San Diego DUI Penalties: Three Common Misconceptions About DUIs
Everybody knows that you are facing severe penalties if you drive in San Diego while intoxicated. You may risk to be arrested for a DUI and lose the privilege of your driver’s license. Still, many drivers drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs, either because they believe they won’t get caught, or they have a misconception of California DUI law.
- “I am safe to drive as long as I stay under the legal limit”
- “I can’t be charged with a DUI for taking prescription drugs”
- “Cooperating and doing a roadside sobriety test will help me”
This is by far the most common of all DUI misconceptions. Many people are surprised that you can be arrested for and convicted of a DUI if you are under the legal limit of 0.08% B.A.C. (blood alcohol concentration) in California. In fact, there is no defined legal threshold for when someone can drive after consuming alcohol. 0.08% B.A.C. only represents a threshold, above which you are legally presumed to be too impaired to drive safely. If you have more alcohol in your blood than this legal limit allows, the burden shifts to you, the driver, to show that the blood alcohol concentration test results were not accurate, either because the breathalyzer was not functioning properly or because some other environmental factors caused an inaccurate testing.
According to California law, a person is guilty of driving while under the influence, if the driver has a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% or higher, or while the driver is under the influence of or affected by intoxicating alcohol. This basically means is that even when you are below 0.08%, the burden shifts to the city or state prosecutor to show that your ability to drive was affected by alcohol. Therefore you can still be charged with and convicted of a DUI, even when you are under the legal limit.
With increasing DUI prosecution there are actually more and more persons who are charged for a 0.06% or 0.07% DUI. This is especially frustrating as most of these drivers did exactly what they thought was right under California DUI law. Many stop drinking at a level where they believe they will be under 0.08%, or wait for some time before driving. To make matters worse, almost none of these under 0.08% DUI convicts are ever pulled over for any bad driving such as weaving, alternating speeds or driving errors. Instead, they are stopped for presumably not giving a turning signal or for a broken light bulb. Next thing they know they are arrested for DUI and face a serious misdemeanor charge. Fortunately there are things you can do to protect yourself. Of course, the only sure way to avoid a DUI is to not drink and drive, but in case you are stopped for DUI, you must provide your license, registration and insurance. Beyond that you should never agree to take any tests or give any statements until after you have spoken with a DUI attorney.
California DUI law states that a person is guilty of driving while under the influence if the person drives a vehicle while under the influence of or affected by intoxicating alcohol or any drug. It is even irrelevant whether the drugs are legal or not. The only fact that matters is whether or not the person’s ability to drive was affected by the drug. Unlike an alcohol DUI, there is no legal limit for driving under the influence of drugs. So chances are that, even when you are a law abiding citizen, you may find yourself facing drug DUI charges based on blood tests that indicate the presence of prescription drugs. Similar to an alcohol DUI, there are things you can do to protect yourself in case you are stopped by an officer. In such a case you must provide your license, registration and insurance, but you should never agree to take any tests or give any statements until after you have spoken with an attorney that understands drug DUIs.
Most Californian drivers facing DUI charges have provided the prosecution with lots of ‘evidence’ before they are ever talking to an attorney. Certainly, we are taught to cooperate with the police since we were kids. On the other hand, your willingness to do what an officer asks of you may be used against you.
Officers who are trained in DUI detection are looking for such ‘evidence’. Any questions asked and tests given are designed to proof the case they are building against you. This does not mean you should not be cooperative with an officer who stops you, but most people don’t know that your decision of whether or not to answer questions or participate in a sobriety test is voluntary. Again: you are not required to do a roadside test or answer any question. However, under California Law, you are required to be tested, whether you agree to do a ‘breathalizer’ test on the road or prefer to be taken to a testing facility. If you are unsure what to do, it is always best to ask to speak with a DUI attorney first. In any case, be very careful when you respond to the officer’s questions as every answer you give might serve as potentially self-incriminating evidence. Many times, a driver trying to convince an officer that he or she is not intoxicated leads to an even stronger DUI case against that person.
Always remember, a San Diego DUI charge is a very serious offense and if not dealt with properly, can haunt you for years, so never drink alcohol or use drugs before you drive! The San Diego DUI Penalties are severe!
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