41-year-old James Calhoun was riding his Yard Man lawnmower, and it stopped on State Highway 52.  A state trooper on the highway noticed that other motorists seem to be swerving to avoid something ahead.  The trooper drove closer to get a better look, and found Calhoun driving a lawnmower on the highway.

The trooper suspected that Calhoun was intoxicated, and he was taken into custody.  A blood-alcohol test showed a account of .17, more than twice the .08 allowed under Alabama law.  He has been charged with driving under the influence and driving with a revoked license as well as an open container violation.

Alabama troopers are not exactly unfamiliar with persons driving unusual vehicles under the influence.  They have in the past found persons driving golf carts while drunk, besides the usual cars, trucks and motorcycles.  This one is bound to generate a few chuckles at the Slocomb Police Department for a few months come.

Across the country, law enforcement officers have come across even stranger models of intoxicated transportation.  Perhaps the weirdest DUI offender of them all was pulled over in Minnesota in 2008 after he was found riding his motorized La-Z-Boy recliner.  62-year-old Dennis Anderson drank about nine beers at the bar and left the bar on his motorized recliner.  His blood alcohol level was .29 when he crashed his recliner into a parked vehicle.

California investigators are probing the extent of a Department of Motor Vehicles bribing scandal. A number of DMV employees are accused of taking bribes in order to give licenses to those who were not eligible for them. Investigators believe that these employees were bribed to give licenses to senior citizens, scammers and other people who were not eligible for a license.

For now, investigators believe that the scandal has tainted at least three DMV offices in California. Several elderly motorists with vision problems are believed to have been given licenses, and this is a fact that should concern not just auto safety groups, but also every Los Angeles personal injury lawyer.

Even more alarmingly, there is no information yet about the extent of the problem. Investigators have no idea what kind of numbers they are dealing with here, and how many elderly motorists with disabilities and others were given licenses. Investigators are calling the case “a growing one.”

Obviously, this scam has major repercussions for public safety. Hopefully, the investigation will be wrapped up as quickly as possible, so personal injury lawyers in Los Angeles and citizens know exactly how many motorists are out there licensed to drive, but without the abilities to do so. It’s not just the national security implications of this scam that are sobering, but also the fact that it threatens to undo so much good work that has been done in highway safety over the past few years.

This is not the first time that the California Department of Motor Vehicles has been caught with mud on its face. In January this year, a former DMV employee was arrested on a number of charges related to waiving of driving tests in return for bribes, and issuing false California drivers licenses. There have been other scams involving the California DMV in other bribery-related scandals, including one involving a DMV employee in California taking $800 to forge written exam results and issue a license.

All the highway safety efforts in the world will amount to nothing in California if the state’s DMV continues to function like the government of a Third World banana republic.

However, Los Angeles personal injury attorneys would recommend that motorists who can’t afford to buy regular auto insurance, at least opt to buy a low-cost insurance that covers basic needs in case of an accident. The California Department of Insurance oversees a low-cost auto insurance program for those who can’t afford extensive insurance. The program provides liability coverage for costs as low as $400 a year.

According to the Insurance Research Council, about 18% of Californians are likely driving around without insurance. There’s no way of knowing exactly how many drivers are out there motoring without insurance, but considering the number of Uninsured Motorist coverage claims that Los Angeles personal injury lawyers come across, the numbers are likely very high. With a low-cost insurance program, those who can’t afford regular insurance, can achieve at least the bare minimum coverage, and stay on the safe side of the law.

The California Low Cost Auto Insurance program was established in 2007. The program is available to persons residing in the state of California. It is available to those people who make a maximum of $55,125 annually. That estimate is for a family of four. If it is an individual motorist, the maximum earnings per year must be $27,075 in order to be eligible for cover under the program. Candidates must be at least 19 years of age, and they must have been licensed continuously for the past three years. It goes without saying that driving records must be fairly clean. Also, it’s important that the value of the vehicle be a maximum of $20,000.

These insurance policies provide cover of up to $3,000 in property damage, $10,000 for bodily injury per person, and $20,000 per accident. Obviously, this amount may not be sufficient if you’re involved in a major accident, but it can cover the costs of a minor fender bender-accident related damage.

Paul Hutton is not what Mothers Against Drunk Driving likes to portray as the archetypal DUI offender in this country. He’s a former aeronautical engineer who used to work with the Royal Air Force. Apparently, he also likes to tinker around with toys. As part of a family project, Hutton added bigger wheels to a Barbie motorized car. On the day of the by now much-publicized DUI incident, Hutton was taking the car over to a friend’s house to show him the vehicle. He was pulled over by police, and was administered a breathalyzer test.

The results showed him to be above the legal limit of alcohol, and he was arrested. He has been convicted of driving under the influence. Because he had at least one other drunk driving offense over the past 10 years, the judge ordered that his license be revoked for a period of three years. He was also asked to pay court fees amounting to $130.

As far as excessive punishment for drunk driving goes, this one takes cake and the factory. It’s hard to understand what possible danger he could have been to other motorists on the road, riding a motorized Barbie car that could go at a maximum of 4 mph. At those speeds, a pedestrian could outrun the car.

Hutton also has been a model defendant, admitting that what he did was silly. He has also sounded very contrite about the stupidity of his actions. To a California DUI lawyer, this doesn’t sound like an intoxicated motorist on the rampage. It just sounds like what it is – a nerdy 40-year-old engineer proud of his motorized toy, and too drunk to know he looks extremely silly driving it. Three years of license suspension for silliness? Really??

If you have been injured or have lost a loved one as the result of the Los Angeles Metrolink accident, please contact the Metrolink accident lawyers at The Reeves Law Group.

If you have been injured in the Metrolink accident or have lost a loved-one, please contact the Los Angeles Metrolink accident lawyers at The Reeves Law Group.