The idea that someone might get arrested for a driving under the influence (DUI) offense on their way home from a party or a football game isn’t a surprising one. Social events are often where people enjoy the most alcohol. Many drunk driving enforcement efforts specifically focus on evenings and weekends when people are likely to go out and socialize.
However, drunk driving crashes occur throughout the year and at all times of day. Some people get arrested for impaired driving due to targeted enforcement at seemingly random and unusual times of the day. Someone on their way home from work might get arrested if a police officer pulls them over during their afternoon commute. There are even scenarios in which someone could end up arrested for a DUI on their way to work in the morning.
Residual alcohol in the bloodstream
People frequently assume that sleeping is the most effective way to reduce the alcohol in their bodies. In reality, the metabolism of the average person tends to slow down when they sleep at night. Therefore, they may not burn through as much of the alcohol in their bodies as they hope. Some people could still be over the legal limit the next morning if they have a slow metabolism or a particularly large number of drinks the night before.
Alcohol consumption during the day
Many people assume that they might only fail a breath test if they stay out for hours drinking a particularly large amount. However, people could end up over the legal limit with as little as one or two cocktails in some cases. Having drinks during lunch or during happy hour, especially without eating first, could potentially put someone over the legal limit.
Issues with testing equipment
Another common reason that people get arrested for impaired driving at an unusual time of day is that the test results aren’t accurate. If a breath alcohol test provides an unreasonably high result, a police officer might arrest someone despite their claims that they haven’t had anything to drink recently.
Someone who is facing impaired driving charges needs to look at the situation carefully to see what defense options may be available to them. Depending on the circumstances, there are a variety of plausible defenses that could help someone avoid a criminal conviction.
