DUI traffic stops seem to be everywhere but there are steps you can take to prevent being pulled over. Some minor planning and awareness can save you a lot of trouble and money.
- Maintain your car and lights.
A broken taillight will cause a police officer (especially at night) to pull you over and that provides an opportunity to assess if you are driving while under the influence. - Ensure license plate is visible.
If your license plate is not visible a policeman might pull you over to find out why and ensure you are the proper owner of the vehicle. - Keep license and city stickers up to date.
When anything is out of date on your car you are almost instantly labeled suspicious. Once suspicious, a police officer will be looking hard for a reason to ticket or arrest you – a DUI is one of the first considerations. - Do not tint your front window.
A tinted front window catches attention and is not legal. While you can have tinted front side windows, they must allow more than 35% of light to penetrate. If this is questionable, you are more likely to be pulled over. - Wear your seatbelt.
Not wearing a seatbelt has become an increasing popular reason to pull someone over. While this isn’t a big offense, it still gives the officer a reason to pull you over. - Follow the speed limit.
Excessive speeding or speeding in a construction zone will make you an obvious target of the police. Again, when pulled over for speeding a police officer looks for a cause as well as administering tickets. - Heed caution in hazardous conditions.
Hazardous conditions put everyone on high alert. Disregarding caution in these sorts of situations makes you a safety hazard and you will be pulled over to determine if DUI is the cause of the unsafe driving. - Follow the rules of the road.
The rules of the road were instituted to create safe driving environments. Disregarding these rules is just cause to be pulled over. Don’t make yourself a suspect of a DUI because you can’t be bothered to follow the rules of the road. - Do not tailgate.
Tailgating is easy enough to do, especially when you are frustrated with the driver in front of you. However, tailgating minimizes the ability to leave enough space if the driver in front of you stops abruptly. Tailgating or an accident will create a strong possibility of police involvement where you will be the target of police questions and evaluation. - Do not swerve.
Swerving is not only dangerous; it is a stereotypical sign of drunk driving. When you decide that it would be fun, thrilling, daring, or new, you are also sending out an open invitation to be stopped and asked to step out of your car to be checked for drunk driving.
Ultimately, it is best to avoid being pulled over at all, which lowers your chance of a DUI. Take precaution and be the exemplary safe driver that a police officer doesn’t have to look twice at.
