N.J. Senate to consider bill Thursday to revamp penalties for drunken driving
FEBRUARY 4, 2015, 7:02 PM LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2015, 7:26 AM
BY DUSTIN RACIOPPI
STATE HO– USE BUREAU |
THE RECORD
Drunken drivers can lose their licenses for a year, serve jail time and pay insurance surcharges of $1,000 a year.
But now safety advocates – including Mothers Against Drunk Driving – are behind an effort to end the harsh penalties for first-time offenders.
Instead of fines, jail time and lengthy license suspensions, offenders would be required to install a device about the size of a cellphone that would measure their blood alcohol content before the car can be turned on.
If approved by the Senate today and signed by Governor Christie, a bill would add New Jersey to the growing list of states shifting from a punitive approach to a behavioral one to combat drunken driving.
Dwi arrests are a cash windfall for nj.
At .08 you are not “drunk””, and all this bullshit with the national lowering of this threshold number does is turn the social drinkers into criminals.
The real alcoholics rarely get snagged at a roadblock ( and they are usually 2.0 or higher)
The real crime here is that since this not classified as a “criminal offense” you are not entitled to a jury trial like other states, hence the high conviction rate.
The municipal judges (who are part timers ) believe the cops and the offender has no chance.
I actually heard that in waldwick they actually charge dwi suspects with “school zone” dwi even at 1130pm at nite