If you’re stopped for drunk driving, you could face some serious penalties. Even if you don’t get into an accident, you could be looking at losing your license or paying heavy fines. It’s important that you speak with your attorney about your options immediately; you may be able to negotiate your potential charges or have them reduced.
If you do get into an accident, even if no one is hurt, you could still see that your potential punishments are more severe than if you’d simply been stopped for drunk driving. You could be facing additional charges, like reckless driving, and if you leave the scene, you could face charges for a hit-and-run collision.
Driving drunk can be dangerous for everyone involved, but fortunately in one recent case, no one was injured. A man from Baltimore was arrested recently after colliding with a Virginia State Police cruiser. According to a news report, the trooper had pulled over another vehicle and was conducting a traffic stop on Interstate 495 when his cruiser was struck.
The 43-year-old man who collided with the police car was charged with driving under the influence and booked into the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. Fortunately, the officer was not injured, although he was inside the vehicle at the time of the collision. He had his emergency lights on at the time of the crash as well.
The officer’s vehicle was parked on the shoulder of the highway at around 11:30 p.m. when it was struck; the other vehicle veered off the road before colliding with him.
Source: The Washington Post, “Virginia state trooper struck by alleged drunk driver in Fairfax County,” Michael Smith, March 27, 2016
