Police officers in Georgia can’t just pull you over because they *think* you’ve been drinking or doing drugs and then got behind the wheel. No. They need what is called probable cause in order to pull you over and to start a DUI investigation.
So – what are police looking for? What types of things tend to signal to them that someone has been drinking (or doing drugs) and driving? Let’s look at 4 common things that cops use as probable cause to pull drivers and start a DUI investigation.
Failure to Maintain Your Lane
This is probably the most common one we defense attorneys see – failure to maintain your lane, coupled with a DUI charge. What is failure to maintain your lane? Does it mean you exit your lane fully, weaving back and forth? Actually – you don’t have to leave your lane at all, to fail to maintain it in Georgia. If you’re weaving back and forth sporadically, but still stay in between the lines of your lane, you could still be found to have failed to maintain your lane. This is because of the weaving – not just officially exiting or crossing the line of your lane. Now, if you do hit the line, or even cross it, that is always better evidence to prove you broke this law.
What are the police going to do? They are going to tail you for a few miles, trying to catch you failing to maintain your lane. They all have dash cams on the front of their car, and they are hoping to catch potentially drunk or drug-imparied drivers failing to maintain their lane on camera. Once they have a few good instances of weaving caught on film, whoop-whoop, there go the blue lights, and it’s a matter of them finding other hints of drinking or drugs – such as they can smell beer on your breath or they smell weed in your car, or you have open alcohol containers out – in order to easily expand their investigation from a simple traffic stop to a DUI investigation.
Speeding – or Going Below the Speed Limit
Another tell-tale DUI sign cops look for on the road is people breaking the speed limit laws. This includes not just speeding over the speed limit, but also slow-pokes going below a posted minimum speed limit. Why? Well, for the slow drivers, sometimes it’s because they have car issues and can’t drive fast safely but need to exit the highway (side-note: these people are not breaking the law if their car cannot drive the minimum speed limit and they’re trying to safely get off the road). But, other times, it’s because they are drunk or high and are worried about driving too fast. However, due to their impairment, they don’t realize they are breaking the minimum speed limit law. And so the cop follows, paces them to get their miles per hour, and makes sure it’s caught on video, and then, pulls the slow driver over, since they are breaking the minimum speed limit laws – which is still breaking the law.
If the driver is speeding, then that also gives the cops a reason to pull them over. Are they speeding because they are late? Or are they speeding because they are hyped up on drugs or alcohol and don’t care how fast they are going? Who knows? But, the cop will pull this person over and, if they smell or see drugs or alcohol, you can be certain they will investigate.
Accidents or Wrecks
Next thing that cops look for to identify drunk or high drivers is if there was an accident. That’s probably one of the ‘easiest’ ways for police to ‘catch’ drunk or impaired drivers – because they were under the influence of alcohol or drugs, they didn’t drive good, and got into a wreck. Often, this wreck won’t even be with another car, but a stationary object. That’s when the police will start a DUI investigation for sure. And, if the person is unconscious, due to Georgia’s implied consent law – which states that simply by driving on the roads of this state, you automatically consent to a state-administered test of your bodily fluids, such as your blood or breath, to determine the presence of drugs or alcohol in your system and in what quantities – the police don’t even have to ask, they can just take your blood sample at the hospital and have it tested to see if you were under the influence or not when you were driving.
Reckless Driving
Finally, there is reckless driving. For this, you don’t need to be speeding or even get into an accident. You just need to be driving crazy for no apparent reason, putting those around you in danger (potentially). This is the kind of behavior cops look for in trying to catch people who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol. They’ll see you, tail you, and try to catch your crazy driving on their dash cam. This is breaking the law – acting and driving in reckless disregard for the safety of other people. You can bet that any cop who pulls you over for this is going to want to start a DUI investigation, if there’s any hint of alcohol or drugs.
So be careful out there…
Make sure you don’t drink and drive – or do drugs and drive. And definitely obey the rules of the road all the time when you drive – police are out there and they’re looking for you. Stay safe!
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