Man charged for DWI, leaving the scene of 2-car accident

A New Jersey man was accused of driving while impaired recently after he was reportedly involved in a two-vehicle accident in Franklin Borough. According to reports, five people were taken to Newton Medical Center after suffering injuries in the crash. The 33-year-old man accused of causing the accident has been charged with several offenses, including DWI, leaving the scene of an accident with injuries and assault by motor vehicle. Authorities are still investigating the details of the incident to determine its cause.

The car wreck took place at around 10 p.m. on March 8 near the intersection of Route 23 and Rutherford Avenue, authorities said. While allegedly driving on the wrong side of Rutherford Avenue, the accused man reportedly crashed into a vehicle driven by an 18-year-old man from Sussex. Following the initial collision, police say, the man continued to drive for a quarter of a mile before hitting an embankment and a guardrail.

Although the accused man was reportedly uninjured, his 41-year-old passenger was among those who were transported to the hospital after the accident. The driver of the second vehicle along with his three passengers also sustained injuries. Police have reported that two of the injured passengers in the second car were juveniles.

So far, there have been no reports to indicate whether or not the accused driver was given a chemical test after the crash. If results collected from a field sobriety test are the only evidence of intoxication, the driver may be able to build a solid defense based on a lack of scientific evidence. Because field sobriety tests often rely on the subjective opinion of a single police officer, and their results can be influenced by several factors of which the officer administering them may be unaware, their results are often found to be unsubstantial evidence in a DWI trial.