Regardless of where you live in the United States, you know one thing to be true: It is illegal to drink and drive. If you are pulled over by police and found to be driving under the influence of alcohol, you will be arrested. Conversely, it’s possible that you could be faced with a large fine and even time in jail.
Of course, there is plenty of gray area in regards to DUI law. For example, the laws change from state to state. Here are a few questions you need to address:
— What does it mean to drive under the influence of alcohol? The word impaired may not mean the same thing to you and the authorities, which is why the law says you are legally drunk with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08 or above.
— Do DUI laws ever change? The short answer is yes. Depending on where you live, your state may change its DUI laws from time to time. This is why you need to stay up to date.
— What is the punishment for driving under the influence? This depends on many factors, including if you committed any other crime and the state in which you were arrested.
These types of questions are never easy to answer, as you probably don’t have a lot of knowledge regarding DUI laws.
Just because you are arrested for driving under the influence does not mean you will be convicted of the crime. You will have the opportunity in the future to explain your side of the story, which means implementing a defense strategy to help you avoid serious punishment.