When an impaired driver gets into an accident, they risk a DUI or even the more serious charge of a DUI causing injury. However, when an impaired driver crashes into a police vehicle, they are almost certain to be arrested. Across the country, dozens of people have been arrested on suspicion of drunk driving after crashing into police vehicles.

A CHP officer was driving southbound on Highway 1 in Santa Maria when he noticed another vehicle approaching northbound in the southbound lane. The officer reportedly tried to swerve into the northbound lane to avoid the crash when the wrong-way driver did the same, ending in a head-on crash. The officer suffered moderate injuries, while the 18-year-old Nipomo resident, Miranda A. Miranda suffered only minor injuries. Miranda was arrested on suspicion of a felony DUI causing injury.

On a single night in Maryland, two alleged drunk drivers hit police patrol cars in separate incidents. In the first accident, an officer was assisting another officer with a DUI traffic stop. His unoccupied police cruiser was struck by a passing car that fled the accident. When officers tracked him down, the vehicle reportedly reversed crashing into the patrol car again. Officers arrested Hector Orlando Romero on suspicion of a DUI, with a blood alcohol level tested at 0.19%.

An hour later, a suspected drunk driver was reported crossing the center lane into oncoming traffic. When police spotted the vehicle, the driver rear-ended a parked car before reversing into an officer's unoccupied police cruiser. The driver was pulled out of his car and arrested on suspicion of a DUI and other traffic offenses, with a blood alcohol level of 0.18%.

In Edmonds, Washington, a state trooper was pulled over on the side of the freeway investigating a possible DUI. Another driver was speeding down I-5 at over 100 miles per hour when he tried to slow down before crashing into the stopped cruiser. The trooper was not inside the vehicle and no one was injured. The driver was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving.

In Oklahoma, a Tulsa Police Department vehicle was pulled over to the side of the road investigating a possible stolen vehicle during a traffic stop. Suddenly, another vehicle crashed into the rear of the police vehicle before spinning out in the road and hitting a truck. When police went to investigate, they found a partially empty bottle of vodka in the vehicle with Callie Childress behind the wheel. Childress suffered minor injuries and was arrested for a felony DUI.

Police vehicles may be more susceptible to getting hit by an impaired driver. Police often pull over to the side of the road where cars are not normally parked. They may even be double parked in a traffic lane. When a driver is impaired, they may not see the police car until it is too late or they may not leave enough room to pass, hitting the police vehicle. Police officers are also out driving the streets in the late evening to early morning hours when many DUI accidents occur.

Not all accidents involve police officers are so obvious from the crash. In Fairfax County, Virginia, Christie A. Edgar rear-ended a Ford Explorer that turned out to be the police chief's unmarked police vehicle. Chief Edwin C. Roessler Jr. was treated for minor injuries and was back at work the next day. Edgar was charged with drunk driving.

If you were involved in an accident and charged with a DUI, you may be facing felony DUI charges. At the Gorelick Law Offices, attorney Lynn Gorelick has dedicated her legal career to defending people facing a DUI and other criminal charges in the East Bay. With more than 30 years of DUI experience, Lynn Gorelick understands how the prosecutors operate. Call the local East Bay DUI defense attorney who understands how to get your DUI or other criminal charges reduced or dismissed.