DWI Injury Accident

July 18, 2019

Secondhand Alcohol Exposure Harms Twenty Percent of Adults, Study Says

Everyone makes mistakes, but if a police officer or a New Jersey prosecutor makes an error in your case, it should not hurt you and your future. If you have been charged with driving while intoxicated (DWI), do not underestimate the importance of having a skilled legal advocate on your side. Our diligent New Jersey DWI attorneys will thoroughly review the facts and build the strongest possible defense in your case. We understand how high the stakes are, which is why we will zealously protect your rights at each stage of the legal process.

Approximately 1 in 5 adults in the country have experienced some type of harm due to another person’s conduct while drinking, according to research recently published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. The study found that in 2015, about 53 million adults – or roughly 20 percent – indicated that they had gone through at least one harm, which could be attributed to someone else’s drinking in the prior twelve months. That harm varied from property damage to bodily injury. This risk is especially significant for driving-related incidents. In fact, heavy drinkers were 12 times more likely to have been involved in a crash or in a vehicle with a drunk driver than the rest of the population.

Driving under the influence of alcohol is against the law in New Jersey. When you are arrested for a DWI, the police will administer a breath test, which will determine your blood alcohol concentration (BAC). A driver who is 21 years of age or above will be charged with a DWI if his or her BAC is 0.08 percent or higher. If a driver is under the age of 21, however, that individual will be charged with a DWI if his or her BAC is 0.01 percent or higher. The legal limit for commercial drivers is a BAC of 0.04 percent or higher.

October 26, 2014

Middlesex County DUI News: Monroe Township Engineer to Serve Prison Time after DWI Conviction

by Jonathan F. Marshall

For anyone who believes that driving a motor vehicle in New Jersey after taking a drink or two can’t possibly have any long-term impact on one’s future, just look around sometime. Drinking and driving, while perhaps not as prevalent these days as in decades past, is still a significant and ongoing issue according to most safety advocates, local and state police, and the Garden State’s legislature. As long as traffic accidents, fatal or otherwise, can be tied to drunk driving, it is a near certainty that New Jersey’s police departments will continue to be vigilant for potential DWI or DUI offenders.

But getting back to the impacts that a drunken driving conviction can have, these can be much more than a simple fine, a few points or a period of license suspension. In fact, if you don’t believe that a drunk driving arrest (and subsequent guilty verdict) can affect your life, please consider that for many people it can and does — on a regular basis, we might add. As accomplished New Jersey civil and criminal trial attorneys, my colleagues and I know of numerous instances where a person’s livelihood or career has been adversely affected by a DWI or drug DUI conviction.

My law firm has a great deal of experience defending hard-working people from all around the Garden State; individuals who believed that they were unjustly accused — but also those who know that they can hardly afford the secondary effects of even a single drunk driving offense on their record. For many accused DWI-DUI offenders, the monetary costs of a drunken driving conviction can pale in comparison to the potential professional consequences down the line.
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October 23, 2014

New Jersey Motorist Charged with Criminal DWI following Car-Semi Accident in Somerset County

by Jonathan F. Marshall

A news report earlier this month pointed up the danger of drinking and driving, not only in terms of legal liability, but especially due to the serious nature of accidents that can take place when operating a motor vehicle while possibly intoxicated due to alcohol or drugs. As Garden State DWI lawyers, my law firm is always ready to assist those motorists who have been accused of drinking and driving on New Jersey roadways. However, as drivers ourselves, we also know there are numerous risks associated with driving under the influence, many of which can be life-threatening.

That said, and while we in no way condone impaired driving, we do understand that some individuals can be fully unaware of their inebriation due to beer, wine or hard liquor, as well as possible impairment resulting from taking doctor-prescribed medications prior to getting behind the wheel. For those who believe they were unjustly charged with a DWI or drug DUI, my skilled legal team is available to help defendants fight those charges in a court of law.

Sadly, the reality of driving in New Jersey can mean that some people will be involved in a serious automobile or trucking-related accident as a result of some kind of impaired vehicle operation. From a legal standpoint, being charged with drunken driving following an injury-related roadway crash can often mean that the local prosecutor will consider other, more serious charges stemming from the accident itself.
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October 21, 2014

Driver Charged with DWI after Going the Wrong Way and Colliding with a Tractor Trailer

by Jonathan F. Marshall

As New Jersey drunk driving defense attorneys, my colleagues and I are dedicated to helping those individuals who have been accused of DWI or operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of prescription drugs or illicit substances (drug DUI). While we do not condone the act of driving while impaired, we are nonetheless committed to assisting motorists who believe that they were unjustly or erroneously charged with a serious alcohol- or drug-related traffic offense.

