You thought a couple of drinks would not hurt even though you were driving. Then you got pulled over by the officer.

When you are pulled over the first thing the officer is going to ask is, "Do you know why I stopped you?" Sometimes a person will say what they think the reason is, but more than likely the officer will be told no.

When the officer tells you the reason he will then ask you how much you have had to drink. The officer is actually looking for evidence that there is a possibility your blood levels are over the legal limit. If you had a glass of wine with dinner you could tell them that unless you think it might hurt you. You can refuse to answer the question if you do not feel comfortable responding.

If the officer believes you are over the legal limits they will ask you to step out of the car so you can take some sobriety tests. Be prepared to do three or four different tests so the officer can come to their conclusion if you are drunk. The tests could be having you balance on one foot, recite your ABC's, count backwards or even walk a straight line.

If you fail these tests the officer might offer a breath test so he can see exactly how intoxicated you are. Even if you refuse to do the breath test if you failed the sobriety tests then you will find yourself being arrested and transported to jail.

There is nothing written that says if you are stopped you have to take the sobriety tests. You do have the right to refuse, but it will not stop you from being arrested if there is enough evidence that you are drunk while driving.

The thing you to remember is the officer does have a camera in his car. If you were driving and swerving all over the road it will be on their video camera. Also as you are doing the sobriety testing you are usually being videoed. This is for when you go to court the officer can show the video and why you were pulled over to begin with. Then they will also be able to show the courts how you performed on the sobriety tests.

Many states now take your drivers license the day you are pulled over for drinking and driving. They usually keep the license until the outcome of the charges has been decided. If you are found guilty of the charges then it is up to the state how long your license will be suspended for.

If the drunken driving charges stick it will appear on your criminal record. These are public records and anyone can view them. It could stop you from any type of driving job until your license is reinstated.

Your criminal records are easy to find if you know where to look. It only takes simple background checks for the records to be shown to a person. If you do not know exactly what your records show then take a minute and look. You will be happy that you did.