There are laws and there are laws. As most people know, driving under the influence (DUI) or driving while intoxicated (DWI) are terms used to describe a motor vehicle violation here in New Jersey. The details and language used to define drunk driving law are laid out in N.J.S. 39: 4-50. This includes a range of monetary fines and maximum jail time based on the defendant’s level of intoxication (as measure by blood-alcohol concentration, or BAC), as well as guidelines for license suspension, among others.
Aside from the obvious public safety concerns that driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs presents on the road, over the past several decades, drunken driving has become a much less socially acceptable activity. The negative affect that a drunk driving arrest can have on one’s career or social standing in the community, and even on personal relationships, has been growing as well. This is certainly reflected in the way in which law enforcement agencies conduct anti-drunk driving campaigns all through the year and especially during holidays.
As New Jersey DWI-DUI defense lawyers, we understand how average people can find themselves arrested for drunken driving for the first time without really having thought they were impaired when they got behind the wheel of their car, truck or SUV. But it does happen, and that is why we offer our services to help people fight for their rights under the law. Apart from advising everyone not to attempt to operate a motor vehicle after having any amount of alcohol is to not compound one’s troubles should you be unlucky enough to be stopped while possibly inebriated.
Everyone can understand the complications of having a DWI charge levied against oneself as a result of a significant moving violation such as a traffic accident. And while being truly drunk may make a person more outgoing, it can also cause belligerent behavior. If the latter is true, there could be additional trouble should the in addition to being arrested for DWI. Some people have a problem with authority and one of the more intimidating authority figures can be a patrolman standing next to one’s car at the side of the road asking questions about why you broke the law.
This crossed our mind while skimming an article from earlier this year. It pointed up the potential for of how a drunk driving arrest can devolve into a worse situation for a motorist. According to the news item, local police responded to the scene of a Friday night traffic collision and found a 20-year-old Red Bank man injured after was his car apparently crashed and overturned. Police reports indicated that the man was intoxicated at the time of the accident. Because he had minor injuries, the driver was taken to Riverview Medical Center for treatment.
Based on information from the police, witnesses observed the man’s vehicle driving at high speed along a stretch of Pinckney. He reportedly ran through a stop sign at Broad St. and then hit a pickup truck, which caused his vehicle to overturn. It would appear that after police arrived at the hospital to arrest the man for DWI the next morning, he and a 19-year-old friend apparently became belligerent with borough officers, as well as hospital staff.
Following the incident, the driver was also charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, plus disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. The man’s friend was charged as well with disorderly conduct, obstructing the administration of law, plus resisting arrest.
MAN CHARGED WITH DWI & ASSAULT ON COP, RedbankGreen.com, January 19, 2013