Archive for January, 2011
Notorious Nova Scotia drunk driver challenges stiff sentence for 23rd offence
January 26th, 2011 | 
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Serial offender Terry Naugle got 8.5 years; lawyer argues that judge ‘tinkered with’ precedent
Published Jan 26, 2011.
Read more: The Globe and Mail
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Costa Rica Driving In The Mountains
I have driven the roads of Germany, Austria, Yugoslavia, Greece, the USA, Australia, Indonesia and India.
While driving in Indonesia was merely harrowing, the experience of driving in Indian traffic has left a permanent imprint on my nervous system.
Well, the intensity of driving in India pales in comparison to that of driving in Costa Rica.
Driving on the roads in Costa Rica is like playing Russian roulette. Is that next bend in the road loaded? You never know what will suddenly come at you from around the next curve.
You just don’t know what to expect because there is simply no driving culture here. It’s as if the country as a whole has moved within a decade from horse travel and ox-carts to motorized travel. There is no set of mutually understood rules on how to behave on the roads.
Instead you are faced with a kind of Jeckyll and Hyde situation as the normally polite and friendly Ticos (Costa Ricans) turn into arrogant macho monsters when they get behind the wheel.
Once seated in a vehicle it seems the average driver somehow cuts off all contact with the outside world, remaining fully immersed in his own personal movie. This means he has virtually no awareness of what other vehicles are doing, and how they are moving. Consequently moves can be sudden and unpredictable – usually causing my adrenals to inject a massive jolt of adrenalin into the blood.
Classic maneuvers are indicating a right turn then turning left; stopping in the road to chat with someone while traffic backs up behind, oblivious to what’s going on behind; cutting corners when turning into road, seemingly unable to manage a clean 90 degree turn; or simply stopping directly in the driving lane with no prior indication at all. Another very popular move is pulling out into the road without checking for oncoming traffic.
If the driver in front puts his emergency flashers on, watch out! This is the Tico way of communicating that they are about to do, well, just about anything at all, and you have been duly warned. They now fully expect anything bad which happens as a result of their action to be your fault, because they have done due diligence by putting the emergency lights on.
Recently while approaching an exit ramp from a three-lane highway, the car in front put his flashers on and simply stopped. Since we were trying to exit behind him, we had to slam on the brakes and sit there with cars approaching from behind at high speed. The driver appeared quite relaxed and comfortable with this driving behaviour, looking both puzzled and annoyed at our honking.
Potholes and Road Hazards
Potholes are everywhere, some so deep they’ll break your axle. They can pop up suddenly in the most unexpected places. Missing manhole covers abound.
There is only local help in marking these hazard sites. Some caring local person will stick a branch from a bush into the hole to mark it, sometimes draped with a plastic bag to catch your attention. That’s about all the help you’ll get, so you cannot let your attention wander from the road.
Pedestrians
Pedestrians are often in great danger but don’t seem to acknowledge it. Drivers give them scant regard, even on marked pedestrian crossings.
The exception to this general rule sometimes occurs when a driver sees a pretty girl waiting to cross the road, suddenly and unexpectedly comes to a complete stop (causing a chain reaction of frantic braking and backing up traffic behind), and with a generous hand gesture waves the lucky recipient across the road.
Such spontaneous manifestations of courtly mannered courtesy are natural setups for accidents, but the driver gets to feel like a true gentleman, and that’s what’s important, right?
In the mountains there are deep V-shaped gutters on either side of the road (to channel the torrential rains) and there is almost never a sidewalk for pedestrians, so they really have no choice but to walk on the road.
The strange thing is that the pedestrians themselves seem to have no concept of the danger they face. They are totally unfazed by the sight of heavy steel boxes traveling at 8 feet per second blasting by within inches of their bodies.
Pedestrians will often keep walking 3 and 4 abreast in seeming nonchalance at the sight of oncoming traffic: either nerves of steel or no imagination.
Women will sometimes walk with their young children on the traffic side of the road, contrary to the normal protective instinct to guard the child. This kind of thing strongly indicates to me that people must be taught safe road behaviour: it doesn’t appear to come naturally.
In Costa Rica’s criminal code there is apparently no such thing as vehicular manslaughter, but (incredibly), should such an event happen twice to a driver, his license may be taken away for 10 years!
According to the Tico Times (July 20, 2007) an average of 600 deaths a year occur through traffic accidents.
The paper further mentions that in 2005 Costa Rica rated first in the Americas and fourth in the world in traffic injury per head of population.
Deaths are sometimes commemorated where they happened, painted on the road with a big yellow heart with halo above. There are often clusters of these on major four lane highways where pedestrians, lacking an overhead crossing, attempt to cross the road on a daily basis.
Most of the deaths on the road happen through drunk driving. We’ve seen unbelievable drunk driving behaviour coming back home at night from the main city of San José. And there is not much by way of control from the traffic police (the ?transito’). So we try to restrict our driving to daytime as much as possible, and avoid Friday and Saturday night driving altogether.
