if he didn't test your BAC then there's nothing he can do about it and he can't put anything anywhere showing you where drunk since he has not proof. The field test is not to show weather your drunk or not, its just to give them enough proof to then give your a breath test. You could just be a clumsy moron who can't walk right, does that mean your drunk??? No! I just went threw all this cop drama about 4 months ago when I got a DUI for a .087! For those that don't know the legal limit in IL is .080 so I was about 10 minutes from being under the limit and .087 isn't even that much beer. I had 4 beers over the course of 5 hours at a party, what killed me was not eating but I felt fine and passed all his field test, I just got stuck with a a$$hole cop.

One thing for sure though, even if its the smallest B.S. ticket go to court with your lawyer and get it thrown out cause everything you've ever done in your life is on your record and the cops look at that everytime. Whats funny is when I went to court with my lawyer the judge looked at me and says, .087?? your here for a .007 over the limit?? son just pay us a $1000 bucks and get out of here, so he basically laughed at me. One thing is for sure, I won't drink anything and drive anymore and its not cause I'm worried about crashing cause I know I wasn't drunk that day, but I don't feel like having to dish out another $6,500 bucks in bills! Could have bought a new built motor if I would have taken a dump before I left that party.

 

Whew!
When I first saw the subject of this thread I though maybe you got busted for having sex with a transvestite hooker.....

Had me worried there for a minute.

 

LMFAO

 

Be careful about fighting a failed sobriety test by taking it to court.
Now of course I'll put this out there: I was picked via Jury duty to determine, without a resonable doubt, that a guy here was DUI.
I live in Arizona, and the guy caused an accident, so it may be different for your state laws.
Well, the one and only one reason he was found guilty... He failed the field test. Everything else was heresay, and speculation, but the fact is, the cop gave him 3 different tests, and he failed, I believe 2 of them. He refused the breathalizer test, which is an automatic year w/o a license, but the fact was, we all agreed that the field test is a set of standards the police use to determine your sobriety, and if you failed them, you are DUI, not DWI necessarily, but DUI.

Even though, from what you described, it sounds like you were totally fine, if he wrote it down... Just be careful with it is all!

I know how you feel, I sometimes think how easy it would be to have your life change just by coming home from a club or somewhere, feeling totally sober, and not using your turn signal or something, and next thing you know, you are jail with a record!

 

to answer your question, thats exactly what i did. basically what it comes down to is the cops word againest yours no matter what. and guess who always wins. its only a 100 bucks. no big deal. go in there admit your fault (even if there was none) and get the points dropped. its better then wasting your time trying to convince the judge that you did nothing wrong cuz he wont wanna hear it. worked for me, and got no points. 150 dollar fine though. good luck

 

The bottom line is that if there was sufficient evidence to sustain a conviction on DUI, you'd be telling us how much jail sucked until your wife bailed you out. What the cop did was make like he was throwing you a bone so you'd feel good about getting a ticket instead of feeling like you didn't deserve it. Remember, it's perfectly ok for any agent of the state to lie to you, but it is a crime for you to lie to them. However, nothing compels you to say anything.... Cops want to make you pay the ticket without fighting it, so they often make attempts to make you think your acquiesence is a "favor" to you. Things like :

"You can just pay the fine and it won't show on your out of state record".

"I could've written you up for 95, but I'm only going to put 79"

Remember, they want your money, and an easy, uncontested day in court, so they can, and will say just about anything to make you think the same way.

A tactic which worked well for me in NC, and worked also for another guy around here (VA) was to get a lawyer and have them offer to double the fine, and reduce the violation to a non moving violation. That is what your insurance really cares about. You get a 'tire spinning' citation, your rates are goin' up- no vote. You get nailed for "improper equipment" and nothing happens

Well... not always... My wife got nailed in a city HOV lane which more than one lawyer told us was not going to affect insurance at all, zero points, not considered a 'moving violation'... WRONG. Lost out on getting our 'safe driver discount' because of it.

Don't think a lawyer's worth it ? Here's my tale of woe...

I grew up in MD, and starting at 20, I started getting tickets. In MD if you kept your record straight for 2 years, it could be expunged - completely clean, and the insurance companies couldn't get any info to raise your rates with. Well, 1st, they changed the interval to 3 clean driving years. Then, at 2 years and 9 months, I get another ticket / conviction. Then 2 and 1/2 years. And, wouldn't you know it, 2 years and 10 months later. By this time, my driving record went back to stone tablets and hammers and chisels This was the NC ticket....

I was beebopping on along I85 in Durham NC and got nailed 70 in a 55 construction zone. Yeah, they gave me the 'nice guy' treatment, but I wasn't buying. I asked for a warning, pleaded my case, didn't work. So, we continued on our way to vacation. With the help of the National Motorists Association, I found a lawyer, and asked him to offer the prosecutor double the fine, 'improper equipment' deal. They took it. By the court date, I only had 3 more weeks to go to get an expungement. The day after the court date, I stopped and pulled my driving record.

