The Lawrenceville Police Department said officers arrested a driver after responding to multiple reports of unsafe driving, including allegations that the vehicle crossed into oncoming lanes and struck curbs. The account was reported by FOX 5 Atlanta.
What officers reported seeing
Police released video of the encounter. As described by FOX 5, an officer asked the driver, “Do you know where you are right now?” The driver said yes, but identified the county rather than the city when asked where he was and answered “daytime” when asked about the time. FOX 5 reported that police interpreted the responses as signs of confusion.
The driver was arrested after the encounter, and authorities had not identified him in the available reports. Lawrenceville police said the video was intended as a warning about drinking and driving. During a search, a beer can fell from the man's pocket, according to the department and Atlanta News First.
Relevant Georgia law
Alcohol-impaired driving in Georgia
Statewide figures provide broader context but do not show a Gwinnett County trend. According to the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, 353 of Georgia’s 1,491 traffic fatalities in 2019 involved a driver with a blood alcohol concentration of .08 or higher.
A Governor’s Office of Highway Safety fact sheet reported that in 2020, 127 of Georgia’s 159 counties had at least one alcohol-related fatal crash, and that 27 percent of the state’s alcohol-related crashes occurred in five Metro Atlanta counties, including Gwinnett, according to the Digital Library of Georgia.
The beer can alone does not establish whether an open-container violation occurred. The Georgia Governor's Office of Highway Safety says state law bars consuming alcohol or possessing an open alcoholic beverage container in the passenger area of a motor vehicle on a public road. The agency says a violation can bring a fine of up to $200 and that a lone driver is considered to possess an open container found in that area. Those provisions are summarized by the Georgia Governor's Office of Highway Safety.
