What to Do if Pulled Over for Drunk Driving in Georgia

What to do if pulled over for drunk driving in Georgia begins with a few calm steps. Pull to the right shoulder, stop the engine, and keep your hands in sight. Have your license and proof of insurance ready. Stay polite, but you do not have to say where you have been or what you have had to drink. Field sobriety evaluations are voluntary in Georgia, and a driver may decline them. Georgia charges this offense as driving under the influence under OCGA § 40-6-391. If you are already past the stop, you may be asking, "I got a DUI, now what?" The sections below explain what to do after you get a DUI, from the license deadline through the criminal case.

What to Do If Pulled Over for Drunk Driving in Georgia

Knowing what to do if pulled over for drunk driving can shape everything that follows. Signal early and pull to the right shoulder as soon as it is safe. Turn off the engine. At night, turn on the interior light so the officer can see inside the car. Keep both hands on the wheel.

Have your driver's license and proof of insurance ready before the officer reaches the window. A Georgia driver must identify themselves and hand over those documents on request. You are not required to answer investigative questions. Where you have been, whether you have been drinking, and when you had your last drink are all questions you may politely decline to answer.

Demeanor matters just as much. Do not argue, and do not try to talk the officer out of the stop. Do not offer an explanation that includes an admission about drinking. Long, casual answers often end up quoted in the police report.

Assume the whole encounter is recorded. Dash cameras and body cameras capture what you say and how you move. That video is discoverable later, and depending on the circumstances it may help the defense or hurt it.

None of this guarantees that an officer will let you drive away. Following these steps may still leave you under arrest. What happens next turns on your specific facts, so talk with a Georgia DUI lawyer about your own stop.

Your Rights During a Georgia DUI Stop

Georgia drivers have more choices at the roadside than most people expect.

Field sobriety evaluations are voluntary. The walk-and-turn, the one-leg stand, and the horizontal gaze nystagmus test are requests, not commands. A driver may decline them. Declining these roadside evaluations is not the same as refusing the state-administered chemical test that an officer requests after an arrest. Our page on the Georgia implied consent law explains that warning in detail. The two decisions are separate, and they carry different consequences.

OCGA § 40-5-67.1, Georgia's implied consent law, comes next. The notice an officer reads to a driver under arrest for DUI sets out that law. Under that notice, the officer asks for a state-administered test of blood, breath, or urine. The law also governs what follows a refusal, and those consequences are administrative as well as evidentiary.

Two Georgia Supreme Court decisions shape this area. Olevik v. State, 302 Ga. 228 (2017), concerned breath testing. The court held that Georgia's constitutional protection against compelled self-incrimination covers the act of blowing into a breath machine. Elliott v. State, 305 Ga. 179 (2019), addressed refusal evidence. It held that a driver's refusal of a breath test is not admissible against that driver at a Georgia DUI trial.

There is also an independent test right under OCGA § 40-6-392. A person who submits to the state's test may get an additional chemical test from qualified personnel of their own choosing. That right is not automatic. The driver has to ask for it.

I Got a DUI, Now What? the First 30 Days

If you are asking yourself, I got a DUI now what, the first thirty days matter most. Two tracks open at once, and the license track moves faster than the court case.

The administrative license track runs through the Department of Driver Services, not the criminal court. A driver has 30 days from the date of the arrest notice to act on the administrative suspension. There are two paths. One is to request a hearing with the Department of Driver Services. The other, where the driver is eligible, is to elect an ignition interlock limited permit under OCGA § 40-5-64.1. Missing that window can cost driving privileges before a judge ever hears the criminal case. Filing requirements, eligibility rules, and permit terms change, so confirm the current ones with counsel or with DDS directly.

Use the same thirty days to protect the record. Write down everything you remember about the stop while it is fresh: the time, the road, the weather, what the officer asked, and what you said. Keep the citation, the bond paperwork, and the implied consent notice together in one place. Find the arraignment date printed on the citation and calendar it. Do not discuss the case on social media, and do not discuss it with anyone other than your attorney.

