Energy drinks do not necessarily make you more likely to engage in dangerous behaviors. Rather, researchers suspect that energy drinks can affect the parts of your brain that help you determine rewards versus risks. Alcohol is a depressant and when mixed with taurine or caffeine, common energy drink ingredients, it may affect you differently or more severely than just drinking alcohol alone. That, in turn, can lead to a false belief that you are not as drunk as you think you are.

Interestingly, the study also found that people who like to drink alcohol combined with energy drinks imbibed more often than those who consumed alcohol only. They were also more likely to consume more alcohol in a single sitting. However, that does not necessarily mean that energy drinks are to blame since those people may have been prone to drink more anyway.

Therefore, if you are someone who likes to consume energy drinks and alcohol, you may want to practice caution and refrain from driving if you have been drinking, as getting behind the wheel when you are above the legal limit can have serious legal consequences. This is general information on this topic and should not be considered legal advice.

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While fully autonomous cars are not yet widely available, many cars are increasingly coming equipped with features that aid in safety. According to Digital Trends, one such feature currently in development is the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety.

The DADSS works similarly to an ignition interlock device. Cars equipped with it would have a sensor the driver would touch and his or her blood alcohol content would be calculated. If the driver’s BAC exceeds the legal limit, the car will not start. Cars with DADSS would also be equipped with a breathalyzer that would prevent the car from starting if a high BAC was detected.

Another innovation being developed by a company in New Mexico is a skin patch called ONUSBlue, reports WHEC. A person puts on the patch and it detects how much alcohol is in his or her system through their sweat. If a person imbibes more than the legal limit, the patch would turn a certain color that indicated he or she was no longer safe to operate a vehicle.

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A man is facing multiple charges stemming from a recent incident on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. He rear-ended a stopped car, causing a Staten Island woman to fall to her death from the freeway. He is being charged with DWI, reckless driving and aggravated vehicular manslaughter. The man is also on the hook for driving with a suspended license. Witnesses reported that the man was speeding excessively when the accident occurred. The victim’s son detained the driver after he allegedly tried to leave the accident scene. It is not known what the driver’s blood alcohol level was or how officers determined he was under the influence. He was taken to the hospital with injuries, but is expected to survive.

The incident took place around 3 a.m. The car the victim had been riding in had pulled over on the westbound side of the BQE to help a family member who had a flat tire. The woman had exited the vehicle and the rear-end crash pushed her, causing her to fall. She was taken to Elmhurst hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Drivers who are convicted of reckless driving, driving while intoxicated and other serious offenses face grave consequences. People who are facing such charges may find it beneficial to contact an experienced attorney.

Source: DNAinfo, “Mother Catapults to Her Death Off BQE When Drunk Driver Rear-Ends Her: NYPD,” Trevor Kapp, Aidan Gardner, Ben Fractenburg and Nicholas Rizzi, Aug. 29, 2016

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Apparently, many of the people required to install the devices reported to the DA that they did not have a car. The DA’s office then failed to perform required checks every three months to verify whether that was still true. While oversight for the ignition interlock program is a joint effort between the Probation Department and the DA’s office, it is up to the DA’s office to enforce installation of the device in cases where it is a condition of a person’s case being discharged. It was found that of the drivers required to install an ignition interlock as part of a conditional discharge, only 20.3 percent actually did so since the program began in 2010.

Ignition interlocks became more widely mandated at that time as a result of Leandra’s Law, named after an 11-year old girl who was killed in a drunk driving accident. Under Leandra’s Law, ignition interlocks are required for all New York drivers who are convicted of DWI. According to the New York Department of Motor Vehicles, people who have been convicted of DWI with a BAC of .18 or higher must receive either a conditional discharge or probation, with a condition that an ignition interlock device be installed in their car for a period of 12 months.

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These types of crackdown periods do seem to be effective. During the 2015 Labor Day crackdown, more than 3,400 traffic summonses were issued and 237 arrests for driving while intoxicated were made. An additional 26 arrests were made for driving while ability impaired. Similar efforts by law enforcement typically take place on all of the major holidays throughout the year, as well as St. Patrick’s Day and the Super Bowl.

