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This article explains your rights, legal consequences and financial impact of a DUI (or DWI) stop. While we are providing information to increase your knowledge, The Penny Wiser urges you to Please Don’t Drink and Drive.
You’re at a restaurant with friends and have had a couple of drinks with dinner. It’s time to leave and you’ve got an important decision to make. Should you grab a cab or drive? The best option is to ALWAYS take a cab, but you opt to drive. A short time later police beacons are flashing in your rearview mirror. What should you do? |
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Deciding to take a cab or ask for a lift may seem inconvenient, embarrassing, and an unnecessary expense but there is no comparison to the cost of a DWI/DUI conviction. But it’s too late now. The patrol officer is walking toward your vehicle. The legal examination has begun and most people are completely unaware. Here’s what you should know.
Understand that from the time the officer sees the first traffic infraction (too slow or too fast driving, crossing yellow line, etc) to placing you under arrest, you are being tested. Once the officer pulls behind you, he is looking for evidence (indicia) that will make the legal case against you stronger. You won’t be able to dispute a Breathalyzer’s reading or a failed sobriety test but there are actions you can take that may help your situation and mitigate some of the consequences.
Traffic Stop Protocol
First, roll down your window and pull over as soon as it possible. Drive too long and you will be deemed unaware of your surroundings (impaired), fleeing, or being difficult. Pull over to the right hand side of the road. Put your car in park. The test has begun.
The officer approaches and requests your license, registration and proof of insurance. This request is a divided attention test. Did you locate the documents quickly? Always have these three critical pieces of information together and easily accessible in your car’s glove box. Make a photocopy of these documents on easy-to-spot colored paper and hand it to the officer. He’ll ask for the originals but you’ve bought yourself a few minutes to locate the originals.
The officer asks where you’re coming from and if you’ve consumed any alcohol this evening. You do not have to answer that question, but be polite. Instead ask him why you were pulled over. If the officer smells alcohol or suspects other drug use, a set of legal consequences have been set in motion caused by your decision to drive. Do not cry, beg, get angry, or explain how you are just a few blocks from home. It will not get you out of this. You need to be thinking as clearly as possible and copping a plea won’t help you now. |
IT IS NOT ILLEGAL TO DRINK AND DRIVE. IT IS ILLEGAL TO BE IMPAIRED.
The officer informs you he wants to administer the sobriety test to you. This is to determine if you are impaired. Most people don't realize that these tests are optional… and the officer who gives them sure won't tell you, but they are. You are perfectly free to politely refuse to take the Field Sobriety Tests in their entirety. Field sobriety tests are classified as standard and non-standard.
In most states, if a driver is suspected of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, some form of chemical test, such as breath, blood, or urine testing is required. While these tests are technically voluntary, refusal carries a possible penalty such as suspension of driving privileges. A Breathalyzer unit may be used, which is a small hand-held device that measures the driver’s blood-alcohol concentration (BAC). This measure varies from state to state. The Breathalyzer may be done roadside, at the police station, or at a hospital. Blood or urine tests may also be performed at a hospital if warranted and depending on state statues.
If you perform the tests and fail you will be arrested and will have helped the officer make his case. If you believe that you will fail a test that is, you were driving impaired which is the legal standard, then the best option is to not perform them.
Simply say: “Sir, my attorney has informed me that these exercises are inherently unfair and that if I were ever requested to take them I should refuse.” You will be arrested, but the prosecution’s case will be weaker. They will have you making a minor traffic infraction then doing everything else correct. Call an attorney who specializes in DWI. DWI offenses are very serious.Whether convicted or not, get ready for about $5,000 in expenses (Legal Fees, loss of time from work, higher insurance rates, fines/court costs, drunk driving school, etc). Driving while impaired has far reaching consequences beyond the financial and legal ones discussed here.
Never drink and drive. |
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| L. Touré McCord is an attorney specializing in both criminal and civil law in Columbus, Ohio. |
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