The cardinal rule for a DUI stop is that the police need a reason for the stop. As such, they are always looking for evidence that someone may be intoxicated so that they can pull the car over and talk to the driver.
This can create some problems when drivers do things that make them appear to be impaired or intoxicated when they really are not. What could this look like?
Dealing with children
In some cases, parents will turn around to deal with their children in the car, who may be asking for snacks or simply trying to get their parents’ attention. This takes the person’s eyes off of the road and they may pull the steering wheel as they turn around, causing the car to swerve.
Not reacting quickly
One major sign of impairment is when the driver doesn’t react properly to things on the road. Maybe a light turns red and they don’t hit the brakes in time, or it turns green and they don’t drive forward. However, both of these could be caused by inattention, if the driver is looking at something outside of the car, talking to a passenger or even looking at their phone.
Learning to drive
Young drivers in particular may be confused with impaired drivers simply because they’re still learning what to do. They may make extra-wide turns or forget to use their blinkers or even drive below the speed limit. They’re just making mistakes because they’re not confident and they’re still learning what to do, but the police may assume that they are impaired because an experienced driver would never drive that way otherwise.
If something like this leads to a traffic stop and you are worried about facing DUI charges, you must know about all of your criminal defense options.