The Top 4 Things You Should Do If Charged With Driving Under the Influence

Your plans for the evening did not include imbibing a little too much and then driving yourself home

The Top 4 Things You Should Do If Charged With Driving Under the Influence
Your plans for the evening did not include imbibing a little too much and then driving yourself home. Unfortunately, your reflexes and response time were more impaired than you realized. As a result, you caught the attention of a police officer who noticed the erratic driving and pulled you over. Now you are at the station and facing charges. Here are the four things you need to do now and in the next few days to come.

Be Cooperative

No purpose is served by refusing to cooperate with the officer. That means remaining in your vehicle if requested to do so, stepping out of the vehicle when the officer asks, and not making a fuss when the officer chooses to take you into custody. The fact that you did not resist will work in your favor if a formal arrest is made and the matter ends up going to court.

Contact a Lawyer Immediately

You have the right to access to legal counsel. All you have to do is ask for permission to contact a lawyer at once. This is especially important because it ties in with another right that current laws allow to you. That has to do with having legal counsel present while you answer questions.

Contacting a lawyer means someone will be dispatched to the station at once. You will have the opportunity to meet with the lawyer in private and also have the legal counsel by your side as you respond to the questions asked by a law enforcement officer.

Submit to the Breath Test

While a roadside test was administered, a more comprehensive breath test is usually requested at the station. Assuming your legal counsel has no objections, submit to the breath test. It could prove that the blood alcohol concentration in your blood is barely over the legal limit. While this would not mean the charges would simply go away, it will mean that the possible consequences associated with having higher BAC will be off the table and your Toronto DUI will involve shorter period of licence suspension and other penalties.

Commit to Not Repeating the Offence

Current laws related to drinking and driving allow for more serious consequences with each additional offence. Additional offences within a five-year period will mean longer suspension of driving privileges and possibly some permanent restrictions. Above and beyond the legal woes, the impact on your ability to land certain types of employment, travel abroad, and other aspects of living could be affected.

Your best solution is to make a promise to yourself that the incident will never be repeated. That may mean learning how to stop after one drink, always planning for someone else to do the driving if you have too much, or making other plans in advance just in case you do overindulge.

Rest assured your lawyer will do everything legally possible to help you get through this event. Once the matter is settled and you have complied with the court’s ruling, learn from what has happened and make sure your future actions will not find you in the same or worse circumstances.

Date Of Update: 16 August 2017, 16:37