Atlanta’s “Hollywood of the South” nickname is no coincidence. Often, dozens of movies and TV shows are shooting in the streets of Midtown, the industrial warehouses of Westside, or the giant backlots in Fayetteville on any given day. This rapidly growing business depends on a large fleet of commercial vehicles for the transport of everything from advanced camera equipment to mobile hair and makeup salons. The consequences of one drink are a lot more serious for the commercial driver’s license (CDL) holders who are the people who keep these productions moving than it are for the average motorist. Here’s a little-known but particularly bad situation that can often happen on these sets: Someone is driving with only one beer or glass of wine in their system, and then gets behind the wheel of a trailer and drives it just a few dozen feet across a closed set. When law enforcement is present for traffic enforcement, and they suspect impairment, they are in a trap of which the driver is not aware and can literally end their career in a single instant.
The greatest risk is Georgia’s rigid BAC requirements for commercial operators. Most drivers know that they can’t drive a car with a blood alcohol content of 0.08%, but CDL holders are expected to have a much lower limit. Georgia Code reduces the legal limit to just 0.04% for those driving a commercial motor vehicle. It is not necessary that the driver be intoxicated or even assume the standard definition of intoxicant; as long as the driver is on the edge of his or her legal rights, that can lead to a Commercial DUI charge. This 0.04% is a career killer for a pro in the film industry. Technically many production sets are on public roads that are temporarily closed, or on roads where police are stationed for security reasons and there is a high likelihood of interaction with a police officer.
The implications of a conviction in this situation are not limited to a fine or some community service. Georgia law requires commercial drivers to be disqualified from their CDL after their first DUI. As Yallywood production is a fast-paced business, drivers are employed based on their reliability and clean driving record, so a year-long ban is like a permanent ban. Moreover, if you are carrying hazardous materials (often the case for specialized effects crews) disqualification becomes three years. The law doesn’t matter if you were moving a rig fifty feet, or if the set was “closed” to the public, as long as you are in actual physical control of the commercial vehicle, the strict 0.04% standard applies.
The Atlanta DUI Lawyer will be familiar with the complex laws governing commercial driving and have the understanding to navigate the world of shooting films. The margin for error is extremely small when a CDL holder is defending, as it is with a regular motorist. A strong defense may be technical and in-depth – focusing on the timing of the chemical test, or the equipment used. Due to the low limit (0.04%), the margin of error that breathalyzers have becomes a major concern. A skilled attorney will question if the machine was used correctly, whether the officer adhered to the “20-minute waiting period” procedure before giving the test, and more. Even a couple of hundredths of a point of that 0.04% can throw the case the prosecution’s way into disarray.
Attorney James Yeargan has plenty of experience in the high-stakes environment of the CDL defense in the Atlanta film community. He is aware that for the “Yallywood” driver, their licence is more than a plastic card, it is their mortgage payment and their family’s future. An elite DUI Attorney Atlanta will also look at the legality of the initial contact on a film set. Did the police have legal probable cause to begin a DUI investigation in the first place if they had been hired as a private security or traffic flow? The challenge to the foundation of the arrest and the accuracy of state’s testing equipment can preserve a driver’s job and keep them working on set.
As a commercial driver in the Georgia film industry, you cannot afford to wait if you’ve been charged after a shift or a crew meal. Your CDL disqualification begins the moment you are arrested and you may have a very short deadline to file the required paperwork to save your CDL. The best action you can take is to contact a specialized Atlanta DUI Lawyer such as James Yeargan, so that taking one wrong step in a production doesn’t end your career. Don’t risk losing the CDL or your job in the Atlanta film industry by hiring a defense attorney that has a good grasp of the business and its specific laws and pressures.
