With Cinco de Mayo, Memorial Day and a host of other holidays coming up fast, adults who are going to events need to ensure that they are going to have a way home if they are going to drink. Police officers are going to be out in force around these holidays to enforce sober driving laws. They will look for some of the more common signs of impaired driving when they are trying to determine which vehicles to pull over.
All of these signs provide the officer with reasonable suspicion so that they can initiate a traffic stop. Once they do the stop, they will try to determine whether you are impaired or not. This is done through the use of field sobriety testing or breath tests.
Some signs that a driver is impaired include:
- Making illegal turns
- Driving too slow or too fast
- Braking frequently and unnecessarily
- Straddling between lanes
- Swerving or drifting
- Almost hitting roadside objects
- Not obeying traffic signals or signs
It is also possible that a police officer will stop you for something like a burned out light or tint that is too dark. They do have the option of trying to determine if you are impaired if they notice any issues like you staggering or slurring your words.
If you are facing this event, be sure that you protect your rights. This includes your Miranda rights, which involve the right to remain silent and the right to have an attorney with you when you are questioned. You should also begin building your defense strategy immediately since some aspects of your case are time sensitive.