Whether it was at a bar, at a house party or any other even that serves alcohol, the readers of our Martinsburg DUI/DWI law blog have probably heard someone declare that he or she is safe to drive home. Individuals might say that they’ve only had one beer, a couple drinks or that it has been a couple of hours since their last drink.
We mentioned in our prior post that making an educated guess about our blood alcohol content may be educated, but it is still a guess. A case was recently shared in an article in The Huffington Post detailing a situation in which a man with a steadfast belief that he couldn’t get a DUI was charged none-the-less -- and the possible reasons why.
In this case, the man would have been considered larger than average. He knew this, and he believed that his size meant that it “took a lot to get him drunk.” On top of the idea that his body had a higher tolerance for alcohol, he said that he “knew himself.” He knew how many drinks he could consume before driving.
On this particular day, the man believed that maybe it was safer just to sleep it off anyway. He was being a good citizen, keeping other people safe by taking a nap in his car at a tourist stop off of the road. The problem was that officers frequented the area, and sleeping in a car can still lead to a DUI charge.
This man didn’t think the circumstances that night put him in a drunk driving situation, and he is certainly not the only one who has held this opinion before finding themselves facing a DUI traffic stop, arrest, charges and possibly a conviction.
Those that make the statements above may firmly believe that their blood alcohol content is below the 0.08 legal limit in West Virginia or that their ability to drive is not impaired. This firm belief can leave anyone unwittingly facing a traffic stop based on an officer’s suspicion that the individual was driving drunk.
A court isn’t going to drop the charges solely because an individual says that he or she truly and honestly believed that he or she was not driving drunk. The driver is going to need a better defense than that, and a Martinsburg DUI attorney is in the best position to help.
Source: The Huffington Post, “DUI: No, We Really Don’t Know Ourselves!” Saul Segan, May 16, 2014