Crackdowns such as these are enacted in an effort to decrease the number of fatalities and serious injuries caused by car accidents involving impaired drivers. In 2015, more than 800 crashes in New York involved the use of illegal drugs and upwards of 7,000 crashes were alcohol related. Of all the deadly traffic collisions that occur in the United States each year, a drunk driver is involved in one-third of them.

Because of this, New York takes drunk driving offenses very seriously, especially if you are a repeat offender. If you were to rack up three convictions for driving while ability impaired or driving while intoxicated over a 15-year period, you could find yourself facing incredibly steep fines and a possible prison sentence.

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A 30-year-old New York woman has allegedly admitted to drinking alcohol before getting behind the wheel and causing an accident. Her car slammed into a building at John F. Kennedy International Airport and she was subsequently arrested by Port Authority police. The woman, who hails from the Ozone Park section of Queens, has previously had her driver’s license suspended twice, although law enforcement officials did not say what for.

A National Guardsman was injured as a result of the accident. It was not immediately clear whether he was inside or outside of the building when the accident took place. He was treated for injuries to the knee and wrist before being release from Jamaica Hospital Center.

The woman’s vehicle crashed into the glass front of the building after going up over the curb. The building did not suffer any damage that would affect its structural integrity. The woman is also facing drug charges after authorities found a controlled substance in her car. Her blood alcohol level at the time of the accident is not known, nor is it known whether she was also under the influence of any drugs at the time the accident occurred.

The penalties for being convicted of driving under the influence can be severe, especially if the driver has a past history of trouble. New Yorkers who have been charged with drunk driving may want to contact an experienced attorney.

Source: CBS New York, “Police: Drunk Woman Crashes Car Into JFK Building, Injures National Guardsman,” Aug. 4, 2016

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A New York City Police Department officer’s job is in jeopardy after a recent drunk driving crash in Brooklyn. He has also been suspended from the force and is facing a laundry list of charges, including driving while intoxicated, vehicular manslaughter and multiple counts of assault.

A few hours before he was scheduled to work, the officer allegedly drove his SUV onto the sidewalk, injuring three pedestrians and killing a fourth. It is speculated that speed was also a factor in the crash, given the force of the collision. Eyewitnesses report that in the seconds leading up to the accident, the SUV was swerving. The officer denied he had been driving when the accident occurred and refused a Breathalyzer test. Witnesses also claim that he tried to leave the scene and “flashed his badge.” It is unknown if he was given a blood test to determine his blood alcohol content level.

One victim died from his injuries after being taken to Bellevue Hospital. Another victim was also taken to Bellevue and was listed as critical. The condition of one of the other victims is not known. The SUV narrowly missed hitting companions of the victims who were walking down the street with them.

Drunk driving charges are serious and the penalties can be harsh. People who have been involved in a drunk driving accident may wish to consult an experienced attorney.

Source: New York Daily News, “Drunken off-duty cop plows onto Brooklyn sidewalk, killing one,” Dale W. Eisinger, Ellen Moynihan, Larry McShane, July 17, 2016

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If you suffer from any kind of illness that affects your breathing such as asthma, your breathalyzer results may be skewed by your inability to exhale the way a normal person would according to ATTN. Your result could also be inaccurate if you used mouthwash shortly before taking the test. In addition, the test may be biased against you if you are older or female. Since men and younger people typically have a larger lung capacity, they do not need to take as deep a breath for the test to register and therefore they may not exhale as much alcohol as a person whose lungs are a smaller capacity.

In order for the machine to get an accurate reading of your blood alcohol level, it must receive air that comes from deep within your lungs. However, the level of alcohol that comes out when you exhale can be affected by things like mucus and air that that escapes from parts of your body besides the deepest part of the lungs.

Since perfecting the process of capturing breath that accurately reflects how much alcohol you have in your bloodstream is so complicated, the result is that some brands used by law enforcement may in fact be more reliable than others. However, despite their shortcomings, the use of the breathalyzer as the standard for determining your level of alcohol intoxication persists.

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