When driving in Florida, you are obligated to adhere to all posted speed limits and existing traffic regulations. Police often make traffic stops with drivers unsure of what particular issues prompted the situation. If you comply with an officer’s request to pull over and an officer asks you to step out of your vehicle, you may logically assume he or she suspects you of drunk driving.
Whether you indeed consumed a beer within a few hours of driving or you have no alcohol in your system at all, situations like this often amount to officer’s word against yours, and you may have your work cut out for you to try to avoid conviction if prosecutors wind up filing DUI charges against you. Certain driving behaviors alert police officers to possible driver intoxication, and if you know the signs and make good choices, you may be able to avoid legal trouble.
Common driving behaviors of intoxicated drivers
Even if you had no beverages containing alcohol, you are capable of making the simple error of forgetting to turn on your headlights before exiting a parking lot after dusk. This is just the type of mistake that is likely to lead to a traffic stop. Police are on the lookout for such issues with regard to DUI. The following list includes other driving behaviors that may lead to traffic stops:
- If you take a bend a little too widely, a nearby police officer may want to question you as to whether you’ve been drinking alcohol. You do not have answer such questions although you do want to be cooperative and polite. You have the right to request legal representation as well.
- Traveling at speeds lower than current traffic patterns may prompt a police officer to make a traffic stop. If you happened to have had a glass of wine or other alcoholic beverage in the past couple hours and the officer smells it on your breath, things may get a whole lot worse before they get better.
- Veering left or right in your lane or coming too close to parked cars or curbs are other driving behaviors that could land you behind bars on a DUI suspicion.
Complying with an officer’s request to pull over does not mean you are negating your rights. An officer does not have free rein concerning what he or she may say or do during a traffic stop. Especially if an officer searches your person or vehicle, you may later have grounds to challenge proffered evidence if your freedom is at risk because of DUI charges against you.
Other Florida motorists have been able to protect their rights and avoid conviction by relying on experienced and aggressive legal representation in court.