Drivers Should Be Extra Cautious on Holiday Weekends

The Memorial Day holiday is one that people often associate with kicking off the nicer summer season. There are a lot of people who travel that weekend to enjoy the lovely weather. Some of these outings involve alcohol, which means that any adult who is going to drink these beverages needs to have a plan for making it back home at the end of the night.

The Center For Disease Control states that an average of 29 people die due to drunk driving crashes each day, and the cost of all drunk driving crashes is around $44 million annually. With these facts in mind, it is easy to see why it is imperative that drunk drivers are kept off the roads. Over holiday weekends, police officers will usually be extra vigilant about watching for signs of impaired drivers.

Signs that police officers watch for

Police officers need to only see something that suggests that a person is impaired in order to initiate a traffic stop. These include things like:

  • Driving slower than the speed limit
  • Braking erratically or suddenly
  • Weaving or swerving in traffic
  • Tailgating or nearly striking other vehicles
  • Having your face too close to the windshield
  • Turning illegally or suddenly
  • Not having headlights on at night
  • Straddling the center lane
  • Driving too fast for the conditions
  • Not obeying traffic signs and signals or reacting slowly to them

Varying degrees of impairment

Impairment varies depending on the blood alcohol concentration. Typically, a person who has around two alcoholic beverages will likely have a BAC of around .02 percent. Around three drinks would be around .05 percent. Four drinks is where things get close to the illegal mark because most people will have a BAC of .08 percent once they consume this many. At five drinks, the BAC goes up to around .10 percent.

Remember your rights

If you are pulled over by the police for the suspicion of drunk driving in Richmond, remember that you have specific rights. This includes the right to remain silent and the right to have an attorney if you are being questioned after being arrested. The officers should read you Miranda rights to alert you of these rights. It is usually best to invoke them. Knowing your rights ahead of time and thinking about them when you get pulled over can benefit you greatly.

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