishes those convicted of DUI. DUI is driving under the influence of alcohol or other intoxicating substance. State law makes it illegal to drive while impaired by medication or a controlled substance, or:

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Illinois defense attorney, Illinois criminal lawyerIn Illinois, a conviction of driving under the influence (DUI) is considered a misdemeanor. This fact is not saying that Illinois does not take DUI seriously, as there are approximately 35,000 people arrested annually for DUI-related charges. A misdemeanor conviction is also not getting away easy, as the state estimates that the total cost of a first-time DUI totals approximately $16,000.00 after the loss of licensure resulting in loss of income, insurance rate increase, fines, and other court costs. However, not all cases are created equal, and occasionally, clients are surprised to discover their charges are more severe than anticipated, that they face felony DUI charges instead. How does that happen and what does that mean for the future, if convicted?

First-Time DUI?

Even if this is your first experience with a DUI, it is possible to be facing felony charges. The prosecution must prove that the driver had a 0.08% blood alcohol concentration (BAC) or was impaired to have any leverage in court. These factors alone may result in the initial misdemeanor charge. However, if your situation involves another more severe factor, your case may jump to aggravated DUI, which is a felony charge. Factors that can make the difference include:

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Illinois defense attorney, Illinois criminal lawyerSometimes you have no other choice but to pick up your children after drinking. Consider this scenario: you and your spouse are out to enjoy an anniversary celebration meant to last all night. You went the extra measure to hire a babysitter for the evening. Perhaps you even left emergency contact information for local friends or family in the area in case of an emergency. After midnight, you get a dreaded phone call that one of your child is throwing up and has a fever and none of the emergency contacts are answering their phones. Luckily, you have only had a few alcoholic beverages, and you feel confident in your driving abilities enough to go to get them. However, on the return trip home with a car full of the smells of a sick child, you get pulled over by an officer having a bad night. The mixture of the odors in the car lead the police to believe you may be intoxicated and to top off the night, you fail the sobriety test, leading to a DUI. What happens next?

A Rise in Prevalence

There is growing trend of incidents involving DUI and minor-aged passengers. Alarmed by the increasing number of incidents, state lawmakers in many states created laws specifically surrounding drinking and driving with children present. In Illinois, the threshold for being a minor in this incident is 16. If convicted, the following penalties may apply in addition to standard DUI penalties, provided the child is unharmed:

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Avoiding a DUI Charge

Posted on in DUI

Illinois defense attorney, Illinois criminal lawyerThe breathalyzer as we know it today was born in 1954 by a man named Robert Borkenstein and has undergone little alteration since it’s introduction. An estimated 86% of the adult population of the United States claims they have consumed alcoholic beverages at least one time in their life, many of which went on to drive home. Breathalyzers use technology to detect the amount of alcohol on the breath of these drivers, which results in DUI allegations. This form of sobriety test has many pitfalls, and for this reason, researchers, inventors, and scientists all over the world scramble to create the next alcohol detection device.

The Current Device

The current tool is a guideline and no means is it perfected to 100% accuracy. Everyday items such as mouthwash and cough syrup are known to register a false positive in some machines. By breathing into the device, the device is estimating the amount of alcohol on your breath.

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