LOS ANGELES—Actor Vince Vaughn has been convicted of reckless driving after his arrest for failing a drunken driving test last year.
An attorney for the 49-year-old “Wedding Crashers” star entered a no contest plea to the misdemeanor count on Friday, May 3, in Los Angeles Superior Court.
The “Dodgeball” actor was stopped at a DUI checkpoint outside Los Angeles shortly after midnight in June last year.
Police said he repeatedly refused to get out of his car and then failed a field sobriety test and a blood alcohol test.
He was subsequently arrested for driving under the influence and for resisting, delaying or obstructing officers, authorities said at the time.
In addition to completing a three-month alcohol program and paying fines, Vaughn was sentenced to summary probation for three years, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
While on probation, he cannot refuse a preliminary alcohol screening test if requested by law enforcement.
He has been advised that if he drives drunk and kills someone he could be charged with murder.
Vaughn’s attorney Blair Berk declined to comment after the hearing.
Drunk Driving
Almost 30 people in the United States die in drunken-driving crashes every day, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The number of deaths has fallen by a third in the last three decades; however, drunken-driving crashes still claim more than 10,000 lives per year, with 10,874 recorded in 2017, or 29 percent of all motor vehicle traffic fatalities.
Alcohol severely affects drivers, the administration noted. “Alcohol is a substance that reduces the function of the brain, impairing thinking, reasoning, and muscle coordination. All these abilities are essential to operating a vehicle safely,” it stated.
Even small amounts of alcohol can affect driving ability.
In 2017, there were 1,837 people killed in alcohol-related crashes where drivers had lower alcohol levels than the legal limit.
“Driving after drinking is deadly. Yet it still continues to happen across the United States. If you drive while impaired, you could get arrested, or worse—be involved in a traffic crash that causes serious injury or death,” the administration added.
People who plan to drink should designate a sober driver ahead of time or call a taxi, ride-sharing service, or friend.
The CNN Wire contributed to this report.