There are about one million cars in Costa Rica. Not all are insured or even registered. Many would simply not pass the annual car roadworthiness test, so the owners simply don’t bother with it.
There is effectively no generally applied driver education, roads are in poor condition, policing appears to be more about bribes than enforcement. On mountain roads there are no overtaking lanes, leading to long lines of assorted cars, trucks and motorcycles trailing slow moving buses.
Crossing double yellow lines to overtake is the norm, and you have to do it or suffer a tedious journey looking at the back of a bus encased in a permanent cloud of black billowing diesel exhaust. Many Tico drivers won’t wait for a clear shot at this, but forge ahead into blind curves recklessly. We’ve witnessed many a hair-raising near miss.
Suggestions for Mountain Driving:
? Avoid driving at night. In the mountain areas street lighting is largely unavailable. Potholes are effectively invisible, as are pedestrians, who wear no reflectors on themselves. Glare from the high-beam of oncoming traffic makes it difficult to see. People seldom dip their high-beam lights for oncoming traffic. You are also most likely to encounter the drunk drivers at night, especially Friday and Saturday nights.??
? Drive defensively. This means at a speed appropriate to conditions, where you can brake effectively if suddenly needed. Small towns have developed right to the very edge of the road, children and dogs can appear out of nowhere. Never take your eyes off the road, not for a second. Mountain roads are very winding and you never know what can come around the bend at you.??
? A comprehensive insurance (from INS, the only insurer in the country, with agents in every little town) which covers all damage to your own car is a good idea. That protects you against the damage caused by being hit by an uninsured car.
Oh, and if you do have an accident while driving, here’s an important tip. Don’t move the car. Yes, that’s right; the cars must stay exactly as they are until the INS (state insurance) inspector and the traffic police arrive, take photos, make measurements and write their report. This causes enormous problems for the traffic flow, with backups extending for miles, but that’s how it’s done here.
Vaya con Dios!
Originally published here.
Rob Regan
Why You Need a Lawyer for DUI
The law is a large and complicated beast with many, many heads. Not every lawyer has the same training, education and experience to handle all types of cases. A given lawyer will have more knowledge and experience in one area than in another, so your choice of which type of lawyer to hire is very important. Using a DUI attorney or DUI Lawyer who focuses on drunk driving defense could make a big difference in the outcome of your case.
Also consider that there are many specialized DUI lawyers out there, and it makes a difference which one you ultimately choose to work with. Just as in any field, simply put, some DUI lawyers are much better and more experienced at what they do than others. DUI lawyers and their fees vary depending on the skill and experience of the attorney as well as the complexity of your DUI case. For example, many attorneys claim to be DUI defense lawyers, but they simply handle guilty pleas! Because of the seriousness of the crime and the lasting consequences that are often the result of a DUI, it is probably worth every penny and every minute to meet and work with a DUI lawyer who can do the most for you by virtue of their experience and track record.
Frankly, you need a lawyer who specializes in DUI with experience tackling cases the same as yours – with positive results. You want to know how many DUI trials has the lawyer handled in the last year. (You need to know this figure to make sure that your lawyer has the ability to defend you in case your DUI suit goes to trial.) The more cases of DUI the lawyer has handled, the more skilled he or she is likely to be in DUI defense. Even more so, the more experience the lawyer has with cases very similar to yours, the more he or she is likely to be able to provide you with the best advantage, increasing your chances of success, with or without a trial..
The penalties in drunk driving cases are extremely complicated. You can potentially lose your driving privileges and in extreme cases may face jail time or even prison. On the other hand, remember DUI cases also get dismissed, DUI charges get reduced, DUI punishments get reduced, and people are found Not Guilty on a consistent basis by DUI lawyers who investigate and who have the required knowledge and experience. (This, however, is not always the case. If the DUI causes injury or property damage and in cases where the DUI is not a first offense- the DUI charge can become and be treated as a felony. But remember, many cases of DUI/DWI also get dismissed on simple technicalities with the help of experienced DWI lawyers.
The DUI lawyer?s help is also very important during pre-trial conferences (the negotiations before an actual trial is set). They will research and use any technical defects they find to build a strong defense, in preparation for either settlement or trial. The last step in the court process is an actual criminal trial. Finally, if a trial has been set, the DUI lawyer will participate in the juror selection and naturally, stand for and defend you during the actual trial. Of course, a great many cases are resolved before they go all the way to trial. Yes, if the DUI case you?re facing is complicated and there is a strong possibility that your case will actually go to trial, then your attorney?s quote (cost estimate) can go up to as high as $10,000 or even more. But, don?t give up just because your situation will have a cost. The alternative also comes at a cost. Remember that if you do go to trial, the prosecution must do more than prove you ?may be guilty? – they must prove that your guilt is the only reasonable conclusion based on hard evidence. So if you?re facing a DUI charge, don?t just throw up your hands and say, ?Oh well, I might as well plead guilty. Remember, if you don\’t seek professional DUI lawyers to protect your rights, you may face jail time.
Originally published here.
Alexander Gray