What to Do After You Get a DUI: The Criminal Case

Most of what to do after you get a dui happens on the court's schedule. The criminal case usually opens at arraignment, where the court reads the charge and the defendant enters a plea.

From there, defense counsel demands discovery. That request typically covers the police report, dash and body camera video, the breath machine's inspection and calibration records, and the certifications of the officers involved. Pretrial motions follow, including motions to suppress the stop, the arrest, or the test result. The plea-versus-trial decision comes after the evidence is on the table, not before.

A Georgia DUI attorney will typically look at four things. Did the officer have reasonable articulable suspicion to make the stop? Did probable cause support the arrest? Was the OCGA § 40-5-67.1 implied consent notice read timely and correctly? Did the state follow its own testing protocol?

The charge itself may be framed two ways under OCGA § 40-6-391. A "per se" case rests on a test result at or above the statutory limit. A "less safe" case rests on evidence of impairment without a qualifying test result. Defense counsel attacks the two theories differently, and the available arguments depend on the specific facts.

Life After a DUI in Georgia

A first Georgia DUI conviction is sentenced under OCGA § 40-6-391. That statute sets a fine range, a jail term the court may largely suspend above the statutory minimum, community service, a DUI Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction Program, and a period of probation. The exact terms depend on the case and on the judge.

License consequences run separately under OCGA § 40-5-63. That license-suspension lookback is five years, not the ten-year window used for criminal sentencing. A second conviction within five years carries a three-year suspension. Habitual violator status under OCGA § 40-5-58, when it arises, carries a five-year revocation period.

Collateral effects may reach further than the sentence. Insurance rates often rise, and an SR-22 filing may be required. Employment can be affected, and a commercial driver may face separate CDL consequences. Professional licensing boards may ask about a conviction. Some countries screen travelers for impaired-driving convictions and may deny entry, depending on the circumstances.

If this is a first arrest, our first offense DUI page walks through the penalties and the license timeline in more detail.

One consequence is permanent. A DUI conviction in Georgia generally cannot be removed from a criminal history through record restriction. That is one reason the disposition of the case matters as much as the sentence.

Speak With a Georgia DUI Defense Attorney

The 30-day administrative license deadline is the reason to act now rather than after the first court date. William C. Head, PC offers a free consultation about your Georgia DUI arrest.

A first conversation is practical. Defense counsel reviews the citation and the implied consent paperwork, identifies the arraignment date, and maps both tracks: the license case with the Department of Driver Services and the criminal case in court. You will leave knowing which deadlines are already running and what the next step is.

This page is general information about Georgia law. Outcomes depend on the facts of each case, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Call to discuss your own stop with a Georgia DUI lawyer. For more DUI articles and resources, explore our legal library.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to take field sobriety tests if I am pulled over for drunk driving in Georgia? No. Field sobriety evaluations are voluntary in Georgia, and a driver may politely decline them. Declining them is not the same as refusing the state-administered chemical test an officer requests after arrest under OCGA § 40-5-67.1. The two choices carry different consequences.

How long do I have to protect my license after a Georgia DUI arrest? Thirty days. A driver generally has 30 days from the arrest notice to request a Department of Driver Services hearing or, where eligible, to elect an ignition interlock limited permit under OCGA § 40-5-64.1. Confirm current requirements with counsel or DDS.

I got a DUI in Georgia, what happens at my first court date? Arraignment usually comes first. The court reads the charge, the defendant enters a plea, and the judge sets motion deadlines. Defense counsel often enters a not guilty plea and files a discovery demand so the evidence can be reviewed before any plea decision.

Can a Georgia DUI be removed from my record? A Georgia DUI conviction generally cannot be cleared through record restriction. Charges that are dismissed or reduced may be treated differently, depending on the circumstances. The rules are narrow and fact-specific, so ask a Georgia DUI lawyer what your particular disposition allows.

Should I refuse the breath test if I am pulled over in Georgia? There is no single right answer, and no article can advise you on the roadside. Refusal carries administrative and evidentiary consequences under OCGA § 40-5-67.1. Elliott v. State, 305 Ga. 179 (2019), limits how the State may use a refusal at trial. Discuss your facts with counsel.