Rep. Fossella (R-NY) could face jail time, had 0.17 BAC

Republican Congressman Vito Fossella (NY-13) had a blood alcohol of 0.17, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08, when he was driving in Alexandria, VA two nights ago.  Under Virginia law, a DUI conviction with a blood alcohol or 0.15 or higher would require mandatory jail time of five days.

If United States Representative Vito J. Fossella Jr. is convicted on charges of driving while intoxicated, he would face a mandatory five days in jail, according to law enforcement officials in the Washington suburb where the congressman was arrested on Thursday.

According to court documents in Alexandria, Va., Mr. Fossella, the only Republican member of Congress from New York City, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.17.

S. Randolph Sengel, the commonwealth attorney for Alexandria, said that a blood-alcohol level higher than 0.15 would require a mandatory jail time of five days. A level higher than 2.0 would require a mandatory jail sentence of 10 days.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/...

To give some impression of what 0.17 BAC amounts to, a 175lb man would need to drink 8 shots or 9 beers in 2 hours to reach a 0.17 BAC.  8 shots in two hours.  He was seriously wasted.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, some of the symptoms of a BAC over 0.15 are:

* Far less muscle control than normal

* Vomiting may occur (unless this level is reached slowly or a person has developed a tolerance for alcohol)

* Major loss of balance

* Substantial impairment in vehicle control, attention to driving task, and in necessary visual and auditory information processing

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/...