DUI Enforcement in Leesburg

With a reputation for being tough on those caught driving under the influence, it is important that drivers in the town of Leesburg understand the methods that are used to enforce DUI laws. The following is information on those methods, along with growing trends of enforcement in the area. To learn more or seek legal representation for a charge, call today and schedule a free consultation with a Leesburg DUI lawyer.

Leesburg law enforcement officials, whether it be the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office or the Town of Leesburg Police Department or the Virginia State Police, all enforce DUI laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia very aggressively.

There are many reasons for this. The primary reason is that DUI statutes are safety laws. Which means they are enacted in order to provide safe driving areas for the drivers who are not under the influence of drugs or alcohol. When you are driving on a highway in the Commonwealth of Virginia, especially in Loudoun County and in the Town of Leesburg, you should be able to assume the drivers that share the road with you are not under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

In order to enforce the safety rules, law enforcement actively patrols and enforces the DUI laws. This is particularly evident in certain times of the year such as around holidays where drinking is prevalent, around certain sporting events or music festivals where alcohol is consumed, or at given days of the week and times of day, namely weekend evenings and late at night.

Are DUI Checkpoints Common in Leesburg?

In Leesburg, it is not overly common to find a DUI checkpoint. By its nature Leesburg does lend itself to be an ideal location for a DUI checkpoint as there are many public areas where alcohol is consumed such as bars, music venues, or restaurants. In addition, there are a number of roadways in which a checkpoint can be really established.

However, DUI checkpoints require a lot of resources, specifically additional manpower hours and procedural resources. Checkpoints must be properly validated prior to their use in order to be constitutionally valid. Checkpoints are also problematic for law enforcement officials in that they’re casting a net so wide they may snare innocent drivers and inconvenience them. For that reason, the public at large generally disfavors the law enforcement use of checkpoints.

Still, checkpoints are permitted in Virginia and in the Town of Leesburg. If you were stopped at a traffic checkpoint that led to a DUI arrest, it is important to contact an experienced Leesburg DUI attorney right away.

DUI Enforcement Trends in Leesburg

One trend our attorneys have noticed in the last several years of practicing in the town of Leesburg is that Leesburg is tough on DUIs. Leesburg judges are tough, Leesburg prosecutors are tough, and it is not a jurisdiction in which reduced plea agreements are commonly made. In order to achieve the best result possible, you should discuss all possible factual defenses to your case. Your attorney will apply those factual defenses to try and generate sound legal defenses.

These trends are part of a larger national trend that disfavors DUI. In today’s environment, it is difficult to break down, or reduce, a DUI offense relying solely on mitigating. In addition, no one wants to support laws that are perceived as allowing dangerous drivers to be on the road.

Both the Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney and the Loudoun County Sheriff are elected officials and they have constituents to answer to if they are perceived as “weak” on DUIs. This is true in the case of drunk driving as well as distracted driving cases.

However, sometimes innocent people have their rights violated and are found guilty erroneously because of the strict enforcement of these laws. Your criminal defense attorney will make sure that wrongful convictions do not happen and to assert and to help those accused persons exert their rights.