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Ex-Los Angeles Deputy Sentenced to 6 Months in Drunk Driving Accident

A former deputy with the Los Angles County Sheriff’s Department has been sentenced to 6 months in jail for his role in a drunk driving accident that injured two people last year. Robert Moran of Buena Park has also been sentenced to three years of informal probation. In February, Moran pleaded no contest to driving under the influence causing injury, and driving with a blood alcohol level of .08 percent or more, causing injury. Moran has been ordered to be enrolled into a three-month program for first offenders, which will include paying Mothers Against Drunk Driving a fee to hear victims of drunk driving accidents, or relatives of these victims, talk about their stories and experience.

On June 29^th 2008, Moran was driving his department-issued Chevrolet Blazer on Beach Boulevard in Stanton when he crashed into another vehicle. The driver of the vehicle and his female passenger were injured, and had to be hospitalized. Moran has already served much of his time in home confinement. Soon after the accident, he had charges filed against him, and was placed on unpaid leave from the Sheriff’s Department.

Expeienced Los Angeles drunk driving accident lawyers expect intoxicated driving from reckless and foolish motorists, who seem to have no understanding or care for the dangers of such behavior. However, when you’re talking about a veteran deputy of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, you are talking about an officer who is fully aware of the dangers of drunk driving. You don’t expect law enforcement officers to indulge in such dangerous driving practices.

Every year more than 40,000 people die in automobile accidents in the US, and of these, approximately 25 percent are victims of accidents that involve alcohol use by a motorist. While the number of drunk driving accident fatalities has declined steadily over the past few years, they still form a substantial chunk of the overall traffic accident fatality numbers in the US.

Much of this decline in the drunk driving accident fatality rate has been due to the tireless efforts of law enforcement agencies.  Numerous awareness campaigns and educational drives have drilled home the “don’t drink and drive” message, to the extent that there is a widespread public revulsion towards impaired driving. Laws have made it harder for drunk drivers to be out on the streets again after their first offence, endangering other motorists. Committee organizations and groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving have pushed for stronger focus on the problem, and the dangers that are caused when motorists drive in an impaired state. A bill currently on Governor Schwarzenegger’s desk will trigger off a pilot program mandating installation of ignition interlock devices in all vehicles of motorists convicted of DUI. All of this has contributed to lower numbers of accidents involving impaired drivers, and little tolerance for such behavior.

However, when we come across supposedly responsible citizens like Moran who should know better, it becomes obvious that much more needs to be done to prevent such hazardous conduct.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of drunk driving accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

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