Recent Posts in Drunk Driving Category
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Is a Marijuana DWI Considered as Serious as an Alcohol-Related One?
Posted By Brickfield & DonahueIn popular culture, marijuana usage is often portrayed in a more casual light than taking hard drugs or drinking alcohol. Because of this, when people think of incidents involving someone driving while intoxicated or impaired (DWI), the first thing to come to mind is usually drunk driving. In addition, the way marijuana use is portrayed also impacts how marijuana DWIs are viewed. In many cases, a ...Continue Reading -
DWI with a Minor Passenger in New Jersey
Posted By Brickfield & DonahueA DWI conviction in New Jersey can result in harsh criminal penalties, such as fines, driver’s license suspension, and potentially jail time. However, if you are pulled over for drunk driving with a child in the vehicle, you could face more serious consequences. According to state law, it is a “disorderly persons offense” to drive while impaired with a minor who is 17 years old or younger in the ...Continue Reading -
No License Suspension for Most First DUI Offenders in NJ
Posted By Brickfield & DonahueAs of December 1, 2019, most first-time DWI offenders in New Jersey will not have their driver’s licenses suspended. However, anyone who is convicted of drunk or drugged driving must install an ignition interlock device (IID) in their vehicle(s). According to updated DWI laws, if a first offender is convicted of a DWI with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of below .15 percent, license ...Continue Reading -
What to Do at a DUI Checkpoint
Posted By Brickfield & DonahueHow Do You Handle a DUI Checkpoint? Sobriety checkpoints function to help detect and arrest drunk drivers while deterring other drivers from committing DUI. The perceived risk of arrest has a strong influence on people’s decisions, as these checkpoints are highly visible, publicized, and conducted regularly in many cities. The thought of getting caught at a DUI checkpoint is enough to convince ...Continue Reading -
3 Ways to Best Prevent a DUI on Labor Day
Posted By Brickfield & DonahueTips for Labor Day Weekend 2020 The National Safety Council (NSC) estimates 390 people may die on US roads this Labor Day holiday period. Falling on the first Monday of September, Labor Day is a national federal holiday that celebrates the social and economic achievements of American workers, who enhance the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. While Americans use this opportunity ...Continue Reading -
Falsely Positive Breathalyzer Tests
Posted By Brickfield & DonahueDrugs & Alcohol Aren’t the Only Causes of a DUI Breathalyzer tests are notoriously unreliable. Besides faulty test administration and defective equipment, several external and underlying factors can interfere with your breathalyzer test results and produce a false positive. Thus, it’s important to be aware of the factors that could put you at risk for a DUI charge: Medications : Prescription ...Continue Reading -
Public Intoxication in New Jersey
Posted By Brickfield & DonahuePublic Drinking at Your Own Risk As summertime approaches, you may be eager to relax by the pool, enjoy barbeques and soak up the sun with a drink in hand. While it is more than acceptable to enjoy your summer, especially after suffering months of quarantine due to COVID-19, you must also keep something in mind. Unlike many states, public intoxication in New Jersey isn’t illegal . Now, this ...Continue Reading -
Can You Sleep In Your Car While Drunk?
Posted By Brickfield & DonahueContinue Reading
You leave the bar sometime after midnight. You don’t want to order an Uber or leave your car. At the same time, you know you’re unsafe to drive. Is it safe to sleep in your car while drunk? Definition of DUI In New Jersey, law enforcement does not need to witness you driving under the influence to charge you with a DUI. The only need evidence needed is the reasonable assumption that you recently ...
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Is Buzzed Driving Drunk Driving?
Posted By Brickfield & DonahueIn the United States, most everyone knows that driving with a blood alcohol concentration of .08 or higher is illegal. Alcohol consumption impairs your thinking, reasoning, and muscle coordination, which are all vital when operating a vehicle. This law is put in place for the safety of everyone who is on the road. But is it the same for buzzed driving? Consider this hypothetical scenario: After ...Continue Reading -
What you Need to Know About New Jersey's Open Container Law
Posted By Brickfield & DonahueEvery driver should be aware that driving under the influence of alcohol is illegal. However, the laws behind open containers are less obvious, which can get people into legal trouble if it’s ever found in their vehicle. If you get pulled over, and there’s a half-full bottle of alcohol in the backseat, it won’t matter if you exclaim, “I didn’t drink any!” to the police officer. Today, our DUI ...Continue Reading -
How Police Detect Drunk Drivers
Posted By Brickfield & DonahueIn order to make a traffic stop for suspected DUI , law enforcement must have “reasonable suspicion” that a crime has occurred, is currently happening, or will happen soon. But what makes officers initially become suspicious? Remember, the police do not have the right to just stop a vehicle based on a gut feeling or hunch. Rather, they must have a reason to pull someone over, often established by ...Continue Reading -
What Factors Affect Your BAC Level?
Posted By Brickfield & DonahueAfter a DUI arrest, police officers will ask you to take a chemical test to determine your blood alcohol content (BAC) or the amount of alcohol in your bloodstream. If your BAC level is at least .08 percent, you can be charged with drunk driving in New Jersey. There are several factors that affect a person’s BAC, which include the following: Body type – In general, the more a person weighs, the ...Continue Reading -
When Can the Police Pull You Over for Suspected DUI?
