When you plan to go out on the weekend, it is always a good idea to make somebody the designated driver. That does not mean make someone the person who drinks the most and then drives everyone else home. As silly as that sounds, there are many fallacies about drinking and driving, some of which DUI attorneys have heard all too often.
Here a are a few fallacies and truths about drunk driving that will still put you on the wrong side of the drunk tank bars:
"The Person Who Is the Least Drunk Should Drive"
That is not how the law sees it. In fact, anyone who is drunk, or even legally tipsy, should not be driving. The person in your group who only had two drinks all night may still have alcohol in his or her system, and if someone were to be injured as the result of him or her driving, it would still be a prosecutable offense. The truth is, only the person who has not had an alcoholic drink all night should drive, period.
"Minors Can Drive Adults Home with Open Liquor in the Car"
No, they cannot. It does not matter if the minors have their licenses and they are related to the adults in the car. The law looks at it as the possibility for underage drinking and driving because there are no sober adults in the car to say no. Never put teens in this position even if it's a temptation. It can ruin their background records before they are fully fledged adults. Do not ask your teen to pick you up from a bar. Take a taxi home instead.
"You Cannot Get Caught If You Only Drink Vodka"
People choose vodka because the smell dissipates so quickly from your mouth, but be assured, a police officer does not need to smell your breath to know you are driving drunk. If the officer suspects that you are drunk, no matter how good of an actor you are, he or she can still make you take a breathalyzer test. So, you can either put down that gimlet and sober up, or not drink at all before you get behind the wheel.
In the Event That You Believed One of the Above Fallacies
Hire a DUI lawyer right away. You cannot get off a DUI charge for being intellectually challenged, but your lawyer may be able to reduce or eliminate the charges all the same. Once you learn the truth, be sure not to do it again, or your lawyer may not be able to get you such an easy sentence. Contact a company like Tekulve Law for more help.
