New Jersey’s DWI statute defines drunk driving as:
- Driving vehicle under the influence of liquor; OR
- Driving with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or greater.
In other words, drunk driving can happen even when a driver’s blood-alcohol level is below the so-called “legal limit” of 0.08 percent. In fact, driver impairment starts with the first sip of an alcoholic beverage.
NHTSA research has found the following impairments in drivers with different blood alcohol concentrations (BAC):
- 0.02 percent BAC: Judgment, visual, cognitive, and motor function losses;
- 0.05 percent BAC: Reduced inhibitions, alertness, vision control, and coordination;
- 0.08 percent BAC: Diminished speech, vision, hearing, reaction times, concentration, mental processing, and other functional impairments;
- 0.10 percent BAC: Slurred speech, reduced reaction time, thinking and coordination, difficulty maintaining lanes and braking on demand;
- 0.15 percent BAC: Lost muscle control and balance, impaired task completion, control, hearing, and vision.
Even if the driver who caused an accident in Atlantic City that left you injured was under the legal limit BAC, that driver may still have driven drunk. The driver may still face criminal penalties, and you may still have the right to take legal action against that driver (and anyone answerable for the driver’s conduct) seeking money damages.