A Victim Dies From A DUI Collision After Being Rear-Ended On Highway 101

California has sentence enhancements that can be added to a charge. Sentence enhancements are used to increase penalties in certain cases. One of the most often used sentence enhancements relates to prior DUI offenses. However, California has several other DUI sentence enhancements as well. 

One of those enhancements can occur when a driver refuses to submit to chemical testing. For example, California has an “implied consent” law for all people who have a driver’s license which requires people who are arrested for a DUI charge must take a breathalyzer test. Refusing to take the test to determine intoxication can lead to increased jail time. Another enhancement is excessive blood-alcohol levels. An excessive blood-alcohol level enhancement can be added to a DUI charge when the driver has a BAC of over 0.15%. 

CBS Local San Francisco reports that a man has pleaded no contest in a fatal Highway 101 DUI crash. 

32-year-old Ramon Hernandez entered the plea to charges of felony drunk driving. The enhancements added to the charge included causing great bodily injury and having a blood-alcohol content above 0.15%. 

The charges stem from a January 19th crash that claimed the life of Ivania Torres. Torres was getting out of her vehicle after being rear-ended by another vehicle. Hernandez was driving a Toyota Camry then struck Torres’ vehicle. 

Torres was injured from the collision and was pronounced dead at the scene. Prosecutors said that Hernandez had been drinking in San Francisco prior to the accident. 

Hernandez will return to court on August 20th for sentencing.

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