Burbank DUI: Will It Be Eliminated Entirely Thanks to New Technologies?

What causes people to drive under the influence in Burbank, and what can stop them?

These questions obsess lawmakers, policymakers, police, and analysts who cover news about DUI in Los Angeles, Burbank DUI, Pasadena DUI, and Glendale DUI.

Most solutions concentrate on driver behavior. Policymakers try to deter drivers from consuming alcohol, narcotics, and prescription medications before getting behind the wheel. And they punish people who violate these rules and laws — not only to send a message but also to “clear the roads” of dangerous drivers.

A new movement has cropped up that’s focusing on looking beyond behavior. This new crop of DUI analysts believes that technology may be able to play a vital role in terms of reducing the number of crashes and the severity of injuries.

A recent story in the Washington Examiner analyzed a proposed Maryland law that would compel anyone convicted of driving DUI with a BAC of 0.15% or greater to install an interlock ignition device (IID). (0.15% BAC is nearly twice the BAC for Burbank DUI, as specified in California Vehicle Code Section 23152).

As this blog has discussed at length, California has started a mandatory IID installation program of its own – and Los Angeles County is one of the test counties.

This technology-centered approach to ending DUIs makes some sense.

But rather than getting mired in the debate about the rightness or wrongness of this conclusion – one could probably also paint an argument that first time offenders are penalized too much – let’s think bigger picture.

Maybe correcting behavior alone is not enough. And maybe technology won’t solve our problems either. Maybe we need a solution that is more humanistic, diverse and social science based. In other words, instead of continuing to trust old broken systems or shooting for the moon and hoping that some random new technology will solve all our problems, let’s take a deeper look at what makes drivers do the things they do.

One hard to ignore factor is social contagion.

Human beings like to fit in. That’s a deep human need. Peer pressure is an enormously powerful factor. And policymakers surely do not leverage this factor well enough.

For instance, we all know that Burbank DUI arrests spike around national holidays, like New Year’s Eve, the 4th of July, and the Super Bowl. This is because there is a social contagion effect going on. More people party. More people drink. More people get behind the wheel.

Thinking in terms of social contagion leads us to cool new solutions. For instance, what if we focused on making DUI behavior look less cool? We need not necessarily increase punishments. Rather, we need only source and address the core, often counterintuitive motivating factors. Perhaps we would make better progress.

In any event, from a practical point of view, if you have a question about a Burbank DUI, you likely want to speak with a Los Angeles criminal defense attorney. Mr. Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (2600 West Olive Avenue, 5th Floor Burbank, California 91505 (818) 563-9810) has ample experience – not just as a defense attorney but also as a former prosecutor. His experienced on both sides of cases gives him a profound and unique vantage, which he can bring to bear to deliver strategic results for you.

If you have been arrested for a DUI in Burbank or you are under investigation for driving under the influence in Southern California, please contact Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Michael Kraut for 24/7 assistance by phone at (323) 464-6453 or toll free at (888) 334-6344 or online.