In recent years, ride sharing companies have become an increasingly popular way for people to get home from bars and nightclubs when they are too intoxicated to drive home. This is largely because of the expense of taking a taxicab and public transportation options being limited in the early morning hours in Boston. While many young people have chosen to take the T’s Night Owl bus home from the bars in Government Center at least once, the experience of being on a bus with 49 drunk people is not one many people care to repeat.

brbreathalyzer.jpgAccording to recent news feature from ABC News, Uber, a successful ridesharing firm, has tested a new program/marketing campaign where they operate kiosks that function as alcohol breath testing devices to tell people if they are too intoxicated to legally drive home.

This program called “You Drink, We Drive” was first tested in Canada. The kiosk was designed to dispense a disposable straw into which the user must blow for six seconds. The device then uses what is either a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer (GCMS) device or an infrared mass spectrometer to calculate users blood alcohol content (BAC) and will display the result on the screen.
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According to a recent news article from CBS Boston, a man from Massachusetts has been arrested in connection with an alleged drunk driving accident in which a couple was killed. Providence authorities say defendant was driving in the wrong direction on a highway when he hit victim’s vehicle.

wrong-way-sign-232552-m.jpgTroopers report the 24-year-old defendant, who is from Webster, Massachusetts, hit victim’s vehicle and killed the 21-year-old woman who was driving the car and her 23-year-old boyfriend. Family members say the couple had a 6-year-olddaughter and were going to get married later this year. The family has also set up an internet fund collection website to raise money to care for the victims’ surviving daughter.

Prosecutors have charged defendant with drunk driving homicide and driving to endanger resulting in death. A judge has ordered defendant to be held on $100,000. As of this point, all criminal charges are only allegations, and defendant has not been convicted of any crimes in connection with this fatal drunk driving car accident.
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While drunk driving crashes occur all the time, some make the news and others do not. In one recent drunk driving accident arrest, the story was picked up by a variety of news organizations, because this particular defendant decided to stick her tongue out at the camera when police were taking her mug shot. While some mugshots are more interesting than others, drunk driving crashes can and do have serious consequences for those in the at-fault driver’s car and innocent pedestrians and other drivers throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

449966_handcuff.jpgFortunately, while this particular drunk driving crash did result in property damage, there was no personal injury associated with the car accident. Police say they were called to the scene of a car accident in which alleged at-fault driver had run into a wooden fence.

When police arrived on the scene, defendant allegedly told authorities she ran off the road and crashed into the fence because she was talking on her cellphone to obtain driving directions and was writing them down while behind the wheel and crashed her vehicle as result of the distraction.
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According to a recent news article from Fox 6 Springfield, a pregnant woman was arrested for drunk driving after she crashed her SUV into another car. She also had two young children with her at the time of her arrest.

beers.jpgAuthorities say defendant, who was six months pregnant, was driving with her 18-month-old twins when she rear-ended another vehicle. When police responded to the scene of the crash, officers report smelling a strong odor of intoxicating beverages and found beer inside defendant’s vehicle. Police administered field sobriety tests, which she allegedly failed, and then she took a breath test and blew 0.36. This is three times the legal limit in the United States, including in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

After police placed defendant under arrest, the father of her twins took custody of the children. Police notified the state department of child services of defendant’s alleged drunk driving with children not properly restrained in the vehicle. While there were minor injuries reported, luckily no one was seriously injured in what could have been a much more serious car accident.
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In response to the recent wave of bad press after two high-level special agents allegedly showed up to a bomb threat investigation drunk and possibly ran over the suspect package, the United States Secret Service is tightening regulations involving use of agency vehicles.
New regulations prohibit Secret Service personnel from driving official vehicles within 10 hours of consuming any amount of alcohol, according to a recent news article from CBS.
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Many people learn their lesson after the first time they are arrested and convicted of drunk driving in Massachusetts. Unfortunately, some drivers will keeping taking chances with other people’s safety until they end up in prison. A recent article from My Fox Boston is an example of someone who is alleged to be one of these repeat offenders.

jail-979240-m.jpgAuthorities in Hingham, Massachusetts say they have recently arrested a man on his fourth offense for operating a motor vehicle under the influence (OUI) of intoxicating liquor or drugs. Just before 10 p.m., defendant was driving around a rotary when an officer observed a can of beer in the passenger seat. They detected a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage. Officers also noticed the man’s eyes were bloodshot. When asked if had been driving, officers say defendant admitted he had been drinking alcohol.

