What should you say when a cop asks 'Have you been drinking?'

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When you come to a DUI checkpoint and you make a U-turn and you leave, there is going to be a cop on a motorcycle that is going to pull you over. So, if you come to a checkpoint, don’t do that. Don’t make a U-turn, just get in line. And when you come up to the front of the line, they ask you (they being the police) have you been drinking tonight. There is one answer. Only one answer. And that answer is No. I don’t care if you have a bottle of Jack Daniels in your hand. I don’t care if you have a bud lite in your hand and you give it to the cop. No. No. No drinking. Because guess what is going to happen if you say you have had one drink, or two drinks. They are going to say, “step out of the car and come over here”. So do not admit to drinking and driving. The best advice I can give you is don’t drink and drive, take an Uber, take a Lyft, or just plain old don’t drink. Thank you.

[wizardsuth]

_This Hour Has 22 Minutes_ did a spoof with a marijuana checkpoint. The cop asks, "How high are you?" to which the couple answers, "Hi. How are you?".

[anthenyiscool]

Literally, all a cop wants you to do is incriminate yourself..

[rastrmantheseer]

When I got stopped, the patrolman came up to me and asked, "Are you drinking?" I said, "Why, are you buying?" We laughed and laughed. I need bail money!

[pbslab]

The former head of the PA state police who in the 80's started a big DUI crusade, with the help of MADD, who called him our knight in shining armor, calling every drunk driver a murderer in waiting, was himself arrested for, yep, drunk driving!

[CiscoWes]

If you're smelling like a brewery I doubt this method would work.

[nicksinger]

How about you say nothing? You aren't even required to answer the question.

[marceld]

I had a friend from Chile answer truthfully when asked if 'he had anything to drink today'.  
He said, "Yes officer" The cop asked him *what* he had to drink. 
His reply, "I had orange juice this morning. A few cups of coffee... some water..." The cop asked him if he was trying to be a smart-ass.
He said, "No officer. I am trying to answer your question truthfully. You asked me if I had *anything* to drink today. If I was to say 'No' I would be lying. Now, if you are asking if I had anything alcoholic to drink, well the answer would be no. I do not drink alcohol"

It sounds even better when he tells it with his thick accent. No joke.

[Thorny_Recipient]

"Have you been drinking?" "Water."

[WilliamJohnson-lqbd]

The advice I'm about to give applies to many different encounters with cops. When you get stopped and have done nothing wrong, they're gonna go "fishing." (Asking stupid questions and looking around your car)
I'll answer one or two questions, but then I'll ask one of my own. Look the cop in the eye and say, "Am I being detained, or am I free to go?" This puts them in the uncomfortable position of having to either tell you you're free to go, or they have to have reasonable suspicion in order to detain you.
They can sit there and ask you questions for hours on end if you sit there and keep answering.
I had a State Trooper in Texas try to find something to bust me for, but I'd done nothing wrong. After a few minutes of questioning, I got disgusted and remembered a little something I learned during Arrest, Search, and Seisure class I took while in the Police Academy. (I never became a cop. The amount of unethical crap they taught us, ways to find reasons to bust people, etc, left me wanting nothing to do with those a--holes)
Anyway, I STRONGLY advise anyone reading this to get a copy of your state's current book on Penal Code. STUDY THE SECTION ON ARREST, SEARCH, AND SEISURE!!!! This section tells you what cops can and CANNOT do. It tells you what your right are. Learn the vocabulary. Understand what arrest, detainment, probable cause, and reasonable suspicion are.
When a cop sees that you've read the Penal Code, they start backpeddling real fast.

[deadbeats]

Cop was in front of me driving maybe 10 on a 55mph hwy so I hit the signal and safely passed him. Pulled me over, I was sober and I passed each test fine. Which just pissed the cop off more and more each test. When he realized I was sober after the 5th test he wrote me a $300+ saying I recklessly drove around him and almost put him off the road. Who the hell does that to a cop. I said sir that's not true.. His reply was "who are they going to believe in court, me or you?" I was young, cameras weren't everywhere, ignorant of my rights and had to take it.
Fk Lawrenceburg Indiana the whole entire town is crooked.

[smcd]

Outstanding video. Short and directly to the point. Delivered the information clearly and forcefully. More videos like this, please.

[miketexas]

I don't see how these DUI check points are even constitutional to begin with. You're basically being assumed guilty and you have to prove your innocence on the spot.

[mcdashb]

A cop in Granby Ct was given an award for making a record number of DUI arrests. Big article in the local paper about it. A few months later you would never guess what happened to him.

[Woudloper]

I had that question lots of times.

I once just said: No.
Officer sticks his face through the window and says: ‘Then why does it smell like alcohol in here?’
Me: ‘That’s weird, a second ago it didn’t.’

[darrylstahley]

My dad always expressed that for years you say one drink your getting tested

[GeorgeJefferson-eggu]

I actually did pull a u-turn one time, on a narrow two-lane road, in a Ford F-350 king cab w/extended bed. It was the size of a boat. The truck was around 18' to 20' ft. long. Not only was it almost impossible to u-turn that thing on such a narrow road, it took dozens of little back and forth maneuvering, but I accidentally blocked traffic going the other way for several minutes and everybody was honking at me to move. I caused a jam, and created a ton of attention and I have no idea how I got away with it?! I finally got it turned all the way around and I was moving back in the opposite direction. It was looney tunes shit, like that scene from Austin Powers when he's trying to u-turn the cart around in the hallway.

[franko]

I usually just say “¿qué? no hablo ingles” then when they bring a Spanish guy I say “Shénme? Wǒ bù huì shuō yīngyǔ.” Then when they bring a Chinese guy I say “Was? Ich spreche chinesisch.” Then when they bring a German guy I say “Nani? Watashi wa doitsugo o hanasemasen”. Then when they bring a Japanese guy, I’m sober and I say “surely you have somebody that can do this in English, right”?

[jimvick]

Years ago when I was asked by a cop if I had been drinking, I simply told him I had been sober over 6 years 4 months, and some odd number of days... He replied by barking back at me, "Are you getting smart with me kid? (I was actually 25, 6'6", 250lbs, and took my sobriety very seriously)".
It was at this point I realized the kind of asshole I was dealing with and did what I hate doing most (and had to do most of my life), and that is put on a fake persona of complete submission to avoid an even bigger confrontation/hassle.
At the end of the day, I was given a warning for doing nothing wrong and allowed to go home after 40 minutes of my life was wasted. It made me aware of something I really hadn't encountered before up until then with any police officer, that is, some of them are out there to create situations which only they can fix... That is why I do my best to obey the law and avoid them at all cost.

[olliemartinelli]

This happened to my dad in Cyprus. We got stopped and when asked if he’d drunk anything, my dad instantly just said ‘no’ with no hesitation or anything (blatant lie he’d had like a few glasses of wine) and the policeman was just like fair enough, thanks bye ✋

[justicegusting]

My answer to the CHP officer who pulled me over for 10mph over the limit…when he asked if I had been drinking…was “absolutely NOT”.
I pleaded not guilty to the speeding in court, the cop never showed-up at trial…case dismissed.