Nobody wants to get a DUI, yet plenty of drivers take the risk every night. The fact is, avoiding a DUI is easy and consequence-free, whereas the alternate is anything but. If you end up getting a DUI, you will face major consequences.  Even moreso if you are involved in a car accident.  The information in this post only serve as general guidelines.  You will want to consult with a San Diego car accident lawyer for legal advice.

Here are some tips to keep you out of some potentially sticky situations:

Don’t drink. This one is easy. When someone offers you a drink, just say “no.” Sometimes it helps to have juice or soda in hand throughout the night so no one will offer you a drink and you won’t feel empty handed.

Walk home. Too often we find ourselves driving to places just around the corner from home. When you plan to drink, just walk to the bar or party. You’ll get exercise, enjoy the scenery and won’t get a DUI.

Use a Designated Driver. Whether it means bringing along a sober friend, taking a bus or calling a cab, using a Designated Driver is safe and easy. If you have a friend volunteer to be the DD, remember to thank your friend and keep him or her happy. An unappreciated designated driver is one doomed to fail.

Keep your BAC low. Don’t drink too much or your BAC will be too high. A general rule is to consume no more than one drink each hour. Also, be aware of the alcohol content of the drink you choose. Usually, one beer, one glass of wine and one shot of liquor have the same alcohol concentration, but that rule is flexible depending on the specific drinks selected. Obviously, a long island ice tea has more alcohol than rum and cola. Eating high protein foods while drinking can slow the absorption of alcohol into your system. If you do drive, be sure your car’s lights work, that the headlights are on and that you have a front license plate and current registration. The last thing you want to do is provide good reason to be pulled over.

If you do get pulled over on suspicion of drunk driving, here are some tips to follow:

Find a safe place to pull over. If you pull over in a dangerous area, this will give the officer preliminary evidence your judgment may be impaired.

Keep silent. Do not admit to drinking. Do not try to make excuses. Do not explain where you were. Whatever you say, it will be used against you.

Be polite. There is not excuse to be rude and an officer’s testimony or a video of your arrest can be detrimental if you are being aggressive.

Refuse a field sobriety test. These tests are voluntary, subjective and difficult to pass -even for sober people. Officers arrest around 98% of people who take the test, so it will not help you.

Decline to take a preliminary breath test. Hand-held breathalyzers used by police officers are highly inaccurate and will only hurt your case. Instead, insist on taking a chemical test at the station. If you are under 21, you are legally required to take this test, so please do so.

Decline to take a preliminary breath test. Hand-held breathalyzers used by police officers are highly inaccurate and will only hurt your case. Instead, insist on taking a chemical test at the station. If you are under 21, you are legally required to take this test, so please do so.

Agree to a chemical test. Demand the blood test. It is the most accurate test available. If you decline to take a chemical test in California, the Implied Consent law will hold you guilty of a DUI and instill additional penalties for your refusal to take the test, including mandatory jail time.

Request an attorney. If you are charged with a DUI, contact an experienced attorney as soon as possible. Hiring an attorney within 10 days of your arrest is critical to getting a hearing with the DMV to protect your license.

If you have been arrested for driving under the influence in California, there is hope. Even if you have taken and failed field sobriety tests, a preliminary breath test and an official chemical test, we can still help you fight your charges in court or get the minimum sentence in your DUI trial.

While blood tests are generally more accurate measures of a person’s intoxication level than any other chemical test, they are still not perfect. If your blood test was performed incorrectly, a good San Diego DUI attorney can help get the results dismissed as evidence against you. A lack of chemical proof to your DUI conviction may cause the entire case to be dropped.

California has a very detailed set of rules regarding the removal of blood for a DUI test. If you took a blood test for your DUI, ask yourself the following questions:

Was there a white powder in the blood tube? This white powder should be a correct mix of anticoagulants and preservatives. Without the proper mix of the two, blood tests are likely to be inaccurate. Blood clotting will generally result in higher blood alcohol levels. A lack of preservatives may cause the sample to ferment, guaranteeing a much higher BAC reading.

Was the tube shaken after you gave your sample? If not, the powder containing preservatives and anticoagulants may not have been adequately mixed in with your blood.

Did the technician swab your skin with alcohol before the test? Your skin must be cleaned before any blood samples are removed, but if an alcohol swab was used, your reading will be inaccurate. The technician must use an alcohol-free cleaning swab to perform this test.

Do you suffer from diabetes? Certain health conditions, such as diabetes, have been known to produce false highs in BAC blood tests.

Did you wait a long time before the test was administered? A BAC above 0.08 at the time of testing does not necessarily imply a person was above the limit while driving. Because alcohol absorption and alcohol burn rates affect the amount of alcohol in a person’s system over time, the BAC can rise and fall dramatically throughout the night. If your blood test was taken over an hour after you were pulled over, a skilled San Diego DUI attorney may be able to show you were below the legal limit while driving.

Was the technician qualified to administer your test? This requirement can be tricky. The blood drawer must be a professional nurse, physician, paramedic or trained laboratory technologist employed by a clinical laboratory. Even if the person was trained and certified to do blood tests for the police forensics department, they are not employed by a clinical laboratory and cannot perform a blood test on a DUI suspect. So if a person was not hired by a clinical laboratory, or if they were not specifically trained to administer these types of tests, the results from the blood test are void.

Was the technician supervised? If your blood draw was not supervised, there is no way to ensure the technician followed the proper protocol. If he or she was unsupervised, the evidence may be inadmissible.

Was the blood stored right? Once the blood sample is taken, it must be stored at a proper temperature and handled correctly. Your attorney should be able to follow the path a blood sample traveled after it was extracted and until it was tested to ensure it was properly cared for throughout its journey.

Even if all of the details above seem to be clear of legal problems, an independent analysis of your blood sample performed by your lawyer may show errors in the sample analysis. Sometimes blood samples get mixed up, sometimes people make mistakes. It is very possible for the laboratory to have inaccurately measured your BAC results, an error your attorney may correct. Additionally, if the prosecution fails to bring a blood expert to trial to analyze your results, we may be able to get the blood results dismissed from your trial.