Walk It Through: Pulled Over In North Carolina
The license and a name, a text, and the notice before a chemical test.
Lights behind you on the interstate. A uniformed officer asks for your license, name and address.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One stop and one charge. Whether a stop was lawful, consent searches, the impaired driving sentencing hearing, and the under 18 phone rule are not covered here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Consent searchA search without a warrant on consent, which is a statement to the officer, made voluntarily, giving permission to search.
- Impaired drivingDriving while under the influence of an impairing substance, after consuming enough alcohol to have a concentration of 0.08 or more, or with any amount of a Schedule I controlled substance in the blood or urine.
- Implied consentThe rule that anyone who drives on a highway or public vehicular area has consented to a chemical analysis if charged with an implied consent offense. A refusal revokes the license for one year.
- Public vehicular areaOne of the places, besides a highway or street, where impaired driving and the under 21 rules apply.