Among the most notorious crimes is Driving While Intoxicated. A great deal of the public stigma that surrounds DWI charges is the idea that those who choose to drive drunk are taking a risk with other people’s lives, and that their irresponsibility could be fatal for others. While this is true, what people do not always acknowledge is the difference between drunk driving and DWI.
The distinction within the law is very clear: you can have a few drinks and still legally get behind the wheel of a car. It is only when your Blood Alcohol Concentration reaches a certain limit that you are officially breaking the law. In Louisiana, the threshold at which you are legally driving drunk is 0.08, and if your BAC reaches 0.15, you could face enhanced penalties.
While the numbers may seem small enough to be inconsequential, they can actually play a very large role in whether or not you are convicted of DWI. Due to Louisiana’s implied consent laws, you are legally obligated to submit to a sobriety test if an officer pulls you over with probable cause to suspect intoxication. You may breathe into a machine to detect your BAC, but if that machine is improperly calibrated by even one one-hundredth of a degree, it could be the difference between conviction and acquittal.
Of course, the best way to avoid a drunk driving conviction is to never consume alcohol, but sometimes alcohol stays in your system longer than you expect, and depending on the circumstances, you may face DWI charges that you know are erroneous. If you have been charged with drunk driving in Louisiana, consider meeting with an attorney who can help you prove that you were not above the legal limit.
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