Biggest Mistakes to Avoid At Howard County DUI Stops?

Stopped by law enforcement and suspected of being under the influence? Here are the biggest mistakes you should avoid when interacting with police at a DUI stop in Howard County.
If you have already been arrested and are facing DUI charges, call and schedule a free consultation to discuss your case and how to proceed in order to give yourself the best chance at beating your case. A Howard County DUI lawyer is ready to begin building a defense for you.

#1 Making Any Admissions to Police

First and foremost, any admissions to the officer are a mistake. Many people when pulled over will admit that they had a couple of drinks prior to being pulled over. This is a mistake, even if you say you have only had one or two drinks. That statement can be used against you in court, and the officer can say, “He then admitted consuming alcohol”, and that statement can come in despite it being hearsay because there’s this special exception to hearsay for admissions.

#2 Agreeing To Field Sobriety Testing

The next big mistake that is commonly seen in DUI cases is people agreeing to do field sobriety tests. Field sobriety tests are totally voluntary. There’s no obligation to conduct the field sobriety tests when requested by an officer. If you refuse, the officer can’t do anything else to you in terms of punishing you. The only thing they’ll do at that point is arrest you based on the evidence they’ve gathered up until that point.
When you do field sobriety tests, you’re usually providing the officer additional evidence to justify arresting you. This is obviously a mistake when there’s no reason for you not to simply refuse.

#3 Taking A Breath Test Without Taking Into Account All The Different Factors

The final mistake that is common in DUI stops is people making bad choice regarding whether they should blow into a breathalyzer back at the police station or not.
In Maryland, the penalties for blowing higher than a 0.15 into a breathalyzer and the penalties for refusing to blow into a breathalyzer are very close. The penalty for a high blow in Maryland is a 90-day license suspension or participation in the interlock program for one year. The penalties for refusal are a 270-day suspension or participation in the interlock program for one year. So the penalties are very close to indistinguishable. It’s only an additional 30 days no driving for a refusal. However, having a 0.15 test result makes the criminal case significantly more challenging making it at least worth thinking about before agreeing to take the test.