Getting arrested for a DUI isn’t fun. It isn’t an experience anyone wants to have, it isn’t exciting, and it isn’t positive. Even worse, a DUI arrest is an event that may have a long-term affect on you, interfering with everything from driver’s licenses to job interviews.
DUI Arrest Myths and Facts
With all the negative things that go along with a DUI arrest, it’s not too surprising that a number of myths have developed around it. People are anxious to find a way around DUI arrests, and they’re desperate to know what is going to happen to them during the court proceedings that might follow. With this need for information, stories develop and are passed around, being taken as truth and getting mixed up with the facts along the way.
Some of these myths are based in law, science, and facts, but have strayed so far from the truth that they are no longer useful to the listener. Others have developed from unknown sources. For the record, the following are, indeed, myths surrounding DUI arrests.
- Myth: Because breathalyzers have a low accuracy rate, you can get out of a DUI charge if you were given a breathalyzer and not tested with other methods.
- Fact: Police offers will not rely on a breathalyzer along to determine intoxication, so the accuracy of the machine (which is higher than many common myths pinning it at 10% or less) is not a factor; the machine is used more as supporting evidence than damning proof.
- Myth: Sucking on pennies, breath mints, or coffee filters (among other things) will help you pass the breathalyzer.
- Fact: There are no substances you can consume in this manner that will mask or chemically alter the alcohol level in your body, which is what the machine is measuring (via your breath). Further, a driver who is chewing on a coffee filter or smells strongly of breath mints can only arouse further suspicion during the testing process.
- Myth: The tests, rules, and regulations surrounding DUI are set in stone.
- Fact: Like most laws, the rules for DUI are subject to influences per situation; perhaps more so than other laws, DUI laws are subject to the opinions of experts and changes over time as more research is done. This is because so much of DUI recognition relies on science, from blood alcohol testing to measuring of the resulting numbers, and determining what constitutes intoxication. What this means to the average person is that defending yourself against a DUI is not impossible. Difficult, certainly, as it should be; but not impossible.
Getting Help
If you have been arrested for a DUI, you need to consult with an experienced criminal attorney. Your lawyer can help you separate fact from myth and can assist you in deciding how best to deal with your DUI arrest.
