Summer is here, and it’s time for the motorcycles to come rolling into Austin again for the ROT Rally! For those new to town, the Republic of Texas Biker rally brings some 40,000 extra folks (and their bikes) for some cruising and good times in the ATX. Not that it’s that far out of the norm, but South Congress will be covered in motorcycles, tattoos, leather, and some good live music. These Austin criminal defense lawyers are here to tell you it’s not all fun and games, because DWI enforcement is something else in Austin.
Along those lines, the Austin Police Department has issued another “no-refusal” DWI weekend to cover the festivities. “No-refusal” weekends, what we refer to as “blood warrant” weekends, are when the Austin Police keep a magistrate available around the clock to sign warrants for blood draws in DWI cases. They used to be novel- it turns out a lot of people don’t like the idea of the government sticking needles into peoples’ arms. Aside from the whole “Big Brother gone too far” ideology, it appears there are also a hell of a lot of people who just plain don’t like needles. These “blood warrant” weekends started a few years back on holidays where a higher volume of alcohol consumption was expected- New Year’s Eve, July 4th weekend, Labor Day, etc. Over the last few years, the police have been adding other occasions to the tab, to include Memorial Day weekend, Mardi Gras, Halloween, the Super Bowl, and now, for the first time, the ROT Rally.
Under this trend, it’s slowly becoming the norm to have the State sticking needles into folks’ arms. Don’t be shocked in a few years if some new “no-refusal” dates are added. How about every Texas home football game weekend? Or maybe the Travis County Fair and Rodeo weekend? Or how about just every weekend, since people seem to generally drink more then? And for happy hour during the weekdays… that should cover it. You might want to buy stock in Johnson & Johnson, or whoever it is that makes needles. Either that or those little round band-aids they give you.