Females and DUI
Drunk driving enforcement has historically
targeted men. However, the number of
DUI arrests
involving women has increased dramatically over the
last twenty years. Twenty years ago, under 8% of the
DUI cases prosecuted in the United States involved
female defendants; in 1997, that number climbed to
over 15%.
While sociologists may debate the causes for the
increase, there are two obvious and significant
factors to credit with this increase. First, there
are more women driving now than there were in 1975.
As the population of female drivers grows, so too
does the number of DUI arrests attributed to women.
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 Also,
the role of women in American society has
changed considerably since 1975. Women enjoy
significantly more latitude in their
professional pursuits, and with the increase
in the number of female professionals come an
increase in the number of women who live a
lifestyle that was typically the unique
province of the male professional. This means
that there are more women at Happy Hour, more
women enjoying a martini at lunch, more
women
who are at risk for drunk driving cases.
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DUI lawyers around the
country have taken note. "I've noticed a significant
increase in the number of women who have sought my
services in the last decade," remarks Darren T.
Kavinoky, a Los Angeles lawyer whose practice
concentrates in DUI defense. "Drunk driving cases
involving women must be analyzed from the uniquely
female perspective. Everything from
field sobriety
tests performed in high heels, to
breath tests
results being skewed because of smaller lung volumes,
which the machine does not take into consideration."
Indeed, the forensic breath testing issues Kavinoky
raises have been the subject of much study by
pulmonary experts in the field.
Michael Hlastala, a
world-renowned expert in the area of pulmonary
function as it relates to breath testing, has
authored several studies that bear out what Kavinoky
refers to as artificially high readings for female
subjects. |
There are additional forensic
issues that arise, relating to absorption and burnoff
rates that are unique to women, and the
way alcohol
is distributed in the body once it is consumed.
Alcohol loves to migrate to water within the body,
and women generally have more water in their bodies
than do their male counterparts.
As more and more women drink and drive, there will be an
ever-expanding body of knowledge tailored to
defending female DUI defendants. There is no question
that women are entitled to equal rights under the
law; it is now up to
skilled drunk driving defense
lawyers to ensure that they receive them. |
1800 DUI Laws
