Category: Impaired Driving – TxDOT

The National Judicial College (NJC) will be presenting the following webinar in August:

Title: Access to Justice in Impaired Driving Cases – Costs of Pre-Trial Conditions

Date & Time: Wednesday, August 19, 2020 at 11 a.m. CDT

Course Description: This NJC webcast, funded by NHTSA, will focus on the delicate balancing act of imposing pre-trial conditions on impaired drivers in traffic courts and the obstacles they often face in complying. This course will explore innovative and creative approaches to these cases while in the pre-trial stage and ways to avoid often crippling legal financial obligations and cost prohibitive conditions before final adjudication. This course will also address some of the practical challenges presented in imposing some conditions.

If you are interested in attending the webinar, you can register here.

Impaired Driving is not only caused by alcohol, but by any substance use that results in impairment. But effectively testing for impairment caused by substances other than alcohol can be difficult. Click on the link below to read an article about marijuana-impaired driving and the research that is currently being done to develop an effective test for it.

This Cannabis Saliva Test Could One Day Be Used To Detect Impaired Driving

TJCTC’s DWI Bond Condition Program is a part of a statewide effort to reduce the incidence of DWI offenses in Texas counties in adopting a comprehensive plan for setting, monitoring, and enforcing bond conditions in DWI cases. The program is free for counties and promotes the use of bond conditions (such as ignition interlock devices) that reduce the incidence of DWI recidivism, increases consistency in setting bond conditions by a magistrate and a trial court, and ensures that bond conditions required by law are properly set, monitored, and enforced.

The program web page includes additional details, including a video about the program, and tells you how to contacts us if you would like more information or are interested in signing up. We have also recently updated the web page with a new map that shows all of the counties that are currently expressing interest or participating in the Program.

Please click here to visit the web page!

Alcohol addiction and impaired driving often go hand in hand. Click the link below to read an article about the prevalence and dangers of alcohol misuse:

Behind the Numbers: Alcohol is Killing More People Than the Opioid Epidemic. Why Aren’t We Talking About It?

Click on the link below to read an interesting article and infographic on drunk driving:

[Infographic] Drunk Driving: The Leading Cause of Death on U.S. Roads

 

Click on the link below to read an interesting article about a federal bill that has been introduced regarding alcohol-detection systems for new cars:

A Push To Have Cars Say ‘No’ To Drunk Drivers

 

Click on the links to see the following updated publications:

DWI Magistration & Inquest Field Guide, 2019 Edition

Reporting Requirements Guide for Justice Courts, 2019 Edition

 

You can also find these and additional publications on our website at: https://www.tjctc.org/tjctc-resources/publications.html#publications

During the 2019 legislative session, a change was made to when a magistrate is required to order an ignition interlock device (IID) as a bond condition. For the offense of DWI with a Child Passenger (the elements of this offense can be found in Section 49.045 of the Penal Code), the IID condition used to only be required if it was a subsequent offense. Now, this condition is required for this offense whether it is a first or subsequent offense. This new law applies to a defendant released on bond on or after 9/1/19 even if the offense was committed before then.

Below is a chart summarizing the current law for when a magistrate must impose an IID bond condition and when it is up to the discretion of the magistrate to decide whether or not to impose it. In the chart, CCP stands for Code of Criminal Procedure, PC stands for Penal Code, and DWI stands for Driving While Intoxicated.

Click the link below to read an article about an interactive game that TxDOT is using to discourage impaired driving:

https://www.cbs19.tv/article/news/local/txdot-uses-interactive-game-to-discourage-drinking-driving/501-8b8f3a1c-c1e9-4b9b-9aa1-3439cda997af

At the Lifesavers National Conference on Highway Safety in Louisville, KY earlier this year, there was a session on Standard Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs) and drug impairment. The session was about how research shows that SFSTs are effective at detecting impairment due to drugs and not just due to alcohol.

Here is some of the research that was provided in the session:

An Examination of the Validity of the Standardized Field Sobriety Test in Detecting Drug Impairment 

Detecting Impairment Associated with Cannabis with and without Alcohol on the Standard Field Sobriety Tests 

Examining the Dffect of dl-3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and Methamphetamine on the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests

The Relationship between Performance on the SFSTs, Driving Performance and the Level of Delta 9-THC in Blood

The Standardized Field Sobriety Tests and Measures of Cognitive Functioning

A 2 Year Study of THC Concentrations in Drivers: Examining Driving and Field Sobriety Test Performance

A Placebo-Controlled Study to Assess Standardized Field Sobriety Tests Performance During Alcohol and Cannabis Intoxication

An Evaluation of the Sensitivity of the Standardised Field Sobriety Tests to Detect the Presence of Amphetamine