As many people may understand, some defendants in DWI-DUI cases also have the complication of a roadway accident to contend with. Since every person has the right to legal representation under the law, we are ready to act in our clients’ best interests. Having said that, we must from time to time question the choices that some individuals make when they mix alcohol and automobiles; setting oneself up for potential injury or death is one scenario that comes immediately to mind.

Regardless of one’s stance on drinking and driving, it can be assumed most people know that adding an injury-related or fatal traffic accident to a drunk driving arrest is not the best situation. We do not intend to come off as preachy, but when speaking with friends and colleagues, we often recommend prudence when going out for a drink or two. Quite simply, when it comes to drunk driving and other DWI-DUI violations, we highly recommend that people not make things worse on themselves by pulling another person or persons into their mistake.
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September 20, 2014

Arrest of Bergen County Man for DWI follows Injury-related Drunken Driving Crash in Mahwah

by Jonathan F. Marshall

As Garden State drunk driving defense lawyers, my colleagues and I know that defending those accused of an alcohol- or drug-related traffic accident can become very complicated when injuries are involved. Multi-car accidents can, of course, result in serious and sometimes fatal injuries; however, causing injury while operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or prescription drugs intoxicated can up the ante quite a bit in the eyes of a municipal prosecutor.

For this reason alone — that is, having caused a personal injury while intoxicated by alcohol — it is advisable to locate a skilled criminal defense lawyer with expertise in litigating New Jersey drunken driving cases. A recent news story out of Bergen County details an all too common scenario involving an inebriated driver, a crash between a motor vehicle and a bicycle rider, and a badly injured victim.

According to police reports, a 62-year-old bicyclist from the New York area was sent to the emergency room after being hit by a Dodge pickup truck in the Mahwah, NJ, area. The collision took place early on a Wednesday evening along a portion of Ramapo Valley Rd. New articles indicated that Francisco Perez of Suffern, NY, was riding his bicycle in the northbound lane when a local man going the opposite way made a sudden left turn onto N. Railroad Ave.
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September 2, 2014

Six Years after Fatal DWI, Convicted New Jersey Motorist is Sentenced to Nine Years in Prison

by Jonathan F. Marshall

If it’s been stated once, it’s been stated a thousand times: a New Jersey drunk driving defense can only be complicated by a traffic accident. As Garden State DWI and drug DUI defense attorneys, I and my colleagues are serious when we say that causing an accident while possibly intoxicated is usually going to make for a difficult time in court. This is why we usually recommend that anyone involved in a DWI- or drug DUI-related car, truck or motorcycle collision seek professional legal help as soon as possible following the incident.

When someone suggests that a drunken driving charge can be complicated by a traffic accident, it is also important to point out that causing injury or death to another individual can compound the offense, which should be cause to contact a qualified DWI lawyer. Whether one lives in Atlantic, Bergen, Hudson or Sussex County, when you add an injury-related or fatal parkway wreck to a charge of driving under the influence, law enforcement and the local courts take a dim view of the situation. Naturally, if proven innocent of any drug- or alcohol-related charges, the motorist can possibly breathe a sigh of relief, but most serious DUI-DWI arrests are hardly “a walk in the park” when property damage or personal injury is involved.

Of course, it is interesting that despite the logic behind not drinking and driving, these incidents do, in deed, take place on a fairly regular basis all year long. To avoid a DWI summons, our suggestion, as usual, is to avoid getting behind the wheel at any time when a person believes that they may possibly have some alcohol in their system. The same thing goes for the taking of certain prescription medications, which may lead to a drug DUI.
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August 7, 2014

Authorities Focus on Possible Drug Use by Essex County Tour Bus Driver following NYC Crash

by Jonathan F. Marshall

As Garden State drunk driving attorneys, we understand how even a single DWI or drug DUI conviction can have a ripple effect through a person’s personal and professional life. And while drinking and driving may cause serious consequences for the average commuter, not the least of which is the complication of getting around without the use of a car for months on end, the story can be much worse for a professional driver where the loss of driving privileges can severely affect his or her ability to earn a living.

As experienced New Jersey DWI defense lawyers, my legal team is well aware of the thousands of dollars that can be on the line when a motorist is facing a conviction for intoxicated driving, but as we mentioned previously, a professional truck or bus driver who loses his or her commercial driver’s license (or CDL) may be looking at a dim future, certainly in the short run. For individuals like the Essex County man who is currently under investigation for his part in the crash of two double-decker tour buses in Manhattan recently, the threat of losing one’s CDL, and hence one’s livelihood, can be nothing short of catastrophic.

