Alcohol and driving are ingredients for a type of recipe referred to as drunk driving, and can be as harmful as a lit candle and a storage space full of TNT. If you watch videos of police pulling over drunk drivers, you can clearly see how it is extremely prevalent in highways across the United States.

The permissible blood alcohol content, as per federal law, is no more than 0.08 percent for legal drivers and 0.02 percent for minors. However, police do not look at the blood alcohol content of an individual alone, as they also conduct sobriety tests on the spot. Even if your blood alcohol content is within the permissible range, in the event that you fail to even recite the alphabet backwards or walk in a straight line, you can nonetheless be charged for drunk driving.

Authorities are quite stern on the matter of driving under the influence (DUI) due to the risks it poses to life and property. Did you know that there are reports saying DUI brought about the death of Princess Diana on the 31st of August 1997? It was revealed in an in-depth investigation by the Prosecutor's Office in Paris that her driver was driving with a blood alcohol content three times over the legal limit.

To defend against DUI charges, you need a specialist including a Utah DUI lawyer [http://www.betterverdicts.com/utah-dui-lawyer.htm] because the penalties for DUI are heavy. In Utah, an individual caught driving drunk can be detained for a maximum of 48 hours and render community service afterwards. Furthermore, his driver's license will be suspended for no less than three months. The court may also require the vehicle to have a safety device installed, which checks the driver's breath for blood alcohol content before starting up.

Most state laws, which include Utah's, consider DUI as both an administrative and criminal offense. The fact that the drunk driver is detained for a brief time and ordered to render community service makes DUI criminal in nature. Alternatively, suspension of driver's license and installation of a sobriety device on the vehicle constitute administrative nature. Nevertheless, the convicted are free to ask a Utah criminal attorney [http://www.betterverdicts.com/provo-utah-criminal-defense-attorneys.htm] for legal guidance.

With this, the defense attorney Utah [http://www.betterverdicts.com/dusty-kawai-utah-defense-attorney.htm] clients trust can, at the very least, reduce the severity of the sentence depending on the circumstances. Better, s/he advises not consuming too much alcohol. Even when you fail the sobriety test, if your blood alcohol content is within the safe zone, the court may just lighten the sentence.