Wheels of Justice
How cops find DWI drivers
It’s 11:45 pm on Friday night and David is driving down the road with no one else in sight. He’s singing his favorite song out loud. He’s in a great mood. Suddenly in the rearview there is a fuss— red lights, blue lights and flashing headlights. Gone is the excitement of the night, replaced by that sinking feeling of “what have I done?” He looks down to see if he is speeding. What has he done wrong? Why is he being stopped?
Red lights in the rearview are not a good sign, but they are an especially bad sign if the driver has been drinking. Police are trained to observe drivers to see if they can detect impaired drivers and get them off the road.
The following driving mistakes have been assigned a percentage value representing the chances in 100, when observed at night, the driver has a BAC equal to or greater than .08%:
| Turning with a wide radius |
65% |
| Straddling center or lane marker |
65% |
| Almost striking object or vehicle |
60% |
| Weaving |
60% |
| Driving off designated roadway |
55% |
| Swerving |
55% |
| Slow speed (>10mph below the limit) |
50% |
| Stopping in traffic lane |
50% |
| Following too closely |
50% |
| Braking erratically |
45% |
| Signaling inconsistent w/driving actions |
40% |
| Slow to respond to traffic signals |
40% |
| Turning abruptly or illegally |
35% |
| Accelerating or decelerating rapidly |
30% |
| Headlights |
30% |
If two or more of these mistakes are observed, add 10 points to the larger value.
SOURCE: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Guide for Detecting Drunk Drivers at Night (DOT HS 805 711).
All 50 states and the District of Columbia have per se laws defining it as a crime to drive with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at or above a designated level, 0.08 percent for personal vehicles. However, in a commercial vehicle for a CDL driver the limit is 0.04 percent. License suspension or revocation traditionally follows conviction for alcohol-impaired driving.
My best advice is don’t drink and drive! If you do drink and drive, be prepared to spend time in jail and maybe lose your license, your job and lots of cash to the court. If you are convicted of drinking and driving, you can expect to attend DWI school, do community service, attend a Victim Impact Panel and pay a lot of money to the court in fines and court costs.
Jim C. Klepper is president of Interstate Trucker Ltd., an organization that provides legal defense protection to the nation’s commercial drivers. Jim is a lawyer who focuses on transportation law and the trucking industry in particular. He works to answer your legal questions about trucking, and he holds his Commercial Drivers License.
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