Wisconsin residents get stopped on suspicion of drunk driving each day. Many of those individuals may honestly believe that they were fine when they got behind the wheels of their cars. It is usually only after a police officer flips on his flashing lights that a potentially impaired driver considers his actual state of sobriety.
Staples Marketing, a Wisconsin company, recently developed a drunk driving smartphone app platform for a community in New York. The app provides users with many tools for assessing their own sobriety before they choose to drive. Such tools include games for evaluating one's cognitive function, lists of designated drivers and cab companies and intoxication estimators.
The community that bought the app is offering it free to people in its constituency through its STOP DUI initiative. The app cost the community around $60,000 to develop but many of the costs were covered with grant money. The app is called "Have a Plan" and can be used on several different kinds of smartphones.
Other communities around the country and right here in Wisconsin may begin unveiling these programs if the New York program has success. The apps may help people make good decisions about driving after drinking. Those decisions may help people avoid the costly DUI traffic stops many face even when they feel fine.
As technology finds a way to solve the national problem of drunk driving, Wisconsin residents are still facing many DUI charges. Though foresight can prevent a DUI stop from ever happening, planning after an arrest can also make a difference in how a DUI charge plays out. Attorneys who practice DUI law can help their clients understand those decisions and how to address the challenges that DUI allegations impose.
Source: Press & Sun-Bulletin, "STOP-DUI app launched to target drunk driving," Anthony Borrelli, Sept. 5, 2014