In Michigan, police officers are cracking down on drunk drivers and hitting quotas to earn money for their city, township or county. Officers are looking for certain driving behaviors or lack thereof to justify pulling you over or investigating an accident.
To be charged with drunk driving in Michigan, you need to be driving; the most common methods of proving you were driving is using the police officer as a witness or a regular Joe who might have been in another vehicle or walking down the street. There are myriad justifications for a traffic stop; as many reasons as there are infractions listed in the traffic code. However, several specific examples of driving behavior are very common in Michigan drunk driving cases.
Here are the most common reasons why a driver is pulled over in Michigan.
1. Weaving within the lane is a classic example for pulling a driver over in order to begin a Michigan drunk driving investigation. Weaving within the lane is not, however, a valid civil infraction, and this should be challenged if it's the sole basis for the initial traffic stop.
2. Speeding is another common reason for traffic stops that result in OWI charges. Speeding at 2 pm is a lot different than 2 am; most people go over the speed limit on a regular basis, but when it's late at night and you're one of the only cars on the road, you will stick out like a sore thumb. Speeding is a valid civil infraction that gives the officer the justification to pull you over. However, the value of a speeding stop in a probable cause and reasonable suspicion analysis is questionable. Certainly, speeding is a civil infraction, and a common reason for officers to start a traffic stop.
3. Defective Equipment. Reasonable cause to believe an equipment violation is being committed is grounds, by itself, sufficient to justify a traffic stop. However, defective equipment is one of the weakest of all grounds to justify a Michigan drunk driving investigation, as there is clearly no relation or nexus between broken equipment and a driver’s ability to operate. Sober people drive around with busted headlights and tail-lights on a daily basis.
4. Erratic Driving. There are certain driving behaviors which could be devastating for your case and which may preclude an effective motion to challenge the traffic stop.. Erratic driving may give rise to reasonable suspicion of Michigan drunk driving, and would justify an investigatory stop by a police officer. Truly erratic driving also could be extremely damning at trial, which can be just too powerful to overcome with a jury.
5. Accidents. Accidents are probably the most devastating of all driving behaviors involved in Michigan drunk driving cases. Accidents could mean people have been hurt, or could have very well died because of your intoxication. The best defense is an alternative reason for the accident; you need to get away from alcohol being the cause of the crash. If the weather was bad or the traffic light was not working, this could be an alternate reason for the accident. Many times, your case may require an accident re-constructionist to show the alternate reason for the traffic accident.
To be charged with drunk driving in Michigan, you need to be driving; the most common methods of proving you were driving is using the police officer as a witness or a regular Joe who might have been in another vehicle or walking down the street. There are myriad justifications for a traffic stop; as many reasons as there are infractions listed in the traffic code. However, several specific examples of driving behavior are very common in Michigan drunk driving cases.
Here are the most common reasons why a driver is pulled over in Michigan.
1. Weaving within the lane is a classic example for pulling a driver over in order to begin a Michigan drunk driving investigation. Weaving within the lane is not, however, a valid civil infraction, and this should be challenged if it's the sole basis for the initial traffic stop.
2. Speeding is another common reason for traffic stops that result in OWI charges. Speeding at 2 pm is a lot different than 2 am; most people go over the speed limit on a regular basis, but when it's late at night and you're one of the only cars on the road, you will stick out like a sore thumb. Speeding is a valid civil infraction that gives the officer the justification to pull you over. However, the value of a speeding stop in a probable cause and reasonable suspicion analysis is questionable. Certainly, speeding is a civil infraction, and a common reason for officers to start a traffic stop.
3. Defective Equipment. Reasonable cause to believe an equipment violation is being committed is grounds, by itself, sufficient to justify a traffic stop. However, defective equipment is one of the weakest of all grounds to justify a Michigan drunk driving investigation, as there is clearly no relation or nexus between broken equipment and a driver’s ability to operate. Sober people drive around with busted headlights and tail-lights on a daily basis.
4. Erratic Driving. There are certain driving behaviors which could be devastating for your case and which may preclude an effective motion to challenge the traffic stop.. Erratic driving may give rise to reasonable suspicion of Michigan drunk driving, and would justify an investigatory stop by a police officer. Truly erratic driving also could be extremely damning at trial, which can be just too powerful to overcome with a jury.
5. Accidents. Accidents are probably the most devastating of all driving behaviors involved in Michigan drunk driving cases. Accidents could mean people have been hurt, or could have very well died because of your intoxication. The best defense is an alternative reason for the accident; you need to get away from alcohol being the cause of the crash. If the weather was bad or the traffic light was not working, this could be an alternate reason for the accident. Many times, your case may require an accident re-constructionist to show the alternate reason for the traffic accident.
