We have heard it from well before we learned how to drive: drinking and driving do not mix. Everyone knows the dangers of driving while intoxicated. When you boil it down to the simple facts of operating an extremely heavy, fast machine while your vision, reflexes, and cognitive functions have been impaired even a little bit by the substance that you put into your own body, it is hard to believe that any logical person would ever do it. And yet it has been and continues to be one of the major issues we face regarding road safety today. The reason has quite a bit to do with the fact that once you put that substance into your body, you slowly lose grip on the logic that you can see you clearly in a sober state.
When criminal DUI attorneys need to get involved
Most people know not to drink and drive. But many people do not often realize that they have been impaired at all, sometimes after even just a couple of drinks. It is not always blatant, at least to the person who has been doing the drinking. If a person is arrested for drinking and driving, the first thing that they will want to do is find a good lawyer. While finding a good attorney will not guarantee that there will be no consequences, it will ensure that your rights are being protected during the examination of your case before a judge decides your guilt or innocence in the matter.
Understanding the role of a criminal DUI attorney
Criminal defense firms and criminal lawyers often get a bad rap as the greedy, money-hungry members of society who attempt to set free people who do harm to others. But this is not the case, at least in many situations, and it certainly is not the purpose of a criminal DUI attorney to get a drunk driver involved in a disastrous collision off free. The whole idea is that everyone’s rights are protected, so the defendant’s attorney will take all of the information into consideration and attempt to find out the truth. In some cases, if a particular case shows that there was no accident, the driver does not have a prior record, or the amount of alcohol was barely over the legal limit, they could push for a plea bargain.
In other cases, the attorney may be able to prove that the claims against you are false. Videos can be analyzed, witnesses can testify on your behalf, and breathalyzer tests can be challenged. If tests such as breathalyzers, as well as blood and urine tests are not properly administered, they may not even be allowed as evidence.
Give your keys to someone when you order your first drink. Or walk to the bar or party in the first place. Getting a DUI gives you a criminal record that will follow you well into the future, affecting anything from employment opportunities to borrowing loans. Better to not need a lawyer at all than to attempt to make sense of a completely different life after getting behind the wheel intoxicated.