The best way to avoid a charge of driving while under the influence (DUI) is not to drink alcoholic beverages and drive. If you are in a situation where you feel you must drink alcohol away from the home, the cost of a taxi is far less than the cost of lawyers, fines, insurance, and the possible loss of income. I am a strong advocate of the "designated driver" in situations where more than one person is "out on the town". My best initial advice is to avoid putting yourself in a position to be stopped for this charge. Keep in mind that the charge is driving under the "influence". The term "influence" is not restricted to the designation of alcohol. One could be driving under the influence and arrested for the same if they improperly or properly take medications. Additionally, one could be driving under the influence if they have been using an illegal substance such as a narcotic or marijuana. The police have tests which will determine what is "influencing" your driving and you are required, by law, to submit to such tests or forfeit your driving privilege.

In the event you have not heeded the warning in the preceding paragraph, and you find yourself in the undesirable position of being pulled over and you know that you are under the influence of alcohol or some other substance, you are advised, to the best of your ability, to remain calm and cooperative. The police are human beings and as such are subject to human emotions, and if you come across too strongly you will definitely buy yourself a ticket downtown. The inevitable question asked most often is: "Should I blow into the breathalyzer or not?" Either choice suffers its own particular complications. If you blow into the breathalyzer you could be supplying the State Attorneys office with a "prima facia" case against you, but if you don't blow, you have violated the law referenced earlier that requires you to submit to such tests and such failure will result in the administrative loss of license and the State still has the choice to prosecute you.

The law of DUI has been debated and argued before the Florida Legislature and revised just recently to make it even easier for a conviction of driving under the influence of alcohol by requiring a level of intoxication of .08 from what used to be the standard .10. Keep in mind that the .08 standard allows for a presumption of intoxication if your blood alcohol level is .08 and above, but if your blood alcohol level is less than .08 you can still be prosecuted for DUI. A true test is whether or not you were "impaired" at the time you were stopped. Should a police officer decide that you were driving under the influence, you will be immediately taken into custody and your drivers license will be confiscated at that time and not returned.

The intricacies of the DUI statute, administrative rules governing testing, and the case law surrounding the application of both, are not easily handled by lawyers, nor the Courts, and is not an area where layman should attempt to represent themselves. Whenever you are charged with a crime, especially DUI, you are best advised to contact a lawyer or have someone contact one for you. For a DUI conviction, not only do you face a loss of your license for various periods, starting from six months to life, but you also face fines ranging from $250.00 to $5,000.00, and possible time in jail from six months to a year, all this assuming there is no injury to another or another's property in which case the penalties increase.