Ruling May Convict More Drunk Drivers

RALEIGH — North Carolina law defines driving while impaired as either driving with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or higher or driving while under the influence of an impairing substance. It often takes several hours for a defendant to be brought to a police station to have his blood alcohol concentration measured. A recent ruling by the N.C. Court of Appeals allows expert testimony on how quickly the average person eliminates alcohol from their system, potentially allowing for convictions even for those whose blood alcohol reading was well below 0.08.