In Northern California, two mothers are making their story public and championing their discovery to remind courts of a long-forgotten law. The two women are concerned about drunk drivers who are given a license suspension when they are in jail, and allowed to drive as soon as their sentence is over. They say that suspending a driver's license while the criminal is in prison is pointless because he can't drive anyway. They believe that drivers should be issued a license suspension once they emerge from their sentence in jail, so that they will be extra cautious and have more time to evaluate their driving habits.

This subject is very close to these two ladies- their children were killed by a drunk driver. As a result of their death, the driver's license was suspended for three years. In addition to this, he is serving a six year and four month sentence for vehicular manslaughter. According to the previous sentence, when the man emerges from imprisonment, he will be free to drive again. The deputy district attorney in Yolo County says that this isn't always fair. The driver will serve his time and then suddenly be out and licensed to drive, which could end in more fatalities.

While struggling with this situation, one of the mothers found an almost-forgotten California Vehicle Code statute that says that judges have the discretion to delay the revocation of a driver's license until the offender has served their jail sentence. This means that the criminal would need to spend his time in jail and then, upon release, lose his license for the specified amount of time. The woman found her friend and they brought the law to the district attorney's office. It was recognized immediately. Yolo County will be putting out a directive to apply the law in DUI cases within the next few weeks.

The law was put into practice on the driver who caused the deaths of the two teenagers. The California state Treasurer says that he will work hard to back all efforts to educate judges, attorneys, and victim's advocates of this newly remembered provision. Legal representatives agree that the provision makes perfect sense. The district attorney of Yolo County believes that this find by two broken-hearted mothers will help to save many other men and women from losing their children in drunken driving accidents, and make the roads safer for everyone.

The people who train prosecutors at law schools or special training facilities are now aware of the provision and will add it into prosecution curriculums throughout the county. The law will affect many people who are currently serving time for vehicular manslaughter due to drunk driving. Cases will be evaluated individually. Some drivers are safe and reliable, and will be allowed to receive their license if their suspension is up by the time that they leave the jail. Others, who are less repentant or have had many DUI charges, will need to wait even longer before they can be back on the road.

This example shows that not all laws are apparent, even to the courts or lawyers. If you believe that there is some sort of injustice in a DUI case, you have the right to research and make the district attorney aware of your findings. Forgotten laws like this one could make or break a case, and it may be up to you to locate these special exceptions. A caring and knowledgeable lawyer can also help you to find local laws that may have been forgotten. Hire a learned DUI attorney today if you want help with a DUI case.