Virginia VA Drunk Driving Question
Reader’s Question:
I was charged a DWI offense in Arlington, VA when I was driving but I wasn’t drinking. I just took a prescription medicine before I drove home from work. Do you know if my DWI arrest can be dismissed?
Misty
Arlington, VA
That’s a very good question Misty. I often hear people claims that they just recently took a prescribed medication and was charged DWI and after the case they were still found guilty. If the medication is capable of causing impairment or intoxication, you can still be charged if not a DWI offense, it sure will be a DUI offense. Often, the police will assume that the impairment was caused by a medication if you admit that you have taken anything. Officers are not usually trained in medications that can cause impairment. Common prescribed medicines that can cause impairment are: Xanax, Valium, Hydrocodone and Codeine.
Under the Virginia Code Section 18.2-266, it states that it is unlawful for any individual to operate any motor vehicle under a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% or more or if a person is under the influence of any narcotic medication or self administered intoxicant. There are two basic ways that a prosecutor may prove that the defendant is indeed intoxicated. The first one is for the prosecutor to show that the defendant’s blood alcohol content level was within the legal limit or more at the time he or she was driving. It can easily be proven by a breath test or a blood test. The second one is to prove that while driving, the defendant was under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In order to claim his attempt to prove the defendant is guilty, he will have to present the results of chemical tests and his or her driving behavior.