There is an annual tradition at the University of Virginia that is known not only to its first-year college attendees but also to locals and students from other colleges as an event not to miss. This fall festivity is a drunken first weekend back at school known as the “Wertland Block Party” and, as the name indicates, it takes place on Wertland Street, near the college campus. Because the party comes with such raucous behavior, the college is cautioning its students and coordinating efforts with those of law enforcement and landlords of the houses on the street as well as the fire department.
This all stems from the dangerous behaviors that come into play when alcohol is consumed in excess. School administrators and others onboarding the efforts are doing so in order to curb the amount of arrests that result from underage drinking and other behavior that could result in illegal activities.
With the fall semester starting and many underage men and women drinking alcohol for the first time, out on their own without parental curfews for the first time, and generally, the risk that stems from being in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people, the proclivity to surpass normal limits and drink too much may be greater. Drunk driving charges may damage the record of first-year students and derail their academic success.
If you have found yourself on the wrong side of the law and charged with any crime resulting from alcohol and driving, you could benefit from a DUI/DWI attorney in Virginia. It can be to your benefit to have a local attorney, familiar with prosecutors and the court system who will strive to see your charges reduced or dismissed altogether.
Source: WashingtonPost.com, “U-Va. tries to break Block Party, the annual alcohol-soaked right of passage,” T. Rees Shapiro, Aug. 19, 2016