How Not to Parent 101: DUI Drivers Win Bad Parent Awards

Children learn from their parents’ behaviors, so people convicted of DUI in Los Angeles might want to ponder the future and think about what their kids might try when they’re old enough to drive. Will your children repeat your actions, or will they be so turned off by the repercussions of your DUI that they’ll vow never to get behind the wheel while impaired?

Here are two stories along those lines to chew on:

•    In Richmond, Virginia, a mother left her 16-month-old son and a dog alone in a hotel room while she allegedly went out drinking. Police picked up Taliaferro Troupe, age 34, for DUI shortly before 6 a.m. on a Sunday morning, but the mother apparently didn’t remember to tell authorities or her family members about the child until seven hours later. Troupe’s mother and the hotel staff finally went to the room around 1:30 in the afternoon and found the child in soiled diapers and without access to food and water. No one knows how long the child had been in the room alone.

•    Ramon Calva-Marin, of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, might have thought he was doing the responsible thing when he let his teenager drive him home; the 34-year-old father was over the legal BAC limit. But his son was only 14, didn’t have a driver’s license and was himself allegedly intoxicated.

Police pulled Calva-Marin’s vehicle over when they spotted it traveling erratically. After initially refusing to stop, the driver pulled over. When police measured the pair’s blood alcohol contents, they found the senior Calva-Marin’s was .20 and his son’s was .106. Sober family members picked up the teen, who faces DUI charges in juvenile court. Police arrested his father for corruption of a minor and child endangerment and took him to jail.

Under California Vehicle Code 23136, anyone under age 21 who has a BAC of .01 or more can lose his or her license for a year. If the person’s BAC is .08 or more–over the legal limit for driving—he or she will also face other DUI penalties, including fines, time in jail and mandatory attendance at drug and alcohol education program.

If you need to develop a sound, systematic defense to a Los Angeles DUI charge, call experienced Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer, Michael Kraut, of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers.