The definition of drunk driving is left to each state. Each state decides the level at which a driver’s blood alcohol content is too high for the safe operation of a motor vehicle. While each state has the right to define drunk driving as well as its acceptable levels of blood alcohol content, Congress has influenced many states to adopt the same standard. States wishing to receive the maximum federal highway fund amount must adopt a drunken driving standard that presumes any alcohol content in the blood above 0.08% to be considered to be illegal. Most states comply with this initiative as do most drunk-driving lawyers in Woodland Hills, CA.
Many states also have permissible blood alcohol content levels for certain classes of drivers. For example, many states have limits as low as 0.04% for commercial drivers and even lower limits for drivers who are younger than the legal 21-year-old limit for drinking. If it is found that a driver has a blood alcohol content of or above the state-imposed barrier, then that driver is presumably guilty of driving drunk and may be arrested. If you are arrested for this crime, it is best to contact drunk driving lawyers in Woodland Hills, CA immediately following your arrest.
To determine whether a driver is drunk, according to each state’s legal definition of drunk driving, the police must gather evidence. This can be done in various ways. First, the police officer can request that the driver stops their vehicle. Then they may place drunk driving checkpoints on a certain predetermined number of cars (for example, every 6th car). The police may also request that an individual pulls over if they have a reasonable suspicion that the driver may be intoxicated. For example, they may see that the driver is driving erratically.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has developed a list of things that indicate a driver is drunk. That list includes turning over a wide radio (on either side of the lines painted on the road), hitting or nearly hitting another vehicle, turning sharply, driving on the wrong side of the road, and braking erratically. Contact Karagozian & Rudolph, PC for more information.