Posted By Brickfield & DonahueThe National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) compiled a list that consists of more than 100 visual cues to help law enforcement identify suspected drunk drivers. The list is broken down into four distinct categories: speed and braking problems, judgment issues, vigilance problems, and issues staying within a driving lane. Speed & Braking Problems Intoxicated motorists experience ...Continue Reading -
A Guide to DWI License Suspensions in New Jersey
Posted By Brickfield & DonahueArguably one of the most devastating consequences of an arrest for driving under the influence (DUI) or driving while intoxicated (DWI) is the resulting driver’s license suspension. As if the threat of criminal consequences and expensive fines were not reason to worry enough, losing one’s driving privileges can be devastating to a person’s mobility and hinder their ability to travel to places such ...Continue Reading -
Drunk driving case may change loaner car policies
Posted By Brickfield & DonahueAuto dealers and repair facilities in New Jersey and around the country may soon be asking a lot more questions before providing their customers with loaner vehicles. Loaner car agreements are likely to be scrutinized in the wake of a Texas appeals court decision that will allow a lawsuit filed against a Chrysler dealer in the state be heard by a jury. The dealer is being sued because its allowed ...Continue Reading -
New Jersey high school teacher charged with DWI
Posted By Brickfield & DonahueOn the night of Jan. 13, a New Jersey high school teacher was charged with drunk driving in Lodi. According to authorities, the female suspect stopped her vehicle on the 200 block of Church Street and proceeded to get into a verbal altercation with a resident standing nearby. Responding police officers gave the suspect, a 40-year-old Lodi resident, several field sobriety tests, which she allegedly ...Continue Reading -
NTSB calls for .05 percent drunk driving limit
Posted By Brickfield & DonahueDrivers in New Jersey and all other states are considered legally intoxicated if they have a blood alcohol level of .08 percent or higher, but a recommendation made on Jan. 13 by the National Transportation Safety Board would see this limit reduced to .05 percent or lower. The safety agency says that adopting the proposal would save hundreds of lives each year and bring the United States in line ...Continue Reading -
Minor faces DWI following single-vehicle crash in New Jersey
Posted By Brickfield & DonahueNews sources in New Jersey report that a 16-year-old teenager is facing multiple charges related to underage drinking and driving following an accident on Dec. 28. According to law enforcement officials, the alleged drunk driver suffered minor injuries in the crash and was subsequently transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune for treatment. The driver's identity has not ...Continue Reading -
Rare medical condition can cause high BAC levels
Posted By Brickfield & DonahueNew Jersey residents may be surprised to learn that a rare medical condition may cause individuals to have blood alcohol levels far in excess of the legal driving limit even when they have not consumed significant amounts of alcohol. The condition is known as auto-brewery syndrome or gut-fermentation syndrome, and it was the reason that drunk driving charges filed against a New York woman were ...Continue Reading -
Supreme Court will hear challenge to warrantless breath tests
Posted By Brickfield & DonahueNew Jersey residents may be interested in cases that are headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The cases, coming from the states of North Dakota and Minnesota, deal with the question of whether a person who refuses to take a breathalyzer test may be charged with an additional crime for the act of refusal. Across the country, 13 states allow a person who refuses a blood test when they are suspected of ...Continue Reading -
Georgia man faces DUI charge after riding a mobility scooter
Posted By Brickfield & DonahueGeorgia residents may be surprised to learn that the state's drunk driving laws do not only apply to those on a public road behind the wheel of a car, pickup truck or SUV. Individuals can find themselves on the wrong side of the law when they operate any kind of motorized vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and this is true even if they do not venture onto a public highway. A ...Continue Reading -
New details emerge about affluenza DUI teen
Posted By Brickfield & DonahueNew Jersey residents may recall a drunk driving case involving a Texas teenager who was sentenced to probation and ordered to attend alcohol counseling sessions after his attorneys successfully argued that his indulgent upbringing had made it difficult for him to tell right from wrong. The 16-year-old entered guilty pleas to a raft of charges including four counts of intoxication manslaughter in ...Continue Reading -
New Jersey drunk driving laws are some of the most lenient
Posted By Brickfield & DonahueNew Jersey lawmakers have often been recognized for their proactive efforts to improve road safety, but a 2015 survey of traffic laws around the country discovered that the Garden State can be quite forgiving to motorists who behave in ways that could put the lives of other road users in jeopardy. The survey was conducted by the consumer information website Wallethub.com, and it ranked New Jersey ...Continue Reading -
New Jersey DUI regulations and the strictest penalty states
Posted By Brickfield & DonahueNew Jersey was among neither the strictest nor the most lenient states with regard to DUI penalties, according to a study by WalletHub. Incidents of driving while intoxicated or while under the influence caused approximately 31 percent of motor vehicle deaths in 2012. The government estimates that drunk driving costs all 50 states approximately $60 billion in economic losses each year. The ...Continue Reading -
Actor Sam Shepard charged with driving drunk
Posted By Brickfield & DonahueNew Jersey residents may know the actor and playwright Sam Shepard for his appearances in films including 'Black Hawk Down" and 'The Notebook." The 71-year-old man won a Pulitzer Prize for his play 'Buried Child" in 1979, but his notoriety likely provided him with little comfort on May 25 when he was taken into custody by New Mexico police on drunk driving charges. According to a Santa Fe police ...Continue Reading
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