Here in the Garden State, a motorist can be pulled over for any number of traffic violations including excessive speed, failure to maintain one’s lane, improper use of turn signal and even defective vehicle equipment, such as a broken taillight or burned-out headlamp. It’s not that these are unusual violations, but each of them, and many others, may open the door to other potentially more serious impaired driving charges.
Whether at happens in Bergen, Essex, Ocean or Passaic County, once a patrolman has stopped a driver for one or more of the aforementioned violations, if that officer has reason to suspect that the driver of that vehicle may be drunk or otherwise intoxicated due to the consumption of beer, wine or hard liquor, there is a good chance that the patrolman will ask the motorist to step out of the vehicle and perform one or more of the standardized field sobriety tests. If the officer is satisfied that a suspect is likely drunk, impaired or otherwise driving under the influence, police headquarters may be the next stop for a breathalyzer test.
Here in New Jersey, determining is motorist was operating a motor vehicle while impaired by alcohol, involves measuring the driver’s blood-alcohol content (BAC). As New Jersey drunk driving defense attorneys, I and my staff of experienced DWI defense lawyers have handled numerous kinds of drunken driving cases over the years. Ay least for the state, establishing that a defendant’s BAC is above the legal limit (of 0.08 percent) is a key piece of evidence for the prosecution’s case against many drivers accused of DWI.
Of course, the law states that if a person who operates a car, truck, SUV or other motor vehicle is determined to have a BAC of 0.08 percent or more, that person can be found guilty of drunk driving — also known as driving under the influence of alcohol, or more commonly, driving while intoxicated (DWI).
The abbreviation, “BAC” refers to the amount of alcohol in the bloodstream of a drunken driving suspect. It is important to understand that, while New Jersey law makes reference to 0.08 percent BAC as the legal limit, a motorist can still be convicted of intoxicated driving even if his BAC measurement is actually below the 0.08 percent limit.
