Albany, NY - Just a Sip of Beer Could Get You Arrested for Drunken Driving, That's the Law Until Next Legislature Session

Albany, NY - Drinking a shot of beer in New York could get you arrested for drunken driving. At least that's the way the state law reads.

Lawmakers this year approved a bill that sets the standard for driving while intoxicated at 0.18 grams of alcohol in a person's blood.
A person's body might produce that much alcohol naturally, said Ed Fiandach, a DWI lawyer in Rochester. Instead of using grams, the law should have used blood-alcohol content as a measure.

"It was a typo," said Assemblyman David Gantt, who heads the transportation committee that approved the bill before it went to the Legislature. "If you go through our laws, mistakes are made all the time. We're human beings."
The purpose of the law is to set a level -- 0.18 percent blood-alcohol content -- that bans prosecutors from taking pleas to a lesser count of driving while impaired, similar to a traffic ticket. The law also would increase the penalties for a 0.18 blood-alcohol content.

The law was supposed to go into effect last week. But prosecutors won't be able to enforce it until legislators fix the typo, said Kristin Splain, who heads the DWI bureau in the Monroe County District Attorney's Office.
Gov. George Pataki signed the bill into law in September. Fiandach said he was told by Pataki's office the governor was aware of the error but figured the Legislature would correct it with an amendment.
The Legislature could return in a special session this year to resolve the typo, or the law could be amended next year, Gantt said.