Red Light: Morgan Hill, California – A California teenager was arrested on drunken driving charges three times in less than two weeks, police said. Police in the San Francisco suburb of Morgan Hill said Anthony Maher, 19, was arrested three times in 11 days on charges of driving under the influence. His blood alcohol level for his first arrest was .08. For the other two arrests, investigators said his blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit – .20 and .21. During one of the incidents, Maher caused a collision between two other vehicles, authorities said. "It's appalling, it's shocking," said Alameda County Mothers Against Drunk Driving president Patti Eichhorn. "It's my understanding he's 19 years old, so he's not even technically legally old enough to be drinking. But to be drinking at 19 and then driving not once, not twice, but three times, is unbelievable." Maher did not go to county jail because he has no prior drunken driving convictions on his record. He was cited for each misdemeanor offense. Authorities said the state will suspend Maher's license for one year. If he's cited again for drunken driving within the next 10 years, the offense will count as a felony, police said. KNBC.com, January 3, 2008
Green Light:Des Moines, Iowa – Jane Hambleton has dubbed herself the "meanest mom on the planet." After finding alcohol in her son's car, she decided to sell the car and share her 19-year-old's misdeed with everyone — by placing an ad in the local newspaper. The ad reads: "OLDS 1999 Intrigue. Totally uncool parents who obviously don't love teenage son, selling his car. Only driven for three weeks before snoopy mom who needs to get a life found booze under front seat. $3,700/offer. Call meanest mom on the planet." Hambleton has heard from people besides interested buyers since recently placing the ad in The Des Moines Register. She has fielded more than 70 telephone calls from emergency room technicians, nurses, school counselors and even a Georgia man who wanted to congratulate her. "The ad cost a fortune, but you know what? I'm telling people what happened here, I'm not just gonna put the car for resale when there's nothing wrong with it, except the driver made a dumb decision. It's overwhelming the number of calls I've gotten from people saying 'Thank you, it's nice to see a responsible parent.' So far there are no calls from anyone saying, 'You're really strict. You're real overboard, lady.'" The only critic is her son, who is "very, very unhappy" with the ad and claims the alcohol was left by a passenger. Hambleton believes her son but has decided mercy isn't the best policy in this case. She says she set two rules when she bought the car at Thanksgiving: No booze, and always keep it locked. The car has been sold, but Hambleton will continue the ad for another week — just for the feedback. Yahoo News, January 9, 2008.
Red Light: Toledo, Ohio – A Michigan man has been indicted on new charges in a crash in Toledo that killed a mother and four children. A Lucas County grand jury indicted Michael Gagon of Adrian, Michigan on five counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and two counts of aggravated vehicular assault. He faces up to 50 years in prison if convicted on all counts. Police say he drove drunk and the wrong way on a Toledo interstate on December 30 when his pickup truck hit a minivan filled with eight people coming home from a Christmas trip. Police say Gagnon's blood-alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit. Lansing State Journal, January 10, 2008.
Green Light: Hollywood, California – Music and fashion mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs plans to launch a high-end car service for drunk celebrities, looking to crack down on the rash of A-list DUI arrests over the past few years. "After partnering with Ciroc vodka, he wants to make sure everyone's partying responsibly," his representative said in a statement. His goal? "Making sure nobody gets arrested!" ABC News, March 13, 2008.
Red Light: Whitehorse, Canada – A man has won a court challenge of his breathalyzer test, after telling a judge he is too "cheap" to buy enough drinks to be impaired. In a written decision, territorial court Judge Cunliffe Barnett dismissed impaired driving charges against Thomas Wood, who argued that he could not have consumed enough beer on March 30, 2007, to have had a blood alcohol level above the legal limit of 0.08. On March 30, Wood admitted to consuming some alcohol that night, failed the police's roadside breathalyzer test and was arrested. Further tests showed readings of 0.13. Wood testified at his trial in December that he drank a pint and a glass of draft beer over the course of 2½ hours while talking with his employer at a hotel bar after work that evening. As an aircraft mechanic, he does not drink on the job, he told the court, adding that he also doesn't drink much after work. "Mr. Wood says that he is 'quite cheap,' and that for that and other reasons, it is his custom to restrict his drinking, as he says he did that evening," Barnett wrote in his decision. A blood-alcohol expert from Vancouver backed Wood's argument, testifying that he needed to drink nearly four bottles of beer in order for him to have a high enough blood alcohol level to fail the breathalyzer test. Barnett cited past Supreme Court of Canada rulings in deciding not to dismiss Wood's account of what happened simply because he failed the breath test. "When I consider all the remaining relevant evidence and testimony, I cannot say that I am convinced by Mr. Wood's testimony; far from it, but Mr. Wood does not bear the burden of proving his innocence. He is required only to raise a reasonable doubt, and I find that he has done that." At the same time, the judge invited the Crown lawyers to appeal the decision if they disagreed with it. CBC News, January 8, 2008.
Green Light: Monroe Michigan – Monroe County authorities say a 13-year-old girl called 911 from her cell phone to say her drunken father was driving them down the expressway, bound for Florida. A Monroe County emergency operator took the call. The girl said her father was drunk and headed down Interstate 75. She told the operator she didn't want to go. Police stopped the van and arrested her 39-year-old father, whose blood alcohol level measured 0.22 percent - nearly three times the legal limit. Officers also found an open 40-ounce beer bottle. Lansing State Journal, February 14, 2008.
Red Light: Roseville, Michigan – Former major league pitcher and Detroit Tigers announcer Lary Sorensen, 52, has been arrested with a blood alcohol level six times Michigan's .08 legal limit in his seventh drunken driving case. Shortly after 3 a.m., a police officer approached a vehicle on the shoulder of Interstate 696 and reported seeing Sorensen slumped over the steering wheel. Sorensen was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where he was diagnosed with alcohol poisoning. In March 2005, Sorensen was sentenced to at least 20 months in prison for his sixth drunken driving conviction. He was released on parole in June 2006. After his latest arrest, Sorensen was being held at the Macomb County Jail awaiting transfer to state prison, where his case was to be heard by a parole board. The Detroit News, February 7, 2008.
