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There are valid public safety reasons for municipalities to patrol the streets and enforce traffic law, but it’s also worth keeping in mind that traffic enforcement is a revenue stream for local governments.

This has most recently been highlighted by Mount Olive Township’s release of data about its recent campaign to stop drivers who are texting or using cell phones in traffic.

The township reported that it brought in nearly $14,000 in fines from just 57 motorists.

Most were fined $200 with a $33 charge for court costs, but several were fined $406 with the $33 court cost charge.

Even better for Mount Olive’s finances, this only represents about half of the tickets that were issued during the campaign in April.

The remainder of ticketed drivers will be in court in coming weeks, boosting the township’s revenue that much higher.

Authorities consider distracted driving to be the most significant cause of car accidents, and the resulting injuries and fatalities, in New Jersey, and believe that distraction contributed to some 800,000 crashes between 2010 and 2014.

If you’re cited for DWI or distracted driving, you have a choice about whether to be a revenue stream or fight the allegations.

Call Matthew Reisig today at 732-625-9660 for a free consultation with an experienced New Jersey DWI defense lawyer.

 

A New Jersey man whose DWI was mishandled by police and thrown out in court is suing the bars that served him before he was injured in a drunken motorcycle crash.

If it sounds like a strange story, it is.

According to the New York Post, Antonio Salomon-Merlino of Carlstadt, New Jersey, spent a late night in July 2015 drinking at two bars.

The first, Oh! Calamares in Kearny, served him $300 worth of tequila and Pisco sours all evening, before he drove his motorcycle to Hector’s Sports Bar in Clifton, where he continued to drink until nearly 3:00 in the morning.

He finally left to head to a friend’s house to sleep it off, but around 3:15, he crashed his 2009 Suzuki motorcycle on Outwater Lane in Lodi, sustaining significant injuries to his leg.

Salomon-Merlino was transported to a hospital and charged with DWI, but his blood alcohol level wasn’t tested for nearly five hours.

At that point, the test result came back as .078, just a hair below the .08% threshold.

The DWI charge was dismissed, but Salomon-Merlino’s medical drama was just getting started.

Since the accident, he’s had three surgeries on his leg, including a knee reconstruction, as well as skin grafts. He has trouble walking and even driving, and anticipates additional surgeries ahead.

His lawsuit is based on an interesting theory of New Jersey’s Dram Shop Law, which gives standing to anyone who is injured by a drunk driver to sue the establishments that served them alcohol if they reasonably believed the driver was intoxicated.

Salomon-Merlino claims that the bars he visited that night should have known that he was intoxicated, and that his injuries entitle him – the victim of his own drunk driving accident – to damages under the law.

It’s an interesting theory of the case, and if the suit proceeds, the bars are likely to argue that the police’s blood alcohol results indicate that he wasn’t drunk.

One thing the story does show is that police are perfectly able to botch a DWI case and that police evidence in a DUI case isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be.

An experienced DWI attorney can make a big difference in your case.

If you’ve been charged with DWI in New Jersey, call Matthew Reisig today at 732-625-9660 for a free consultation with an experienced New Jersey DWI defense lawyer.

A man who was awakened while sleeping in his car in the middle of Franklin Road in Denville launched into a small-scale traffic chase and nearly took out several police cars in the process.

According to media accounts, 39-year-old Kevin Deegan was spotted by an ambulance driver who called police to report that a vehicle was stopped in the roadway and that the driver was asleep behind the wheel.

When the ambulance driver went to check on him, Deegan woke up and drove off in the oncoming traffic lane, nearly colliding with a mailbox and other vehicles. As police cars headed toward the scene, Deegan nearly struck them as well.

Police were finally able to stop Deegan, and found an open vodka bottle, partly consumed, in the car. An empty bottle was also found.

Police administered field sobriety tests, which Deegan was not able to satisfactorily complete.

He was arrested at the scene and has been charged with DWI, reckless driving, failure to maintain lane, improper turning, failure to keep right, consumption of alcohol by a driver in a vehicle, and possession of an open container in a vehicle.

DWI cases in New Jersey often feature significant amounts of evidence, including physical evidence of drinking and eyewitness accounts.

The situation can feel hopeless, but the truth is that an experienced DWI defense lawyer can make a difference in outcomes even in difficult cases.

If you’re facing DWI charges in New Jersey, get experienced legal help.

Call Matthew Reisig today at 732-625-9660 for a free consultation.