I'm not knowledgeable enough to comment on the legal aspects, but might it not be counterproductive to arrest by default?
Were I the driver my first instinct would be to assist the police to the best of my ability, but if I was immediately arrested, regardless of what was said re "procedure", I would infer that they were hoping to lay blame and say the absolute minimum until I had some very good advice.
I don't think the public can be expected to understand why police would arrest a cooperative witness before they had any reason to suspect wrongdoing.
I can't see myself trusting an officer who has just arrested me.
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