There was the improper equipment conviction, a mere day old. 3 Weeks later I submitted the expungement form - the conviction wasn't a moving violation. A month later, my driving record was clean. I began pricing out insurance. I settled on Allstate, going from ~$2100 / year down to $600 / year full coverage. Ditto bike insurance, in fact, it was even lower...

So I spent $300 for the lawyer, about ~$100 to actually get the lawyer (phone calls, cell, long distance, etc.) and almost $200 on the fine... BUT, I've saved hundreds, possibly thousands since then as a result of the clean record. Plus, when you're on the side of the road, asking for a warning the 1st question the cop asks you is "how's your record?" ... Every time since cleaning up my driving record I've asked for a warning, I've gotten one and not a ticket <knocks wood> ... What is the worst thing that can happen - A: the cop says no, you're no worse off than you were before asking...


Good luck...

 

It sure sucks to get all the good advice in hindsight

Ironic that if one have a clean record, the first violation you ever get is gonna screw you. However as soon as you have had multiple and gain experience, you can get of with a warning with a bit of legg work. Life in a nut shell, right....

 

I am a lawyer, so I have to be careful that my comments are not construed as legal advice.

My one piece of legal advice to you, though, is to get a lawyer for specific advice (I kinda hafta say that).

I agree that he does not have a DUI case, but it does make you look bad. Which is undoubtedly why he put that piece of irrelevant information on the ticket (what a jack*ss).

Unlike DUI, which has objective legal standards, the ticket you received is within the judgment of the officer. His version of events will likely be found more credible than yours (you are, after all, and alcoholic who jumps in an overpowered truck and does donuts in intersections).

But here is a trick that I learned from a co-worker. Wait until the last minute and request a continuance. Then do it again. This greatly increases the chances that the cop will not show up for trial, which in many cases will get you a dismissal.

For a shocking graphic that may make you think twice before jumping behind the wheel after even two beers over dinner, click here (warning -- not easy to look at). I have committed the same sin too many times to count, but after having been at fault in a fatal accident, will not get behind the wheel with ANY alochol in my system. I had not been drinking at the time, but kept thinking how I would never have forgiven myself if I had even had a sip of alcohol. Sorry for preaching.

 

to mine and may even be in same juridiction? I was behind some little white compact car who really hit his brakes hard before turning right at an intersection. I hit mine a little hard too, but wan't close to rear ending him. Anyway, I make the turn while still having foot on brake. In process of straightening up and my foot slips off brake onto gas resulting in rear end fishtailing just once before I was off gas and had it straight, but no tirespin/burning rubber! I get almost another 2 miles down road, very near home when cop lights me up. He asks me where I was coming from, told him the bar and that I had 2 beers. It gets a little more complicated with CCW weapon in car. Anyway, no field sobriety tests asked for, no blood test asked for and no citing for DUI. He also cites me for "laying drags"! I hired a lawyer.

Mistakes I made as listed on a "reference card" if ever stopped again:
1. When you have license and insurance card ready, realize you are being recorded on video tape.
2. Do NOT blow into portable breath testing device at your car. It is your right to refuse.
3.Do not answer questions about where you have been or how much you've had to drink. (I blew both of these). Politely refuse by saying it's personal or INVOKE YOUR RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT AND ASK TO SPEAK WITH YOUR ATTORNEY.
4. Do NOT perform any physical or eye tests at your car. It is your right to refuse to do them. They are designed for failure aand give the officer legal justification to arrest you if you are suspected of DUI
5. Remember everything you say will be used against you.
6.If arrested for DUI you may lose your license by refusing to take the the breath, blood, or urine test. If you take the test demand an independent blood test at your expense by another person. This time delay would have gotten you off hook/
7. NEVER consent to a search of your person or your car. Never know what someone else may have left there. You can have a person or wrecker service come get your car. This stops police from doing an inventory search.
8. INVOKE YOUR RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT AND ASK THAT YOU BE ALLOWED TO TALK TO YOUR LAWYER RIGHT AWAY.

I'm no lawyer and this should not be considered legal advice,but preceding was taken from "reference card", but not verbatim since copyright laws might be involved. I wasn't "Mirandized" when "criminal behavior" was suspected--were you? We both made some mistakes. Very curious that our circumstances are very similar, SVT Lightnings, "laying drags", no citing for DUI, and remarks about "proper handling of power in this vehicle"?

PM me jkeithbrown@msn.com. Might benefit us both to discuss. You may be well aware of "No Tolerance" ads all over TV in Atlanta market? So why weren't we charged? Research on here indicates that our trucks are very likely to fishtail with very little power. Think it is one reason shocks were changed to Billsteins in 2001. Really all pickups fishtail, especially with no "load" in bed.

 

Last summer I was on a rural street and left a patch of black marks probably 300'ish feet long.

The cop was behind me but I couldn't see becuase of the smoke.
He pulled me over and came up to the car.
He said he should give me a ticket but I paid enough because I probably too 45,000 miles off my tires.

He said he was glad I did it on a rural road and was impressed by the marks, but strongly recommended against doing it again.

No ticket, no fine, nothing except for marks that are still there to this day.

 

non-legal advice.
If you are guilty, use your right to remain silent.