Pasco County DUI Tips – What Not to Do

The most important thing to keep in mind if you are pulled over for a DUI in Pasco County, Florida is always what you should NOT do. If you ever happen to be stopped by law enforcement in Pasco County for a suspected DUI, you should be aware of how to react and respond so that you put yourself in the best possible position if the case does go to trial.

You should know that from the moment you are pulled over, the police officers on the scene are looking for every piece of evidence that they can to provide justification for arresting you for DUI. Remember also that police officers are mostly good people, but they are paid by the state or country to do a job, and one of the biggest parts of the job with the most pressure on them to perform is to keep drunks off the road. So they are going to be very aggressive in trying to collect evidence against you.

Overall, the less information you provide to the police when you are stopped, the better off you will be. You should not ever answer them if they ask you where you were, what you drank, how much, or where you were going. All of this will be used against you in court, and you are not required to answer any of it.

You also do not have to perform any of the field sobriety tests that they may want to administer to you. And, importantly, there are no consequences whatsoever if you refuse to do so. Of course, the police will not inform you that these tests are in no way required. All you need to do is to politely decline to take any field sobriety tests.

When it comes to the breath test, a good rule of thumb that many DUI lawyers believe in is to decline to take the preliminary alcohol screening test (PAS) when they first pull you over and you have not yet been arrested. The problem with this test is that it can be unreliable; you have no way of knowing the quality of the device they are using and if it is in good working order.

Now if they arrest you, they will want to have you take a breath or a blood test. You should tell them that you want to take the test at the police station. The equipment at the police station is most likely to be in the best working condition. Also, if you test as legally intoxicated at the station, a good DUI lawyer can still argue that you should not be charged with DUI, because the police cannot prove you were legally intoxicated at the scene.

The bottom line is to give the police as little information as possible, without causing further legal problems for yourself.