As long-time practicing Garden State legal professionals, my law firm has dedicated itself to helping those motorists who have been charged or otherwise accused of operating a motor vehicle in an intoxicated or impaired condition. Whether the charges stem from suspicion of alcohol consumption, the taking of doctor-prescribed medications, or illegal drug use, our legal team has the training and litigation skills to represent individuals who feel they have been charged with an unwarranted offense.
We have been defending New Jersey drivers for a great many years, and because of this we understand the truly onerous financial impact that a DWI or drug DUI conviction can have on single individual or a family. While some people may only consider the fines and court fee associated with a drunk driving conviction, they do not always look at the long-term monetary cost of mandatory insurance premium increases, which can add up to thousands of dollars over the course of several years.
With the aforementioned said, my colleagues and I know that the best way to beat a drunk driving summons is to avoid it in the first place. Understanding, as we do, the effect that human nature has on the outcome of certain events, such as being arrested for driving while intoxicated, there are time that one can be caught off guard without much warning. The summertime can often be fraught with police-related traffic stops along the parkway, on interstates and through cities and towns. Many of the police stops that take place involve the possibility of an impaired driving arrest.
When it comes to the zero tolerance and harsh penalties for drinking and driving offenses, the state of New Jersey hardly stands alone. But there is much to be said about those few individuals who may choose to throw caution to the wind and get behind the wheel when they may have imbibed a little too much, or knowingly took legal narcotic prescriptions, or even illicit substances such as marijuana or cocaine. Once a driver is singled out by a municipal patrolman or state trooper, suspicion of being impaired by any one of the foregoing substances usually mean official charges and a hearing date to explain oneself to a judge.
Whether a motorist is arrested following a routine traffic stop or taken into custody during a random sobriety checkpoint late at night, as professional DWI defense lawyers, we can provide those accused of DWI-DUI with legal counsel to better understand one’s situation and the options going forward. The following news items illustrate some of the typical scenarios that can take place on New Jersey roadways.
Piscataway Traffic Stops Lead to a Couple Police Arrests for Drunken Driving Local police officers charge two drivers a few days apart with DWI; one arrest took place on Rte 202, while the other happened along a stretch of Rte 28. In the first instance, a 29-year-old Plainfield woman was pulled over by patrolmen just before noon on a Saturday morning. The stop was apparently for a routine traffic offense, however once the stop was made it reportedly became a drunk driving-related police situation. The driver was eventually charged with driving while intoxicated, failure to maintain her lane, and reckless driving.
In the second police stop, a woman from Bridgewater, NJ, was observed by officers allegedly unable to maintain her lane. After pulling the driver over, officers allegedly observed signs of intoxication, after which she was taken into custody for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. Other charges included reckless driving and failure to produce proper insurance documents.
Clinton Twp. Police Stop Results in Impaired Driving Charges for Somerset Co. Driver After being dispatched on a report of a Nissan sedan being operated in an allegedly impaired manner along a portion of southbound Rte 31, police officers located the suspect vehicle, which was reportedly speeding at the time. Making the stop, police detected the smell of alcohol on the breath of the 25-year-old. The motorist was eventually charged with DWI and breath test refusal, plus additional offenses of speeding and failure to maintain one’s lane.
Police Blotter: Counterfeit bus ticket in Clinton Twp.; DWI in Piscataway; MyCentralJersey.com; February 11, 2014