Many people who are pulled over by a police officer wonder why they were stopped. In some cases, they may claim that there wasn’t a reason; however, police officers can’t lawfully stop a vehicle unless their reason fits the criteria of reasonable suspicion.
Reasonable suspicion is a much lower standard than probable cause, which is needed for an arrest. In order to meet this standard, the police officer has to see something that leads them to believe (and would lead any reasonable person to believe) that a crime has occurred or will occur.
What’s considered reasonable suspicion?
Reasonable suspicion for a drunk driving traffic stop often has to do with the officer seeing specific driving behaviors. Some of them include:
- Failing to obey traffic control signs and signals
- Stopping abruptly without any valid reason
- Swerving between traffic lanes
- Driving too fast or slow
- Making unwarranted wide terms
Not all of those signs mean that a driver is impaired, so the police officer will take steps to find out if the driver is impaired. This may include speaking to the driver and looking for signs of alcohol, such as an open container.
Police officers may also use a field sobriety test and chemical test to determine if a driver is impaired. If the evidence at the scene meets the stricter requirements for probable cause, the driver will be arrested and charged with impaired driving.
Once an arrest occurs, the driver needs to determine how they will handle their criminal defense strategy. If the officer didn’t have reasonable suspicion to conduct the traffic stop, that might become a central point in the drunk driving defense. Because these matters are often complex, it might be best to work with someone familiar with similar cases.
