Beginning December 1, 2019, a new statute in New Jersey goes into effect that changes the sentencing guidelines for anyone pleading guilty or being found guilty of a DUI. Up until this point, only certain offenders found guilty or pleading guilty had to install an ignition interlock device. Most offenders with a BAC level above the limit, but relatively low could avoid having to install this device. Now, first time offenders having a BAC reading of .08-.10 MUST install the device in their car at their own cost and use it for six months. The trade off is that your driver's license is no longer suspended for at least 3 months. Now, it will be suspended for only 30 days at this BAC level. 

If your BAC is .10-.15, you MUST install the interlock device for six months to a year with your driver's license being suspended for 45 days.

If your BAC is above .15, you will have the interlock device for one year to 18 months and a suspension of 90 days.

This new law also changes the ramifications for refusing to take the breathalyzer test. Now, if found guilty of a refusal, you will also get a mandatory interlock device period, but your driver's license will not be suspended if you are a first time offender. If this is your second refusal conviction, you are looking at one to two years of a loss of license and eight years loss if this is your third offense. 

​Time to start using Uber and Lyft people!!!

There are a few devices on the market claiming to accurately test your blood alcohol level from a device that connects to your phone. The idea is that you are out drinking with friends. Your not sure if you had too much to drink. You take this device out of your pocket and you connect it to your phone. You can blow into the device just as you would a breathalyzer machine at a police station and you are supposed to know right away if your alcohol level is above the legal limit, which is 0.08 in New Jersey.

A recent test done compared results of three popular devices to an actual police breathalyzer machine.  The results are astonishing and worrisome at the same time.  In none of the cases did the device produce the same result as an actual breathalyzer machine.

The question becomes, is the device worth it? The police say if you think you are too drunk to drive where you need a pocket device to tell you one way or the other, it is probably better to not drive.

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