What are the laws for driving with a BAC between .02 to .07?

[Hippo_Tron]

I know it varies from state to state but I'm wondering if anybody knows of cases where people have gotten into legal trouble for driving with a BAC at these levels.

I got pulled over last night for going over the speed limit. I'd been in a bar (and certainly smelled like it) and so the officer sobriety tested me. I only had only drank one beer over a period of more than an hour, so I doubt that I had very little if any alcohol in my system and I know that there is no way I could have possibly had a .08 BAC and probably wouldn't have even have had a .02. But I had never been pulled over for anything so I was kind of scared and more than a tad jittery.

I passed the sobriety test with no problem and the officer didn't even give me a speeding ticket, which I was grateful for. But I'm wondering if he had decided to breathalyze me, what I should have done. I know that if you refuse the breathalyzer it can be used as evidence in court against you. But if I had blown say .02 on it, could I have been arrested and charged with reckless driving or some other such offense?

[Oeditpus Rex]

1. In Kollyforniya, there's something the cops call 'wet reckless'

As far as I know, this isn't an actual charge, but the "wet" part — that is, a BAC between .02 and .08 — is an enhancement to a reckless driving charge. Unless you break some other law, I don't think you can be charged with just being "wet."

A few years ago, a local teacher's wife was killed when he rolled their car. He blew an .04 or .05 and so couldn't be charged with alcohol-related vehicular manslaughter, but "wet reckless" was the phrase the cops and the prosecutor used.

(If memory serves, the teacher got six months, suspended.)

[rug]

2. If you refuse the breath test you can lose your license at a separate hearing.

When I worked for Legal Aid my cubie mate called her husband and said she'd be late because she had to go to a refusal to blow hearing that afternoon. She told me he said where can I get one of those hearings?

[Hippo_Tron]

3. LOL