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Writer's pictureJustin Sparks

What Happens When Someone Surpasses the Legal Blood Alcohol Level? DWI Texas Laws

Drunk driving is one of the most dangerous someone can do since it could lead to a fatal car crash. Regardless of that, people keep doing it. Even if they don't surpass the legal limit of how intoxicated drivers can be according to Texas law, driving while intoxicated is not a good idea.


While many people willingly ignore the intoxication legal limit and drunk drive because they think nothing bad will happen to them, others don't know doing so can get them a Class B misdemeanor. No one wants their record to be stained with DWI charges, so they should keep themselves from driving if they have any blood alcohol content in their bodies.


Anyone looking forward to learning more about the Texas penal code and what it has to say about drunk driving can get that information in this article. They should read on to know more about the matter!


Drunk drivers facing a Class B misdemeanor after driving under the influence of alcohol can and need to hire the best DWI lawyer who can get them off the hook. People with questions about the Texas penal code or other legal processes can contact the Sparks Law Firm.


What Is BAC According to Texas Law?

What Is BAC According to Texas Law?


Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) is the percentage of alcohol in someone's bloodstream after drinking alcohol. Even if people drank a bit for some minutes, the alcohol they drank for that time would get into their blood, so anyone willing to test their alcohol concentration level could do it with no problem.


Why is testing alcohol concentration important? Because having a high BAC could cloud people's mental or physical faculties and lead to an accident. Car crashes can lead to traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, or even death. Some victims of car crashes have been even up to one year in the hospital for what happened.


Consequences of High Blood Alcohol Concentration - What Is DWI?


DWI stands for Driving While Intoxicated, and it consists of driving a motor vehicle while having a high blood alcohol content. BAC is not something people can check themselves if they've been drinking for a time, people know what the results of a blood test could be.


Naturally, there are many consequences to drunk driving, but they also depend on the circumstances under which the person who was doing it did it. A DWI charge, for example, is not as bad as a DWI charge of someone who had a child passenger or didn't have a driver's license.


People convicted of DWI charges suffer additional consequences, such as suspension of their driver's license or even increased insurance costs. Why does this happen? Because there's not a Texas department or agency that wants to trust someone willing to drive while drunk.


When Are People Legally Intoxicated?


Even if the person driving a motor vehicle drank some alcohol before going out, that doesn't mean they will fail the BAC test. If the driver doesn't have a high breath alcohol concentration, nothing bad will happen to them. However, when do the BAC tests show drunk drivers need to go to jail?


Well, if breath tests show BAC levels of 0.8% or higher, that person can be up for a license suspension or even jail time. Nonetheless, things get worse when the breath test shows a person's blood alcohol content is beyond 0.15%.


How Does Blood Alcohol Testing Work?


The process to make sure a suspected DWI has alcohol in their body is with BAC testing. These tests are made to measure how much alcohol someone has in their bloodstream. There are two ways of doing that since there are breath and blood BAC tests.


As for the former, the police officer conducting the test will ask the person undergoing it to blow into a breath machine. Regarding the blood exam, it's an average blood test to see if the driver was under the influence of alcohol or any dangerous drug while driving. Also learn how taking a dwi blood test after 2 hours can affect your results.


If an arresting officer conducts a breath test and sees the driver was driving while intoxicated, they can take that person to state jail.


Penalties for Driving Under the Influence of High Blood Alcohol Content

Penalties for Driving Under the Influence of High Blood Alcohol Content


As mentioned before, drunk driving has serious legal consequences. The penalties for it can be the driver losing their driver's license, going through community service supervision fee, using an ignition interlock device, or even jail time.


Everything depends on how severe the situation was and how law offices help the defendant win the case.


What can law offices do to help drunk drivers? Well, some things can get those drivers off the hook or reduce their sentences. If it was the driver's first offense or second offense, things won't be as bad as they would when a person commits that crime and hit a bystander.


What Should People Do When Facing DWI Charges?


Whether drivers were driving under the influence of a controlled substance or normal use of alcohol, the first thing they need to do after being tested by the police is to call a lawyer to tell them what to do.


Police officers often try to ask drivers some questions to then use their answers against them, and that's when they need a lawyer to tell them what they can and can't say. Lawyers have many ways of defending their clients in trial, though.


There's always the chance that the blood sample is not accurate since there are many false positives yearly.


Anyone looking forward to hiring a lawyer to help them with a personal injury case or any cases involving motor vehicles or drunk driving can rely on the Sparks Law Firm.


Bottom Line


Going through a car accident is not something easy at all, and someone who has never been into one won't know how scary the consequences of them are. Whether it's by ignoring a traffic stop or drunk driving, all drivers must do everything in their hands to stop accidents from happening.


Unfortunately, some events are unforeseeable, and that's when people need a lawyer to help them. People looking forward to getting legal assistance should schedule a free consultation with the Sparks Law Firm on its website.

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