What is Drunk Driving or DUI?

The terms driving under the influence or driving while impaired describe the physiological condition of a driver of a motorized vehicle where the driver is found to have a blood alcohol level of .08% and above, or has consumed another type of substance such as a drug, whereby driving a motor vehicle is considered illegal. The BAC level is the number of grams of alcohol present per 100 milliliters of blood in the person's system.

Some refer to drunk driving as the state of impairment a driver is in, not their ability to drive. Even those with high alcohol tolerance, or who drive perfectly and have their full mental faculties can face MA DUI charges if their blood alcohol level is found to be above .08%. It is important to know that police mistakes and sobriety tests can and will be used against you in a court of law, but rarely used for your defense. Drunk driving laws are aggressively enforced and police may only have to collect enough circumstantial evidence to get a conviction in the courts.

When a police officer stops a suspected driver, the officer may ask the driver to take a set of field sobriety tests. These informal tests help the officer identify slurred speech, glassy or bloodshot eyes, poor balance, odor of alcohol, lack of coordination, difficulty with verbal comprehension, combativeness, or disorientation.  These are not scientific tests and may not provide accurate information as to whether someone is impaired or not. They are used as an alternative to blood alcohol testing, which also may not be entirely accurate, although it is more difficult to refute than breath testing.

In the case of alcohol intoxication, if the driver’s blood alcohol is near the legal blood alcohol limit, the driver could still face charges that may lead to license suspension. A driver with a blood-alcohol level above .08 percent is considered “per se intoxicated” under Massachusetts law.

If you have been arrested for DUI in Massachusetts or have consented to a breath test, you are permitted to have a second blood test conducted by an independent source, at your expense.

If you live in the following MA localities, we may be able to represent you in your OUI case: Norfolk, Barnstable, Bristol, Plymouth, and Middlesex counties, and the towns of Middleboro, Dorchester, Dorchester Heights, Brockton, Stoughton, Easton, Whitman, Quincy, Abington, Holbrook, Chelsea, Canton, Cambridge, Brookline, Revere, Braintree, Bridgewater, Avon, Mansfield, Lowell, Kingston, Hanson, Franklin, Foxborough, Raynham, Framinghham, Pembroke, Rockland, Newton, Halifax, Weymouth, Whitman, Sharon, Milton, and Walpole.