New York DWI Lawyer Blog

When convicted of a New York drunk driving charge such as Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) or Driving While Ability Impaired (DWAI), one of the most important issues for a client is maintaining their driving privileges to keep their jobs and limit disruption of their lifestyle. After you have either pled guilty or been convicted of a New York DWI or DWAI, if you have not had a drunk driving charge within the last five years (the 5 years is measured between your last conviction and the recent arrest), you should be eligible to obtain your conditional license by attending what is known as the "DDP" or Drinking Driver Program.

We have written about the DDP in a recent post entitled "New York DWI Terms-Part 2". If you successfully complete the 7 week DDP, you will receive your conditional license, which permits you to drive:

1. To and from work;
2. To and from an accredited educational institution;
3. To and from any treatment programs, either DDP or other treatment mandated by the Court or DDP;
4. To and from day care or other facilities taking care of your children;
5. To and from medical or emergency treatment for you or your family members.

The conditional license will continue until you are eligible to get your license reinstated from either the DWI revocation or DWAI suspension, unless you do not meet the conditions of your sentence, in which case your conditional license can be terminated.

Continue reading " New York DWI--What Is A Conditional Driver's License? " »

We recently wrote a post about terms you will need to know when you are facing a New York DWI or other drunk driving charge. In this article, we will review some additional terminology that will be particularly important during the arraignment, negotiation, pleading and sentencing stages of your case. When you are arraigned on for either a DWI, DWAI, or DWAID (meaning when your attorney will enter a plea on your behalf), in most instances, the presiding judge will request that you have an evaluation conducted by TASC. TASC stands for "Treatment Alternatives To Street Crime", and the purpose of this evaluation is to have a substance abuse counselor determine whether you have a drinking or drug abuse issue. If the determination is that you do not have a substance abuse problem, there will be a recommendation that no further evaluation or treatment is required. If the counselor believes there is an issue, as part of your sentence for the DWI, you will be required to attend substance abuse counseling for a period of time recommended by the TASC counselor.

As part of the sentence in many Westchester DWI cases, you will also be required to attend one session of what is known as the VIP panel, or Victim Impact Panel. This is a class run by MADD, (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), in which you will generally pay a fee of $75.00, and will hear stories from the families of those whose family members were injured or killed in accidents with drunk drivers.

At the conclusion of all New York DWI cases, in order to be permitted to obtain a conditional driver's license, (which will be discussed in more detail in a separate post), you will be required to attend the DDP, or Drinking Driver Program, which is run by the Department of Motor Vehicles, will run seven weeks, and cost about $375.00. The DDP is a treatment, re-education and evaluation program which you must attend promptly, take very seriously and be prepared at any particular time to be tested to determine if you have been drinking that day, which would result in additional treatment.

Continue reading " New York DWI Common Terms--Part 2 " »

When facing a New York drunk driving charge, you will quickly hear several terms which will have particular importance for your case. This article will familiarize you with a few of those terms. First of all, if you were required to take a test of your breath at the scene of your arrest for DWI, this is known as a BST, or breath screening test. Please note that this is distinguished from the Breathalyzer, which is the test of your breath performed at a police precinct. The major distinction is that the BST conducted by the arresting officer at the scene of the stop is not admissible in Court. Thus, if the officer believes he has probable cause to arrest you for Driving while intoxicated based upon the BST, you will then be asked to take a breathalyzer at the precinct.

The Breathalyzer is used to determine your BAC, or blood alcohol content. The results of the Breathalyzer are admissible in Court. In New York, if your BAC is found to be 0.08 percent or above, you are charged with DWI. If your blood alcohol content as tested either by your breath, blood or urine, is determined to be less than .08 percent, you cannot be charged with driving while intoxicated, and may be charged with a New York DWAI, or Driving While Ability Impaired, which the prosecutor will likely charge you with if your BAC is between .05 and .07 percent.

Continue reading " New York DWI Common Terms " »