Information To Obtain During a Philadelphia DUI Stop
If you are stopped by law enforcement in Philadelphia you will likely have questions including, why you were stopped, and what penalties you could potentially be facing. Yet while these are reasonable questions, getting this information can sometimes be more complicated than simply asking a police officer. To learn more or discuss your DUI stop in more detail, call and schedule a free consultation today.
Being Pulled Over in Philadelphia
If you are pulled over by law enforcement in Philadelphia it is certainly within your legal right to ask the officer why you are being pulled over.
With that said, however, you will not always get a direct answer from the officer. What usually occurs is the officer approaches the car, will ask for the window to be rolled down and may ask a series of questions like where the person is coming from before then asking for your license, registration and proof of insurance.
After you provide this information you will likely want to know why you were stopped, and while it is certainly within your constitutional rights to inquire why you were pulled over, it is often not in your best interest to ask direct questions to the officer. Additionally, your encounter is likely being taped by an officer’s video equipment and/or audio equipment that is sometimes built right into their uniforms which may make it more acceptable to ask these questions.
However it is important to note that an officer is not obligated to answer these questions and at some point you will either be given a ticket, be subjected to a blood draw, or given a breathalyzer test, at which point you will know why you were pulled over.
Getting Information From The Officer
Additionally, it’s usually not in a vehicle occupant’s best interest to ask the officer a lot of questions which may raise the officer’s heightened feeling of insecurity and may cause the officer to call other officers to the scene to look more deeply at this. Merely answering an officer’s questions is usually what’s in a person’s best interest and by sticking with that in a fair manner a person’s rights are going to be protected and/or at a later time, a person can defend against the officer saying they were incapable of operating a motor vehicle safely on the streets of Philadelphia.
Should You Read the Traffic Ticket and Ask Questions?
Well the first thing to do when given a motor vehicle ticket by an officer after a traffic stop, whether it be based upon an initial suspicion of DUI or just a motor vehicle violation, the most important thing to do is receive the ticket and make sure you don’t lose it. You can certainly take a look at it but then put it in a safe location so that you can pull off from your traffic stop when the officer gives you permission to in a safe manner that doesn’t endanger you, your occupants, or the officer that pulled you over.
You’ll have plenty of time later to review the ticket, to review the statue, to review the reason why the officer gave you the ticket in the first place.
In addition, you’ll have the ability to contact an experienced Philadelphia DUI and/or traffic attorney to go over the citation with you and to ask you questions that are pertinent to the law and the defense of such citation.
Really, there’s nothing to gain by reading the citation on site. It’s when you’re in a safe location and you are out of the car and you are sitting in another location when you should take a look at the ticket, review it and then seek the advice of an experienced Philadelphia DUI and/or traffic attorney to go over the ticket with you. Then you can really begin to find ways to help you prevent from being convicted of such ticket, having such points on your license and having your insurance affected because of one mishap one night.
