Focus On North Carolina Personal Injuries Caused By Drunk Drivers/Drunk Driving/DWI/DUI (NC)

North Carolina (NC) DWI (DUI/drunk driving) law is primarily governed by North Carolina General Statute Sect. 20-138.1 and Sect. 20-16. Like many states, North Carolina DWI law includes both a traditional driving while impaired charge, and a per se charge. Typically, when someone is arrested for DWI or a related North Carolina drunk driving charge, they will confront both charges.

North Carolina DWI law, for purposes of the traditional driving while impaired charge, relates to "appreciable impairment" while driving. This does not depend on a particular BAC level, such as North Carolina’s per se law, which relates to a blood or breath alcohol level of .08% or higher. In a criminal case, a prosecutor in NC will attempt to prove the traditional North Carolina DWI/drunk driving charge by demonstrating appreciable impairment through the suspect’s driving pattern, their physical appearance, their performance on field sobriety tests, and the chemical test results.

North Carolina DWI law for the "per se" charge doesn’t care about how the individual was driving, how they appeared, how well or poorly they did on field sobriety tests, or anything else other than the chemical test results. For purposes of the North Carolina per se laws, the primary issue relates to blood or breath alcohol levels of .08% or higher. Current North Carolina law prohibits the use of the roadside breath test for other than probable cause to arrest someone for drunk driving; this means that the roadside tests are not to be used to establish impairment or violation of the per se law.

North Carolina (NC) drunk driving laws are some of the toughest in the country. Recent amendments to North Carolina DWI laws include laws that:

Strengthens the open container law to prohibit anyone in motor vehicle from having open containers of beer or wine while in a public vehicular area.

Establishes a blood alcohol content of 0.04 for those who have been convicted of a DWI and have had thier license reinstated.

Establishes a blood alcohol content of 0.00 for those who have been convicted of a second DWI and have had their license reinstated.

Requires those who are convicted of having a blood alcohol level of .16 or greater to use an ignition interlock system in their vehicles before their license is restored.

As to punitive damages evidence in DUI/DWI/drunk driving cases, see the case examples in the earlier article for typical examples.

Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm is based in Virginia, licensed in NC, WV, SC, DC, and KY, practicing primarily in the southeastern U.S. and handles only injury law, including car, truck, railroad, and medical negligence cases and more. The firm's website is: hsinjurylaw.com, the firm edits two injury law blogs: Virginia Beach Injuryboard & Norfolk Injuryboard, and also hosts a video library covering many FAQ’s on personal injury subjects.