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 "THERE
OUGHT TO BE A LAW"
I recently read a speech given by Pres. Reagan
in the 1980s, where he lamented our tendency to turn to the
government for answers it has neither the right nor the capacity
to provide. The result has been a fourth branch to government
in addition to the traditional 3 of executive, legislative,
and judicial: the bureaucrat. Bureaucrats now hold enormous
power which effect our lives, in many cases more so than elected
officials; And bureaucrats cannot be removed from office by
our votes.
In Georgia we have 2 such bureaucracies that have enormous
power over our lives: the Department of Motor Vehicle Safety,
which has power over driver's licenses; and the GBI, which
has power over administering the DUI chemical tests. The DMVS
can solely determine whether and when someone can get a driver's
license, with very little recourse from the judicial system
for those who feel their rights have been violated.
Likewise, the GBI has TOTAL authority to make up rules on
how and when state chemical tests are run, inspected, and
so forth; under a Georgia law passed in 1997, believe it or
not, our legislators gave total power to the bureaucrats at
the GBI over this issue, so for instance, the State only has
to inspect the breath machine once per quarter to make sure
it is operating correctly; even then, the "inspector(a State
patrol officer) never actually opens the machine to inspect
it; the State has chosen not to obtain software from the manufacturer
which would enable you to get your breath sample and have
it independently inspected; the GBI has deleted certain software
from the machine which would so how much breath volume went
into each individual test. The GBI can change rules and methods
for testing, all WITHOUT LEGISLATIVE APPROVAL. In short, as
the director of the Implied Consent section has testified,
"If I want to approve a can with some strings attached as
"The State breath test device", I have the authority to do
it. There ought to be law against our elected officials giving
total power to bureaucrats.
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Practice dedicated exclusively to defense of those accused
of DUI, serious traffic offenses, drug offenses.
770-923-4948
mickeygroberts@aol.com
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 DON'T MODIFY CAR'S STANDARD EQUIPMENT
Have you seen cars driving around at night with the little blue, red, or green lights coming from the windshield washer on the hood? How about cars with clear taillights and turn signals. DO NOT alter the manufacturer standard equipment on any vehicle. This may give police the right to stop your car. While there is no specific Georgia law prohibiting altering such equipment, many officers, most notably from Duluth, Suwanee, and Lawrenceville, are using this as reason to stop cars, especially ones driven by teenagers. The police will say that they in "good faith" thought the lights violated Georgia law, and this gives the court a reason to uphold the stop.
2002 PROPOSED LEGISLATION
Once again, the legislature has several proposed changes to driving laws:
- SB 13 Would create the new crime of refusal to submit to state chemical testing. A VERY BAD LAW, since it would sentence the person as seriously as a DUI conviction; remember a "refusal" in Georgia could simply mean the machine(the same one governed by the bureaucrats at GBI) did not register a reading.
 Don't believe the propaganda you may see in the newspapers. VERY FEW people are found not guilty of DUI simply because they refuse the test; they are found not guilty because they are not guilty. Some prosecutors and legislators don't understand that concept.
- Cell Phones Another example of "there ought to be a law." Because we have had some deaths involving drivers talking on their cell phones, we want government to "fix" the problem.
 We already have 2 laws that would address the problem: Reckless driving, and Careless driving. We do not need another law in Title 40, which is already hundreds of pages long.
WHAT DO I DO IF STOPPED BY THE POLICE??
For the answer, see my page on "your legal rights" and print out a copy to keep in your car!
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