It’s a situation that happens more often than one might think. You’re driving along when you perhaps get fiddle with the radio or begin to grow tired. You slow down a bit, noting the fact that you might have just been weaving slightly within your lane, and continue on your way with your hands planted firmly on the steering wheel. All of a sudden, you see flashing lights approaching, and the next thing you know, you’re getting pulled over, but you’re not sure why. An officer approaches, asks for your license, registration, and insurance card, and then demands to know whether or not you’ve been drinking.
This type of scenario can be disturbing and shocking, especially if you happen to be 100% sober at the time. After all, it can be upsetting to get accused of driving under the influence of alcohol when you haven’t had a drink in days. On the other hand, it’s important that you tread carefully in this type of situation, even if your blood alcohol levels are truly in the clear. Charles Nistico of the Pennsylvania-based firm Nistico Roberts, P.C. is an experienced DUI attorney with over 30 years of experience, and according to him, it’s never a good idea to talk back to a police officer, even if he is falsely accusing you of drinking and driving.
As disconcerting as it might be to find yourself accused of DUI when you’re completely sober, it’s important to realize that for a police officer, it can be difficult to differentiate between drunk driving and tired or distracted driving when watching you pass a car from a distance. (Of course, those particular reasons for poor driving aren’t great on the defense front either, but they’re a whole better than attributing your lack of driver dexterity to alcohol.) If an officer witnesses what appears to be drunk driving behavior on the road, then upon an up-close evaluation, he might easily realize that you were not actually driving drunk, but rather, you might’ve just had a temporary lapse of coordination while in motion. Therefore, if an officer pulls you over and asks you if you’ve been drinking, then it’s best to simply reply “No, officer,” and let him take it from there. If the police officer doesn’t smell alcohol on your breath and doesn’t notice any peculiar behavior on your part, then he’ll unlikely pursue the matter any further. On the other hand, if you start getting defensive and hostile, then it might give him a reason to doubt your innocence.
Depending on the circumstances at hand, a drunk driving accusation might strike you not only as ludicrous, but as somewhat funny. For example, if you happen to get pulled over early in the morning, then the idea of having been drinking at 6:30 a.m. might be nothing short of laughable. Despite the underlying humor involved, it’s important to still approach the questioning officer with the utmost of respect. If you’re suspected of DUI, then when an officer asks if you’ve been drinking, avoid would-be comical responses such as “The only thing I’ve been drinking this morning is coffee” or “Sorry officer, it’s a bit too early in the day to start feeding my alcohol habit.” While you might just be trying to defuse the otherwise tense situation, your best is to offer up a simple answer and let the officer come to his own realization that he’s obviously made a mistake.
When it comes to DUI accusations, it’s important to realize that most police officers don’t tend to simply throw around charges for the heck of it. If you’re accused of a DUI while sober and you handle the situation appropriately, then an officer will more likely than not send you on your merry way. However, on the off chance that an officer does ask you to take a breathalyzer test under sober circumstances, it’s best to simply comply rather than refuse while expressing your outrage. Sure, the idea might seem offensive, and the act of going through the motions might be truly inconvenient, but if you’re innocent, then you have little to lose other than a bit of time by doing as an officer says.
A DUI accusation can really come as a harsh blow when you’re sober. But if it happens to you, then you’ll want to make an effort to be cooperative while keeping your emotions in check. Unfortunately, as a civilian driver, you’re perpetually at the mercy of the police officers around you, no matter how unnecessarily aggressive they might get. So if you’re wrongly accused of DUI, then address the officer respectfully, and save the sarcasm and outrage for the rendition of the story that you’ll share afterwards with your friends.
This article is for informational purposes only. You should not rely on this article as a legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances, and you should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. Publication of this article and your receipt of this article does not create an attorney-client relationship.
