• Tweet
• Sumo

• Tweet

A 31-year-old mother of Chuluota, Florida, was recently arrested by the Florida Highway Patrol on allegations that she drunkenly drove to school to pick up her 9-year-old child. The woman was identified as Margaret Lily; she faces charges of DUI and leaving the scene of an accidence. Authorities were notified by a school crossing guard who saw Lily run over a stop sign near John Walker Elementary School with her 2007 Saturn. The crossing guard recognized the car as one belonging to a parent of one of the children who attend the elementary school. A school official confiscated Lily’s keys so she could not flee the scene. After troopers arrived, Lily told them she was there to pick up her child but did not recall hitting and running over the stop sign. The mother was arrested after failing several roadside sobriety tests; blood tests revealed her blood-alcohol level was .20 (more than twice the legal limit in Florida, .08). Sadly, this is not the first parent arrested for DUI in Seminole County, Florida. In September 2010, 43-year-old Renee A. Godby, was arrested at Lake Mary Elementary School after she crashed into a car in the school parking lot. This arrest was Godby’s fifth DUI. She failed numerous roadside sobriety tests and breath tests read her BAC at .326 and .329.
Ms. Lily will be entitled to defend herself against these allegations through the services of a Florida criminal defense attorney or the services of a the public defender’s office. The evidence appears to be quite strong against her but there are legal defenses to DUI charges that are not so obvious in each case.
This mother is lucky she only hit a stop sign; she could have hit teachers, other school officials or worse, children. Drunk driving is highly dangerous and irresponsible. Alcohol reduces ones judgment, reaction time, visibility and a plethora of other senses. Parents should be role models for their children and lead by example – do not drink and drive. If you would like to read more details on this story please see Mother arrested for DUI while picking her child up from school.