Avoiding a DUI In The First Few Minutes

Hi. This is Christina Williams from Just Criminal Law. It's All We Do. This is the first in a three part series about how to avoid a DUI. This one is about what to do in the first few minutes of your traffic stop. Sometimes when I'm at a social gathering, say, a community fundraiser, I will get asked, what should I do if I get pulled over and I've had a couple drinks? My response is pretty simple. If you've only had two drinks in 2 hours, you should be fine. It's not illegal to have two drinks and drive. The rule is one drink per hour and don't drink on an empty stomach. Unfortunately, I've had clients arrested for DUI even though they were below the legal limit. I know this could have been avoided if they knew what to do in the first few minutes of the traffic stop. Imagine this you were at a local restaurant for dinner and you had two drinks in 2 hours. You drive past the store and you remember you need to grab something so you quickly change lanes to turn into the parking lot. But you don't use your blinker. You see the flashing red lights and you pull over. You watch the officer walk towards your car and you immediately feel nervous because you don't know what to say or what to do. Basically, my advice is to keep your interactions short and simple, which might feel strange. After all, we're all conditioned to carry on conversations when people with people, when they start talking to us. But you need to restrain that instinct. When an officer starts asking you questions, here are four steps to follow. First, make sure you have your license, registration and proof of insurance ready to hand the officer. Something you can literally do right now is go to your car and put these documents in the glove box or the overhead visor. That way, you're not struggling to find them when an officer pulls you over. Number two, the officer will likely ask you if you know why you were pulled over. Just say no. There's no need to speculate. Even though you might have an idea. Number three say as little as you can. Chitchatting with a police officer is not going to help your case. You aren't going to become his best friend or charm him out of arresting you. Number four Keep in mind, if there's a faint odor of alcohol in your breath, the more you say, the more likely the officer will say, smell something. Then you're going to be asked, Have you been drinking today? Your simple response should be, I don't want to discuss my day. Then stop talking. This is going to take some discipline because most people are uncomfortable with awkward silence. But the less you say, the better. The officer will likely try to keep you engaged in unnecessary conversation to see if he can figure out a reason to ask you to step out of the car if this happens. Take a look at the second video in this series where we discuss what you should do when asked to do field sobriety tests. If you find yourself in a situation where you're being questioned by the police, I want you to remember these three things. Number one, let them know you do not wish to discuss your day and ask if you're free to leave. Number two, let them know you want a lawyer. And number three, contact just criminal law. By clicking the link in the description, you can call, text or chat with a member of my team any time, day or night. If you found this video helpful, there are many more on our website at JustCriminalLaw.com. You only get one shot at justice. So make yours count.