New Jersey DWI Lawyer Blog
It’s a no-brainer, as they say, to understand that being charged with drunken driving in connection with a traffic accident is usually a more serious situation than being stopped, say, at a sobriety checkpoint and blowing a 0.08 on a breathalyzer. This can be said for the very reason that DWI (or drug DUI) is already one of the more weighty driving offenses that a motorist can be hit with following a routine traffic stop here in the Garden State.
Adding a vehicle collision that entails property damage or physical injury to charges of driving while intoxicated or impaired due to prescription drugs or illicit substances (sometimes referred to as controlled dangerous substances, or CDS) and most any trial attorney is likely to tell you that the court doesn’t usually take such a combination of offenses lightly. In situations like this, it is all the more important to retain the services of a qualified drunk driving defense lawyer to help handle one’s case in a courtroom.
Worse yet, and certainly beyond the potentially negative consequences surrounding a “normal” DWI-DUI traffic stop, would be those circumstances involving a fatality-related DUI traffic accident. As New Jersey DWI defense attorneys, I and my colleagues understand how quickly one’s fortune can change following a fatal or injury-related car or truck crash. Forget the embarrassment and socially awkward situations following an arrest or potential conviction, a person’s personal and private life can be turned upside down after a serious drunk driving accident.
While being stopped while allegedly intoxicated by liquor, wine or beer, can result in some stiff fines, an experienced DWI defense lawyer will be able to shepherd a defendant through the myriad of legal avenues associated with a charge of driving under the influence. As legal professionals working in the area of DWI/drug-DUI defense, we know that some clients may be facing stiff fines and court costs, as well as other fees and assessments, all of which may be hard on one’s bank account.
As we’ve said before, adding a traffic accident to the mix is in no way preferable to a simple DWI arrest following a basic traffic infraction. Yet, these alcohol-related collisions can and do happen quite often to New Jersey drivers. Take, for instance, a news article from June that reported a car wreck in the Middletown area.
According to local police, the accident occurred along a stretch of Leonardville Rd. after a 51-year-old man in an older Chevrolet SUV struck a Ford Mustang being operated by a 23-year-old local woman who apparently made a left-hand turn onto Leonardville from 12th Street in front of the westbound Chevy. Following the impact, the Chevy continued into the oncoming lane and hit another vehicle — a Hyundai sport utility vehicle — after which the Chevy reportedly rolled onto its side and then caught fire.
As a result of the three-vehicle collision, the Mustang’s driver had to be flown to a hospital in Neptune, NJ, while the Hyundai’s driver was taken by ambulance to the same hospital for an overnight stay. The Chevy’s driver was taken to Red Bank’s Riverview Medical Center for treatment of his injuries.
Following a police investigation it was determined that the man in the Tahoe was allegedly drunk at the time of the crash. He was subsequently charged with drunken driving by Middletown police
Middletown Police Investigating Leonardville Road Crash, AHHerald.com, June 3, 2013