Drunk driving is illegal – that is a known fact. Having alcohol in the system when you get behind the wheel can have serious consequences. It can decrease your focus and slow down your response time, and even make you lose control of the vehicle. In the end, you might cause an accident, injuring yourself and potentially others in the process.

But what happens if you are driving on a nice day, you are stopped by an officer, and after this whole ordeal you end up with a DUI charge without taking one sip of alcohol? It can be frustrating, but there are other things apart from alcohol that can lead to a DUI charge. 

This post will look into DUIs and whether you can be convicted even if you haven’t been drinking alcohol. 

What Is a DUI?

DUI is short for “driving under the influence”. Someone who is charged with a DUI may have consumed a substance that affected their driving behavior, causing them to drive chaotically and not respect road signs. 

Obviously, most people who hear about DUIs think about an individual who had a few drinks and decided to drive. But you have to remember that the term implies driving under the influence, not specifically “driving under the influence of alcohol”. 

It means that it involves any type of substance that can influence your driving habits. 

Can I Be Convicted of a DUI without Drinking Alcohol?

You can be charged with a DUI even if you had no alcohol recently. A police officer may find out that you haven’t been drinking alcohol, but that does not mean you haven’t used other substances that led to your erratic road behavior. 

All it takes is some testing to reveal whether you have been using illegal substances or anything that impacts your brain, and you can easily end up with a DUI charge.

In 2019, Virginia had a total of 236 fatalities related to alcohol use on the road. If you end up charged with a DUI in Virginia yet you haven’t been drinking any alcoholic beverage, you can always try to defend yourself with the help of a Virginia DUI attorney. 

Things Other than Alcohol That Can Lead to a DUI

What are the things that can result in a DUI conviction? Several things apart from alcohol can lead to you being charged. Some might even surprise you. 

Here are the substances for which you can get charged with a DUI:

• Over-the-Counter Medications

There are various reasons why people take over-the-counter medications. They can help with acne, constipation, colds, pain, diarrhea, and many other things. Since they can be sold without a prescription, anyone has access to them and can take them. 

Whereas they can be very useful, they can actually be a bit dangerous to the individual taking them. Certain people will abuse over-the-counter medications simply due to how easy it is to purchase them. Even these medications can have side effects when taken in excess, which means they can have an effect on one’s driving behavior. 

Besides, there are medications known to cause drowsiness, such as those meant for allergies. 

Therefore, these medications can get up convicted of a DUI.

• Prescription Medications

Doctors will prescribe medications for you when you are experiencing health issues. Since a healthcare professional prescribed them, they are seemingly harmless to some people. 

Unfortunately, prescription medications can also have side effects, just like over-the-counter ones. Labels will have warnings on them when there are risks. Some drivers either do not see these warnings or completely ignore them, choosing to drive regardless. 

Prescription medications can affect your mental awareness and control of the vehicle.  

• Drugs

Illegal drug consumption is quite widespread. In the whole world, around 13.5 million people use opioids and 9.2 million of them consume heroin. 

It is not a secret that many illegal drugs can impact one’s reactions and behavior and might even result in them not being able to see properly. Driving in these conditions can be very risky and some drug users experience fear, violent behavior, and even hallucinations. 

So, if you use any illegal drug, it is very easy to be convicted of a DUI.

Final Thoughts

Have you been charged with a DUI without using alcohol? Perhaps you have used an illegal drug or a medication that you did not know could affect your road behavior. All you can do is hire a DUI attorney to handle this case properly.