Reasonable suspicion is a wide open legal concept

On the Independence Day holiday and the days after it, police officers will be on heightened alert for drunk drivers. In an ideal world, anyone who has had one or more alcoholic beverages will find a designated driver to take them home. Unfortunately, this isn’t how life always works.

When a police officer pulls a person over for the suspicion of drunk driving, the officer has to have reasonable suspicion that the driver has consumed alcohol and is too impaired to drive legally. There are many different factors that might lead the officer to think this way.

Many drunk drivers do the same things when they are behind the wheel. They might drive too fast or too slow for the current conditions on the road. If it is after dark, they might not turn on the headlights. Sometimes, impaired drivers don’t stay in their lanes. They might swerve between lanes or straddle the center line. Sometimes, they even hit items that are on the side of the road.

Police officers can claim reasonable suspicion if you are doing anything other than driving perfectly. This is quite difficult when you are intoxicated.

If you are arrested for drunk driving, you might be able to call the officer’s reasonable suspicion into question. Doing this successfully might take some work, so you might want to consider other avenues to use as part of your defense strategy, too.

It’s important to remember that DWI convictions can adversely impact almost every aspect of a person’s life. Make sure that you do all you can to protect your rights after a DWI arrest.