What am I obligated to do if I’ve been pulled for Drinking and Driving?

Charlotte DWI Attorney and The Charlotte Observer’s 2013 Best Charlotte Lawyer Award winner Brad Smith of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question: What am I obligated to do if I’ve been pulled for Drinking and Driving?

Question: “What am I obligated to do if I’ve been pulled for Drinking and Driving?”

Brad Smith:

When you are pulled for DWI or on any traffic offense the only thing you are obligated to do is provide the officer with your license, your identification. That’s it.

Any other things that the police officer asks you to do are all things that he is doing in order to gather evidence to potentially show that you are guilty of the offense for which he is investigating you for.

So if he asks you to do field sobriety tests, and for whatever reason you are not comfortable with doing them, if you have an injury, or if you have some sort of foot issue or back issue or something to that nature you are not obligated to do any of his tests.

You are not obligated to blow into any sort of machines. You are not obligated to stand on one leg, walk a line or to do anything.

The only thing that you are required to do is to at least let the police officer know who he is dealing with by providing them with identification.

But beyond that, you are not required to do anything under our law.