dui/accident

[slwx]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Virginia

my husband was driving his motorcycle and was struck by someone making a left hand turn. she was cited with failure to yield on a left turn.

my husband was thrown from the bike & sustained severe injuries -- 13 days in the icu -- and doesn't remember the accident at all. he does remember how stupid he was to get together with old friends & have a few drinks before getting on his bike to come home -- not something that he normally did. well, i guess he had more than a few drinks according to the ticket.

he has been charged with reckless driving, failure to maintain control of a vehicle and dui of .15 to .20 (i'm guessing based on the hospital tox screen).

at this point, i think he's learned his lesson -- he's going through a lot due to having a little fun that day and he's the first to admit how stupid he was. he's very lucky to have survived the accident.

any opinion's on the tickets? i mean, he was obviously in the wrong by drinking and getting on that bike, but adding the reckless driving on there just seems to be adding insult to injury. how well do the hospital tox screens hold up in court? anything because he didn't give consent?

[InsaneJane]

It depends if anyone is willing to testify and whether they had already set up an IV before drawing blood. Since he ended up in ICU, the odds are high that nobody will want to testify and add their insurance into the soup of malpractice testomony....

[CdwJava]

Not knowing the facts, we can't comment on the reckless driving. But, if his blood alcohol came back above .15 he can still be charged with DUI above the per se limit of .08.

Yes, the hospital blood test is good. The police may have also obtained their own blood draw at the hospital (no consent is generally needed unless prohibited by state law or agency policy). if not, they can subpoena the hospital's blood workup. The hospital's "plasma" BAC test might be .02 or .03 higher than the state's "whole blood" test might be, but that would still place him well above the legal limit.

He needs to consult an attorney who can review the case and give him a detailed answer.

- Carl

[slwx]

we'll definitely be getting a good lawyer -- but it just helps me to ask for opinions anyway.

right now, it would be good to get his bac dropped below the .15 because that's a mandatory 5 days in jail -- 2.5 days of actual time to serve since it's a misdemeanor in virginia.

like i said -- he was in the wrong, but his physical injuries seem to be enough punishment without adding jail time too. i know that the court probably won't take that into consideration though.

thanks for the responses -- much appreciated.