Whenever you get into a car accident, it is important to know ahead of time how to respond, else matters could get worse. This is especially true when you get into a crash, and you know that you have had a drink beforehand. Whether or not someone else was involved in the collision, there are several actions you will have to take, especially if you might be responsible for the collision.

Some of these steps are required in every accident. For example, if anyone is harmed in the collision, then be sure to call emergency services immediately. And if someone has been injured and/or a car has been considerably impacted, then you should call 911 to report the crash to police as well. And make sure you do not leave until you know you are actually allowed to. Otherwise, regardless of whether or not a police officer thinks there are grounds for a DUI charge, you could be slapped with a felony charge for hit and run. Even if no one else was involved in the crash, you do not want to leave the scene until you try to reach whoever owns the property that you crashed into.

And just as with any typical car crash, you want to gather as much information as you can, such as taking pictures (of everything!) and getting the contact information of witnesses. At the scene itself, you have to be careful about what you say. You should not even apologize, because this could easily be taken by an insurance company and a court as an admission that you were at fault, even if that is not how you meant it at all. But collecting information can not only help you with an insurance claim to help you repair your car and get medical bills, but it might also help you corroborate your story if you feel that you are being unfairly blamed for an accident. When you are able, you can proceed to write down your account of the accident, and you can give this statement to your DUI lawyer. You will want to put the date and time you wrote it on there as well as the phrase: "Confidential: Attorney-Client Privileged".

Now, if you know that you have had something to drink before the accident, you will have to be especially careful with how you respond. This includes how you respond to police. If they are questioning you under suspicion that you might have caused the accident, and perhaps that you were under the influence as well, then you may not want to give a statement to police until you have been able to consult an attorney.

If the officer suspects you enough to ask you to submit to tests, then it is usually in your best interests to comply. In most cases, if you refuse a DUI test, a prosecutor is allowed to bring this up as incriminating evidence. While a skilled DUI attorney can argue against test results, there is not much that can be done to argue against a test refusal. Normally, you can refuse to take a field sobriety test without much in the way of consequences, except that an officer might suspect you are hiding something. In many states, if you refuse a roadside breath test, it is the same as refusing to submit to a breath, blood, or urine test at the police station. If you refuse a chemical DUI test, then your driver's license will automatically be revoked, and a prosecutor can still convict you without any test results whatsoever. So you are able to refuse such tests in most cases, but you have to be aware of the serious penalties this could bring on. For more information on how to handle your DUI case, be certain to contact a DUI defense lawyer immediately. Start searching our directory for a local DUI attorney today!