What To Do If You’re Arrested for Drunk Driving In Virginia

If you or a loved one drives in Virginia, it’s essential to know beforehand what to do if you’re pulled over or arrested for DUI. Taking the right steps from the very beginning is key to protecting your rights.

Consequences of a DUI Arrest

Virginia takes its DUI laws very seriously, and being charged for this offense can lead to severe penalties, which may include losing your driver’s license, substantial financial penalties, and possibly time behind bars. What many people don’t realize is that DUI convictions also carry additional penalties that have lasting effects on your future.

Initial Interaction with Police

• Stay Calm: Avoid the impulse to overreact. Remain calm the entire time, even if an arrest occurs after being pulled over. You don’t want to give the officer any reason to heap additional charges on you.
• Keep Hands Visible and Be Polite: Use respectful language and keep hands within plain sight at all times, including when the officer first approaches your vehicle.
• Provide Basic Information: When asked, provide basic information, such as your name, address, license, and registration. Do so in a polite manner.
• Keep Answers Brief: Don’t go into long-winded explanations of where you’ve been, where you’re headed, or what you’ve been doing. Avoid volunteering information, even if there are awkward pauses where it seems like the officer wants you to continue. Keep your answers brief.

During the DUI Stop:

• Record the Stop: The officer may be wearing a body camera, but you also have the right to record the traffic stop in Virginia.
• Don’t Consent to a Search: Refuse consent for a vehicle search unless the police have provided you with probable cause or a warrant. Verbalize this refusal politely.
• Field Sobriety and Preliminary Breath Tests: These tests are optional in Virginia, and refusing them does not carry legal penalties, although it may lead to an arrest so that a blood test can be conducted at the station.

Following a DUI Arrest

• Mandatory Tests: Once arrested, you must take a more formal breath test or, if suspected of drug use, a blood test. This is mandatory. You don’t have the right of refusal since refusal leads to license suspension under Virginia’s implied consent law.
• Magistrate Hearing: After a DUI arrest, you’ll appear before a magistrate judge. The judge will determine whether to charge you and whether you will be released or remain in jail until your court date.
• Exercise Your Right to Remain Silent: After a DUI arrest, the only statement you should make is to request a lawyer. You have a right to remain silent from the second you’re arrested.

Post-Arrest Actions

Document the Details: As soon as possible, write down all the details of the arrest and interaction with the police. If no pen and paper is available, go over the events in your head to commit them to memory. Under no circumstances should you discuss these details with anyone except your attorney. Do not tell your friends or family members.

Contact a Lawyer

The sooner you contact an experienced DUI defense lawyer in Virginia, the better they can help protect your rights and build your defense. A DUI attorney should be one of the first calls you make. They can contact your loved ones on your behalf if you wish.

Legal Defense Strategies

An experienced DUI attorney will know what to do in order to challenge various aspects of the arrest, such as the lack of reasonable suspicion or probable cause and how the tests were conducted. They can also scrutinize the evidence, such as whether the breathalyzer was calibrated correctly or if field sobriety tests were administered properly.

If you or a loved one has been arrested for DUI in Virginia’s Hampton Roads region, contact Welch & Wright, PLLC by calling (757) 707-8803 or filling out our online contact form.