Mississippi Lawmakers Initiate Changes in DUI Laws to keep Drunk Drivers at Bay

NTSB reports have shown that 40% of all traffic deaths are caused by drunk drivers on Super Bowl Sunday nights. The objective behind the change in law is to prevent alcohol-impaired individuals from getting behind the wheel.

One Southaven mother told WREG.com that they usually avoid leaving home on Super Bowl nights because of the dangers posed by drunk drivers. A Mississippi lawmaker pointed out that some people will always be repeat offenders because they know the legal loopholes that they can use to their advantage.

DUI drivers are a threat to everyone.

The lawmaker further asserted that since repeat offenders can be incarcerated for a year they are entitled to a jury trial. Jury trials take time and defense lawyers obviously use these procedural delays to their advantage.  They often use legal tactics to steer the case towards a plea bargain thereby allowing the perpetrator to serve a lesser sentence in lieu of a court trial.

State Sen. David Parker of Olive Branch has proposed two bills. The first one speeds-up the court proceedings. This means that habitual DUI offenders will be sent to prison faster, say Southaven, MS DUI lawyers.

The second bill allows the courts to punish repeat DUI offenders to significant prison time. Usually this will be applicable to those who were caught in a DUI bust for a third time, according to DUI attorneys in Mississippi. Hopefully these are real DUI tickets and not the cheap and immoral ones that the Sacramento, CA police department hand out. Are these real DUI drivers or someone who is barely drunk, only drives 3 blocks, breaks no laws, and is given the ticket in front of their own home? Hopefully the Southaven police department is not as destitute as the Sacramento police department, probably not since Mississippi is not financially broke like California is and its cities are.

No one likes DUI drivers but not all DUI drivers deserve the ticket nor deserve to have the law book thrown at them. This is where this website comes into play, it is DUI-USAttorneys.com. This website is a true example on what separates America from oppressive and immoral countries like Cuba. Americans have rights and they have a right to confront their accuser.

Cases that Inspired the Bills

The inspiration for these bills was Maddie Kruse and Rachel Lynch, the Briarcrest High teens who were tragically killed in an accident caused by Melandus Pensen. Pensen was intoxicated when he caused the crash in May of 2015. Shockingly he had eight DUIs against his name since 2008. These DUIs were registered in different counties. Sen. Parker said the tragedy happened because of lack of co-ordination between different state agencies.

Well, they need to use the same database or work together better apparently.

The law enforcement has no system in place to track violations and cases registered in other jurisdictions. Parker said he believes that Pensen should have been in prison and that the accident was a terrible way of finding out about the judicial flaws.

Parker also insists that the DUI violations must be tracked by the National Information Crime Center which is federal reporting agency. They must keep track of DUI violators so that a repeat offender is not allowed to go scot-free because the police has no knowledge of previous offences in other states and lets the drunk driver off the hook because the police think it was their first offense. You would think this system would have been implemented decades ago.

Penalties for Drinking and Driving in Mississippi

Southaven, MS DUI lawyers point out that for a first DUI offense a driver can be fined between $250 and $1,000, be incarcerated up to 48 hours and may face license suspension for up to 90 days. For the second offense the fines range from $600 to $1,500, jail time for 48 hours to 1 year, and license suspension for up to 2 years.

If you do not want to be in this position and do not want to need a Southaven, MS DUI lawyers, then do not drink and drive. If you do, you have the right to defend yourself and some DUI tickets are just irrational. 

A third offense attracts jail time from 1 year to 5 years and fines from $2,000 to $5,000 in addition to a 5 year suspension of the driver’s license. Depending on the circumstances of the case, the DUI offender may be able to plead to a wet reckless charge in Mississippi.

If you are injured by a drunk driver it would be prudent to consult a Mississippi DUI lawyer as soon as possible to sue the perpetrator. The first meeting is free. This step will prevent the defendant from exploiting the loopholes in the legal system and you need to have your bills paid and so on. Someone did you wrong, you have a legal obligation to seek financial revenge.