As the holidays grow closer, you will have to juggle a longer-than-usual list of tasks. You have to get supplies for the holiday party, buy gifts and possibly handle the logistics for travel in addition to all of your usual household and work responsibilities. Personal responsibilities aren’t the only things that increase during the holidays. There are more risks than usual, too.
High-volume travel days, like the weekends right before and after holidays and the holidays themselves, come with the increased risk for drunk driving collisions. Every year, the holidays and the weekends closest to them tend to see a marked increase in the number of drunk driving crashes and fatalities that occur.
When you drive during the holiday seasons, you can expect a higher-than-average likelihood of encountering traffic officers or a sobriety checkpoint.
Oklahoma law enforcement agencies will be out in full force around the holidays
Those who work in law enforcement and medicine know that the holidays don’t guarantee time off from work. If anything, there are often more demands than usual on their time. You will not see fewer police officers out on patrol because they are home with their families for the holiday.
Instead, you are much more likely to see an increased police presence on the road because of the elevated statistical risk. You may also encounter sobriety checkpoints, which involve the police stopping all the traffic through a specific area to quickly screen each individual driver for signs of chemical impairment.
Your risk is likely higher around the holidays for getting pulled over for drunk driving. Even if you only had a single drink, you could potentially be at risk of getting arrested. Anything from the way your nerves affect your performance on the field sobriety test to a failure of the chemical testing unit could result in you getting arrested for drunk driving when you just wanted to get home or make it to a party.
A holiday arrest doesn’t have to lead to a permanent record
If you get swept up in the aggressive law enforcement efforts around the holidays, that doesn’t mean you have no choice but to plead guilty to a potentially career-damaging offense.
There are possible ways for you to fight back against impaired driving charges. Some people can challenge the traffic stop or the test results. Others may have medical documentation that helps prove their innocence.
Reviewing the evidence against you can help you establish the best plan for responding to drunk driving charges in Oklahoma.