When most people consider DWI cases, they think of a person swerving all over the road, running people off of the road, and getting into an accident. However, this is now how the majority of our clients are arrested. The reason for the original stop is often more innocuous. Someone may be speeding, have a headlight out, or have an expired registration. This will get the officer’s attention, who will then initiate a traffic stop. Upon stopping the vehicle, the officer will smell alcohol, or notice red, glassy eyes. Immediately, the officer transitions into a DWI investigation. Before the driver knows it, they are out of the vehicle, performing Field Sobriety Tests. At this point, they are most likely going to be arrested. The night seems completely unreal the morning after, and it is hard to believe that they are facing a DWI charge. Many people look back on the evening and think that they were not driving dangerously, and find it hard to believe that they are facing a DWI charge. But this is a fairly common sentiment. An even more extreme example is a checkpoint case. In these cases, generally there is no bad driving. The driver simply waits their turn in line to drive up to the officer. Again, it is the smell of alcohol that gives most people away. The general public would be shocked to find out how many people were driving like a reasonable person when they were arrested for DWI. Of course, there are horror stories about people driving the wrong way on a one way street, or being involved in terrible accidents, but these are not as common as you might think in DWI arrests.
The point of this is that you should not drive if you have had any alcohol. The smell of alcohol will arouse the officer’s suspicion, even in the most routine of traffic stops, or at a checkpoint. You don’t have to be running all over the road to be arrested for DWI! Keep this in mind, or you could be like many of our clients that are facing a DWI, though they were not about to cause an accident. Regardless of your safe driving, you could still be facing a DWI.