According to the news articles that are popping up on the internet following the much publicized bus collision in Times Square this past Tuesday, the New Jersey man who was piloting one of the vehicles may have been high on some kind of controlled dangerous substance (CDS) at the time of the wreck. Based on reports, while there was no evidence that the bus driver had consumed alcohol prior to the collision, police did take the man into custody after he allegedly failed a field sobriety test at the scene.
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June 11, 2014

NJ DWI News: Causing Injury to Others while Under the Influence is a Bad Combination

by Jonathan F. Marshall

As long-time Garden State drunken driving defense lawyers, my colleagues and I have seen just about everything over the nearly 100 years of our combined legal careers. In our capacity as litigators for New Jersey motorists, representing individuals accused of intoxicated driving or drug DUI has given us more than a little insight into the variety of alcohol-, prescription drug- and illegal substance-related traffic arrests. Quite simply, we understand the many and varied ways that drivers can be stopped and charged with driving under the influence.

For most motorists, at least those served with summonses or arrested for an alcohol- or drug-related offense, the usual scenario does not involve a serious traffic accident. In many instances, a driver will have been stopped after being observed making some kind of simple driving error or even a more overt moving violation, such as speeding, improper passing or running a red light.

It is only after one of these routine traffic stops that a police officer may question the driver regarding his activities prior to the stop. Although New Jersey law prohibits a patrolman from stopping a motorist purely on a “hunch” that the driver is inebriated, once stopped at the roadside, the line of questioning may lead to suspicion of drinking and driving, or even some kind of drug-related DUI.
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May 25, 2014

Rutherford Driver Indicted for Vehicular Manslaughter after Fatal 2013 DWI Pedestrian Accident in Bergen County

by Jonathan F. Marshall

While many people know that drunk driving is a risky activity, to say the least, fewer know the true consequences of being found guilty of a DWI or drug-related DUI that results in bodily injury or death. As New Jersey DWI lawyers, we understand how frightening it can be to face potential jail time for what seems to be a simple error in judgment. Regardless of whether a defendant in DWI and drug DUI cases believes he or she is innocent of wrongdoing, the fact is that municipal prosecutors all across the Garden State pursue aggressive legal action against those motorists accused of drunken driving when tied to injury-related automobile accidents.

Whether you or a loved one have been accused of intoxicated driving combined with vehicular assault or death by auto charges, the value of having a qualified drunk driving defense attorney on one’s side is immeasurable when compared to the possible negative aspects of a DWI conviction. It goes without saying that the monetary penalties are often the least of one’s problems when faced with mandatory jail time following a guilty verdict in a DWI or drug DUI case.

Taking an aggressive approach to defending our clients, the legal team at the law offices of Jonathan F. Marshall recognizes that not every drunken driving case is as clear cut as the local prosecutor may have the court believe. Our skilled defense lawyers have nearly 100 years of combined litigation experience, all of which can make a difference when fighting serious charges of driving while impaired by alcohol, doctor-prescribed meds, or illicit drugs (otherwise known as controlled dangerous substances or CDS).

From time to time, there are certain DWI-DUI cases that present considerable challenge from a legal standpoint, especially those involving significant property damage or bodily injury. The most serious of these would be drunken driving-related traffic accidents resulting in the death of one or more individuals. It goes without saying that the penalties for DWI in an injury-related or fatal accident case are much greater than other DUI-DWI cases that do not include personal injury or possible claims of wrongful death.
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May 23, 2014

Bergen County DWI News: Police Officer Seriously Injured by Alleged Drunken Driver

by Jonathan F. Marshall

One doesn’t necessarily need a New Jersey drunk driving defense attorney to tell you that injuring or killing another individual in an alcohol or drug-related car accident can pose some serious complications to any DWI defense case. Even so, few people truly realize how serious the consequences can be for a drunken driving-related car or truck collision that involves injury or death.

As experienced Garden State drunk driving defense attorneys, my colleagues and I take our responsibility very seriously when we assist those who have been accused of a drug or alcohol-related impaired driving charge. We also use an aggressive approach when representing our clients in these kinds of serious DWI-DUI cases. From time to time we have clients who are defendants in DWI cases that involve an injury-related drunk driving accident. Whenever situations like this crop up, we highly recommend that those accused of DWI or drug DUI consult with a skilled trial lawyer experienced in drunken driving cases.

Here in New Jersey, the potential penalties following a conviction for a drunk driving accident involving serious bodily injuries or fatalities are significantly greater than the more run-of-the-mill DWI-DUI cases that are not injury-related. It goes without saying that DWI and drug DUI offenses that are tied to a fatal car crash carry the most severe punishments. For these kinds of cases, if the defendant is found guilty of drunken driving, the result will be felony conviction and mandatory prison time.
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