Driving after having drinks can be a stressful experience. On one hand the driver might not be intoxicated at all, but be afraid an officer will think they are if they are pulled over and they smell alcohol on the breath. One the other hand, the person may indeed be over the limit and made the terrible decision to get on the road by mistake. In either case, these tips should give the driver confidence and hopefully get them out of a bad situation should it ever come up.
Understanding and exercising one’s rights to their fullest is not rude or wrong. Police officer’s jobs are to convict criminals, and they use many different aspects of psychology to get what they want. One of the gray areas is being compliant with the police officer, which is easy to do and keep distance more than one may think. When pulled over and approached by an officer, rolling the window down a small ways to be able to provide ID and proof of insurance is completely acceptable. Police officers are trained to ask leading questions, such as “do you know why I pulled you over?” These questions should always be answered with a neutral statement such as “I don’t know” to avoid admitting to guilt. It is proper to be compliant with the police officer in his requests, and refraining from lies is best. If it ever gets to the point where the encounter becomes uncomfortable, the citizen may always use their right to stay silent. Generally, speaking and providing as little information as possible is the best course of action to take.
Unfortunately for the people that are driving over the legal limit, they will often be caught and given no slack. Drinking too much is easy to do, and although a DUI situation can be stressful it is important to remain calm and silent throughout. Using the first phone call to get ahold of a Southern County DUI attorney and taking time to cement everything that happened into memory can make the court process better than it usually is. If caught out of town or on vacation, it is not a bad idea to find a DUI lawyer in that area. So for instance if the DUI occurred in Orange County but the person lives in Missouri, it is better to hire an Orange County DUI attorney since they will be more familiar with California’s DUI laws. Luckily most of the work can be done over the phone.
The important part of dealing with a DUI is taking steps to make sure it never happens again. Many die from DUI accidents each year, and long prison sentences occur because of them too.
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