Many people believe that driving under the influence (DUI) charges can only occur if an officer pulls them over with reasonable suspicion. Which, then, may lead the officer to perform a breath test on the suspect. And, only if the driver’s BAC is 0.08% or above, may result in a DUI charge.
However, some people have been charged with a DUI even if the police don’t pull them over for drunk driving. You may be wondering how this happens. Here’s what you should know:
Drinking or sleeping it off in your car
Some people may never make it to driving their car. Instead, they may have fallen asleep after drinking or were drinking when police tapped on their car. Even if the car is turned off, there may be enough reasonable evidence to prove that the driver was drunk driving or was planning on driving drunk.
For example, if someone had been drinking and placed their key in the ignition, even if the car was off, it may show the police there was intent to drive drunk. Another example could be seen if police find that the car is warm, suggesting the car was in recent use, and the driver is intoxicated. Either of these situations may prompt the police to charge a driver with a DUI. In this state, you merely need to be in actual physical control of a vehicle — whether that vehicle is moving or not — to be charged with a DUI.
Suffering from an accident while drunk
Alternatively, in some rare cases, a drunk driver may have been in an accident, however, the other driver was at fault. There may be clear evidence that the other driver was at fault, such as a witness or dash cam video. Yet, if the victim of the accident appears to be drunk, then the police may ask the driver to take a breath test, which may result in the victim being charged with a DUI.
If you’ve been charged with a DUI, then you may need to seek legal help when building a strong defense.