Being arrested for drunken driving in New Jersey is one thing, but being charged with driving while intoxicated following a traffic accident that one may or may not have caused brings a whole new dimension to a DWI arrest. As New Jersey drunken driving defense attorneys I and my staff of experienced DWI lawyers have seen enough cases of driving while intoxicated to know that driver’s charged with an injury accident involving alcohol is a serious matter.
And the same goes for operating a motor vehicle while impaired by prescription medication (drug DUI) or illegal drugs, such as cocaine or marijuana, also known as controlled dangerous substances (CDS). While fines and other DWI penalties for those individuals convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs are already stiff, attaching an injury accident to the incident could make things much worse.
It makes little difference whether you live in Bergen, Ocean Atlantic or Passaic County, local law enforcement and the New Jersey legal system have little tolerance for driver who get behind the wheel of a car, truck or motorcycle after having something to drink. In fact, enforcement campaigns such as the “Over the Limit, Under Arrest” drunk driving effort usually put even more sobriety checkpoints and DWI patrols on the road looking for drunk drivers all across the Garden State.
A while back, the driver of a Dodge pickup truck was arrested by police for drunken driving after the vehicle was involved in horrendous accident along a stretch of East Mountain Rd. in Hillsborough, NJ. The crash happened on a Sunday in the late afternoon as the vehicle was approaching the intersection of Mountain View Rd.
According to police reports, the 43-year-old Hillsborough Twp. resident was traveling with two other passengers in the pickup when the accident occurred. According to a statement from the Somerset County prosecutor’s office, the vehicle veered to the right and left the road about 300 feet before the approaching intersection. Running down into an adjacent ravine, the pickup came back out of the depression and back onto the roadway.
The speed of the truck was such that it spun around as it crossed both lanes of East Mountain Rd. going off the roadway on the opposite side of the street and into a nearby wooded area. The truck subsequently tipped over and came to rest lying on the right-hand passenger side.
Based on news reports, all three occupants were choppered out from the accident scene to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. The driver was reportedly treated for neck, back and head injuries, yet was listed in good condition the following day. One passenger was treated for a fractured shoulder, while the other received lacerations and complained of back pain.
Hillsborough Twp. police officers responding to the crash apparently observed the driver for signs of intoxication and must have determined that she had allegedly consumed some amount of alcohol prior to the single-vehicle crash. The woman was place under arrest and charged with driving while intoxicated. There was no mention of the results of a blood draw taken from the suspect to determine her blood-alcohol content (BAC), which would likely be used against her in court.
Driver charged with DWI after 3 hurt in Hillsborough crash, MyCentralJersey.com, August 1, 2011