According to a recent report, New York lawmakers considered seriously whether they should lower the legal limit in this state to .05 blood alcohol content, or .05 BAC. Currently, the legal limit is .08, and a person driving with this much alcohol in their system, or more, runs the risk of facing the serious drunk driving charges.Only one state has already lowered its legal limit to .05, and that new law will take effect just before the new year. However, the National Transportation Safety Board has recommended that other states follow course, citing science which suggests that drivers are potentially dangerous even at that lower BAC level.While it remains to be seen whether New York will actually implement a lower BAC, it is important to remember that New York's laws [...]

One thing that makes the already serious situation of facing DWI charges here in New York even more high-stakes is if a person is accused of driving with a BAC of 0.18 or more. That's because, under state drunk driving law, driving with a BAC at or above this threshold isn't a standard DWI offense, but is instead aggravated DWI.While aggravated DWI generally has the same potential max jail sentences as standard DWI (one year for a first offense, four years for a second offense and seven years for a third offense), there are other areas where the potential penalties are higher for aggravated DWI.For one, it has a higher fine range for a first offense. A first offense of aggravated DWI carries a mandatory fine of $1,000 to $2,500. [...]