At this point, officers asked defendant to perform a series of standardized field sobriety tests, and he agreed. Officers determined he failed all three tests. When officers placed defendant under arrest for drunk driving, they performed an inventory search of his vehicle. During this search incident to arrest, they supposedly found two open beer cans under the driver’s seat and a plastic bag containing less than one ounce of a green leafy substance believed to be marijuana. Police issued defendant a civil citation for possession of less than one ounce of marijuana.
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According to a recent news report from My Fox Boston, Sturbridge, Massachusetts police officers arrested a man for drunk driving at a local fast food restaurant. Restaurant employees called authorities to the restaurant when 23-year-old defendant was allegedly acting in a belligerent manner and cursing at them.

hamburger-1338943-m.jpgWitnesses say defendant drove up to the drive through window and placed his order. When employees informed him there was a problem with his order, and they would have it ready in a few minutes, he began yelling and cursing at them. Fast food employees called the local police as defendant was driving away from the restaurant.

Authorities stopped defendant on a back road just behind the restaurant and say defendant was giving off a strong odor of alcohol and acting in a hostile manner. Police administered standardized sobriety tests, which were captured on a dash camera in a police car, and placed defendant under arrested for operating a motor vehicle under the influence (OUI) of intoxicating liquor or drugs.
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According to a recent news report from NBC, New York City police officers are investigating a wrong-way crash involving a car driven by an off-duty New Jersey police officer.

broken-phone-1438992-m.jpgAuthorities alleged three off-duty police officers from New Jersey were driving on a highway in New York City after leaving a strip club. NYPD says the officer behind the wheel was driving the wrong way down a highway when he crashed into a tractor-trailer driving in the correct direction. There were two other off-duty officers a former county employee in the car and when it hit the truck.

One officer in the car was killed, along with the former county employee – both passengers in alleged at-fault driver’s car. Two other police officers in the car were critically injured in the accident. The truck driver was also injured in this car accident. The extent of his injuries is not known, but authorities say they are not believed to be life-threatening.
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According to a recent news report from WCBV 5, Boston police officers arrested a 37-year-old woman for after allegedly hitting a pedestrian. Authorities say she was operating a motor vehicle under the influence of intoxicating liquor (OUI), and her children were in her car at the time of her arrest. Prosecutors filed eight total charges against defendant.

shot-glass-1032719-m.jpgWitnesses say, after police pulled defendant over, she sat in her car drinking from a mini bottle of vodka. Police reportedly found six miniature bottles of vodka and empty Red Bull cans in her car at the time of her arrest. She also allegedly had her two children, ages six years and six months, in her minivan at time of the suspected drunk driving accident involving a pedestrian.

The civilian who initially called 911 said this was the craziest thing she had ever seen. She described defendant weaving along the roadway in East Boston before hitting a 62-year-old woman who was on the sidewalk. After hitting victim, the minivan kept moving and dragged victim toward a military vehicle parked at an auto repair shop. The victim was pinned underneath the military vehicle as the minivan kept going, until it finally came to a stop after hitting a tree.
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One of the most dangerous parts of any police officer or state trooper’s job is conducting traffic stops. While there is always the fear someone in suspect’s car may be armed and dangerous, the mere act of standing on the side of road is often the most dangerous aspect of a traffic stop.

police-on-the-scene-1172422-m.jpgAccording to a recent news article from My Fox Boston, a Milton police officer was responding to a roadside emergency along with firefighters when any officer’s worst fears was almost realized. Alleged drunk driver sped by, hitting a police cruiser, and nearly hitting an officer, one firefighter, and a civilian motorist.

The 19-year-old suspect from Farmington, Massachusetts was driving a 1994 Nissan Sentra when he allegedly reached the temporary roadblock officers had set up to deal with downed power lines and did not slow down. He is said to have blown through the closed road and hit the officer’s car. Following the alleged Massachusetts driving accident, officers conducted an investigation and questioned defendant. Authorities suspected driver to be operating a motor vehicle under the influence (OUI) of intoxicating liquor or drugs and placed suspect under arrest for alcohol-related criminal traffic charges, including OUI and reckless driving. Officers than transported suspect to their police station, where he was later released on $5,000 personal recognizance. He is scheduled to be arraigned later this month.
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