It is not every day that you are pulled over and charged with DUI, so it is understandable that you may be unclear about what to do next. Most times the actions you take are the result of instinct, or confusion. In the majority of cases any mistakes you make during the arrest can be overcome during your case, but there are some parts to a DUI case that cannot be unraveled if you do not act fast and do the right thing as soon as possible after the arrest. In order to avoid making one of these mistakes you first have to know what mistakes exist. While no two cases are the same, the law that governs the cases is the same for everyone. This means every person arrested for DUI has to follow the same rules, but depending on the particular facts of your case you should not expect the same result as a friend or neighbor.
Three DUI missteps which may lead to undesirable consequences are:
- Forgetting to ask for an administrative review of your driver’s license suspension on time. You only have ten days after a DUI arrest to make this request, forgetting to ask or miscalculating the deadline will be fatal to your request for review. In many cases you will be granted a provisional license and this will allow you to drive in limited circumstances. But if you don’t ask on time, you will receive this benefit and will have to go without your license for the time period ordered in your case. For a first time offender, this might be up to one year.
- Driving without a license, either because you did not make a request for review of your license suspension or you were not granted a modified license. In both of these instances it may be tempting to drive anyway, because you have places you need to be. But doing so can have disastrous consequences. You will face additional charges if you drive without permission, and this can hurt the defense in the criminal portion of your DUI case as well.
- Accepting the breath test results without question. It may seem like if the breath test shows you are over the legal limit that you have no defense, but many times these tests are unreliable. There are several challenges to the validity of the test that can be made, and if successful you may get the charges against you dismissed or reduced.
We know that being charged with DUI raises a lot of questions, and we have the answers. If you or someone you know has been arrested for DUI, call us today.
For help with DUI cases, call an experienced defense attorney in Stuart and the Treasure Coast. We offer an initial consultation for no charge, and look forward to helping you resolve your case in a satisfactory way.