A well-meaning motorist may feel the urge to call the authorities when they see a probable drunk driver. It’s a noble impulse, but it might not be as simple as you think. Here’s what happens when you call in a drunk driver, straight from the words of retired police officers. 

It takes more than a simple description to take down a drunk driver

Let’s say you witness a probable drunk driver. You can call the authorities and give them a description of the vehicle and the driver (if you can see them). Dispatch will often send police officers to the location to investigate and possibly locate the vehicle. But it doesn’t stop there.

I conducted a ride along with a Central Texas police officer who informed me that observation is key. An officer will observe the possibly impaired motorist, looking for signs of inebriation like swerving, inconsistent speed, sluggish reactions, or driving without headlights in the dark.

What’s more, an officer may need to observe a reason to pull over a motorist beyond a citizen’s report. “If we do find it, we usually need to witness a traffic violation in order to make the stop,” a retired officer shared on Quora. He goes on to say that a caller’s information is hearsay, and may not be admissible in a drunk driving court case. 

Let’s say they find the driver based on your call, and they make the stop based on a violation. Great. Now an officer who suspects impairment may administer a standard field sobriety test (SFST) or a breathalyzer to ascertain blood alcohol concentration (BAC).

But it can start with your information. “We love it when people take the initiative to call us about dangerous activity. But many times the caller does not wish to get involved any further than making a call,” a retired officer said. However, a simple description and the last-known location might not be enough to catch a drunk driver.     

Retired cops share that jurisdiction has more to do with it than you might think

A retired Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officer shared that jurisdiction often hampers the efficacy of a drunk driver report. “Our jurisdiction was in a heavily urban environment, surrounded by other jurisdictions,” the retired cop said. “By the time the caller identified where the car was, it was likely to be in some other police department’s jurisdiction before we could even get the call dispatched.”

Still, police officers recommend that you call instead of doing nothing. “If you see someone you believe is driving while impaired, please call us! They may be sick, they may be drunk, but in either case, they might hurt someone.”