I want to give you some good advice on how you can best minimize the chances of being arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, commonly referred to as DUI or Driving While Intoxicated.
There is no guaranteed method or trick to insure you will not be arrested for a criminal offense involving drugs, alcohol and driving. As a criminal defense attorney for 46 years now, I have talked to thousands of people who have been arrested for various offenses that involve substances and liquids that can cause you to become inebriated, high, loaded or whatever you would like to call the euphoric effect that people seek to escape reality. I have recorded in my mind the circumstances surrounding their individual and collective arrests and used that information to come to various conclusions that I will share with you here to try to help you from becoming a victim of the criminal justice system.
First, remember that if you are ever arrested for any criminal offense (and yes, DUI is considered a criminal offense), there is no substitute to having the best local criminal attorney that you can find and afford to help you avoid the possible charging and conviction of that criminal offense.
Can you avoid being arrested for an alcohol or drug related driving offense? There is no sure fire way to avoid arrest. Of course, not drinking any alcohol or ingesting any drugs before you driving a motor vehicle is the best way to possibly avoid arrest. But even that is not a guarantee. There are countless cases of police arresting someone for DUI when the person arrested has had no drugs or alcohol in his blood system.
How can this be, you ask?
Well some cops are just bad at their job and don’t care one way or another about what happens to you. The cop may be mistaken, may be an unkind ass or just wants to add to his or her arrest statistics.
A police officer is supposed to have probable cause or a strong suspicion that a criminal act is occurring when they stop or detain someone for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Most cops will point to bad driving by the arrested person as their reason for a stop and detention, which then may lead to an arrest. You must drive as safely and as appropriately as possible when you are behind the wheel of a moving vehicle on a public or private roadway or any surface, private or public. (Yes, you can be arrested for DUI while driving a golf cart on a golf course or riding a bicycle on a bike path!)
So, keep your eyes on the road and drive as straight and steady as you can while driving at a speed that is as close to the speed limit as you can be. All California Highway Patrol vehicles are supposed to be equipped with mobile vehicle recording devices that will show you were driving straight and not hitting the lines with your tires if that is the case. So don’t give them a reason to stop you with bad driving
As one of the best DUI attorneys in the area, I always advise people not to have any items like rosaries or fuzzy dice hanging from their rearview mirrors and to not drive around with a cracked windshield. The police can stop you for one of these items or conditions obstructing your view out of the front windshield. This is a violation of the California Vehicle Code and the cop will use it to make the stop to investigate whether you may be under the influence of some substance that may be affecting your ability to safely drive the vehicle you are in.
Tinted windows are another favorite made-up reason to stop someone. Yes, here in the desert everyone gets their windows tinted, don’t they? No! I don’t because as an experienced local attorney I do not want to give the police any made-up reason to stop me and investigate my state of sobriety.
So you should heed the above to minimize your chances of arrest by minimizing the reasons a cop may have to stop you. Most of them are lazy. Be proactive by doing what’s right. If you are driving right, not drawing attention to you or your vehicle with any extra hanging items between you and your windshield, including cracks, and you don’t have tinted windows, you just may avoid the hassles of beating a case that never will occur. If they don’t stop you, they won’t arrest you if you are DUI. If you are stopped and arrested, call us day or night. We are the best attorneys available to assist and rescue you.
