A bill signed into law last September by New York Governor George Pataki has been found to contain an error. Actually a substantial typo that that could get you arrested for DWI even if you have not been drinking or perhaps had as little as a couple ounces of beer.
You can rest easier however, as the legal limit for DWI in New York is still 0.08 and prosecutors do not plan on enforcing the new DWI law until the typo has been corrected.
New York lawmakers passed a bill that set the threshold for certain DWI cases at 0.18 grams of alcohol in the bloodstream. The trouble with that, according to New York DWI defense attorneys, is that the human body may produce that amount of alcohol naturally. What the legislators intended to do was set 0.18 percent blood alcohol content as a level that would prohibit prosecutors from negotiating a plea to a lesser charge. Lawmakers wanted to punish drunk drivers who were substantially over the legal limit and decidedly endangering other motorists.
The Governor purportedly knew about the error in the legislation when he signed it, but assumed the New York legislature would issue an amendment. That however would mean a special session or require DWI prosecutors to wait until next year when the legislature is scheduled to convene.
