Have You (or a Friend) Ever Been Busted for DUI?

[NashVegas]

I have a friend who was. For his sentence, he was forced to spend several weekends in jail.

He was permitted to drive with restriction: to and from work; had he tried to drive for any other reason and been pulled over, he'd have lost his license and been forced to report directly to county lock-up.

That was for a first offense.

Anyone else have experience, or knowledge of others'?


edited to add: this was less than one year ago, and in Tennessee.

[hlthe2b]

1. That seems pretty tough for a first offense...

I had a couple of work colleagues nabbed in DUI checks--granted several (probably 15 years ago) and in another state than Colorado-, but I believe all plead "no lo contendre," had to attend "dui school," and pay a big fine. But, to my knowledge, as long as they immediately completed the DUI school, any suspension of their license was removed. I also don't think they were restricted from driving during that time, except of course no drinking or partying. So, that might have equated to a restriction to drive only to and from work--they clearly weren't going out socializing, anyway. But, these were first offenses, they were caught in a DUI checkpoint and had borderline alcohol levels and had not broken any other law. To the extent that may play in, I don't know...


While I don't argue the seriousness of driving under the influence, for any who would argue they "got off too light," I am almost positive neither EVER drove after drinking ANYTHING with alcohol content again. Nor had either been driving "impaired" when they were caught up in a routine DUI checkpoint. For most people, I think, one does not need to destroy their life or career to send the important message.

[napi21]

2. I was, but it was 20 years ago. No accidents or anything, but

I was in a brand new town (to me) and I made the stupid mistake of driving right past the police station at 45 mph when the speed limit was 35 mph.

Anyway, I was carted off to jail and had to stay the night. Around noon the next day I finally talked them into taking me to an ATM to withdraw the $350 to pay to get out of jail. I and my license was suspended for 6 months, had to attend traffic school after that. I also had to pay super high insurance coverage for one year, about $2,500 if I remember right, and that was for just liability.

That was in SC. At the time, I had heard of some other States that permitted offenders to drive just to work, but not in that State.

[KG]

3. in 1978, before it became a major crime. cost me like 500 bucks and a alcohol awareness class.

jacked up my insurance for a couple years, but i never lost my license.

[Demobrat]

4. A friend of mine was busted for DUI in AZ

a few years ago. She did ten days in prison for a first offense. They're a little tougher on drunk drivers there than here in CA.

[Redstone]

5. I was, and I hadn't had anything to drink. Anyone can get arrested for anything.

The cops apparently don't get trained to understand that someone with MS cannot do the "field sobriety test" activities...

Redstone

[NashVegas]

6. Ouch

that sucks.

[Redstone]

9. Thank you, MADD. My car had broken down on the highway, and I was committing the crime

of walking home when the cops decided that was a suspicious activity. And when I couldn't walk an (invisible) straight line, heel-to-toe, that sealed it for them.

Redstone

[hlthe2b]

20. Sorry to hear that... were you able to get charges dropped?

Too bad so many cops aren't taught to "think." We'd have a lot less taser and cop-protester violence incidents, too, I'm sure, if they'd just take time to think.

[Redstone]

23. Oh, of course. When I blew a ZERO on the meter, that ended it. Like I said, I hadn't had

anything to drink that evening.

Redstone

[hlthe2b]

24. Did you get any kind of apology?

Probably a dumb question.....:shrug:

[Redstone]

27. From a State Trooper? Fat chance, as you might suspect.

Redstone

[Roon]

15. I get BPV...which is you get dizzy when you tilt your head back

I didn't have it at the time that I got pulled over to do a field test.But if I got pulled over during a spell, I would fail the sobriety test for sure. Drunk or not...

[Madspirit]

7. I Have

I got a DWI...what it's called in Texas...in 1986. It's why I got sober. I was in jail for a night or so. My sentence was two years probation. Nothing else. I also broke the terms of my probation more than once and never got stuck back in jail. I just was given more hoops to jump through. My attorney was friends with the judge. She's a wonderful attorney in our town who's father was a...as she puts it...a Hanging Judge. She wanted to be different. I asked her, straight out..."will it help me that YOU are friends with the judge?" She said..."Of course."

I have been sober for 15 years now.
Lee

[Madspirit]

8. Oh Yeah...

I also had to take an alcohol awareness class where they showed us a film with Patty Duke playing the wife of a drunk. It was odd. No popcorn.
Lee

[bliss_eternal]

10. Given that someone close to me almost lost their life...

...because they were driving with someone that they didn't know was "wasted"....uh, no.

I have little to no tolerance for it. Sorry.

[Roon]

11. The pigs tried once

I was pulled over and I was drunk as a skunk. Did the roadside and passed.Then the pig let me drive away,drunk as a skunk.....

[DURHAM D]

12. Several friends with DUI's.

They spent no time in jail other than the night they were arrested - about three hours. I have personally bailed out three friends in the past two years - all were under 30. Drivers license suspended for a few days. They met with someone for an alcohol evaluation. Then had to take a class on driving safety. Went to court (with their attorney) and paid a fine and received a deferred judgment. They had to get a thing on their car (for one year)that you blow in to. If they can't do the right combination the car will not start. If no more driving violations for one year everything is back to normal - unless you get another DUI.

Here is the rub - the thing you blow into costs a couple of hundred dollars a month and you have to have it read and re-calibrated fairly often. Also, insurance will go up ten times. If you have a loan on your auto you must carry full insurance coverage. This can get really,really expensive. Two of them were driving BMWs when they were arrested. They had to get rid of them due to insurance costs and buy clunkers. The DUI has cost each of them $8,000-$12,000, including attorneys fees.

All of them are very afraid of getting another DUI. As a result of the financial burden (and the embarrassment) they have changed their drinking habits, their driving habits and their drinking and driving habits.

[TahitiNut]

13. My nephew (stepsister's son) - weekend in jail, year probation, 18 month suspension

... without even work-and-back limited driving. Weekly (or more) breathalyzer for a year - NO DRINKING at all permitted while on probation. 50(?) hours community service. All he blew was 0.08 - stopped for illegal turn. (He's still waiting to get his drivers license back.)

I have absolutely NO sympathy for a spoiled brat who did 70 in a 35 while under probation AND a suspended license. (That's THREE serious offenses in one.) Where I come from (and in every state I've lived), 70 in a 35 is called "reckless driving," NOT just "speeding." If she wasn't also drunk, she's criminally stupid. Far more often than not, the arresting officer UNDERSTATES the violation, so it's likely she was doing more than 70 and had a couple of drinks under her belt, too.

Thirty-five years ago my first cousin was killed (T-boned) by a drunk driver while he was in college in the Yew-Pee. About thirty years ago, my former late stepfather who managed a family-owned bar was coming home after work at 3am and rear-ended a disabled car on the highway - and killed the driver who was in back. The car had no lights on and the driver was wearing dark clothes - but my stepfather had (of course) been drinking. License revoked for life.

[NashVegas]

14. I Have Some Sympathy

But mostly for the wreck their personal life is.

My dad lost his drivers' license for DWI when I was a kid. It had a huge effect on how much time we got to spend together (custody issues).

[TahitiNut]

21. Unlike most, she can afford chauffeurs, therapy, and counselling. She's 26 years old.

She's not demonstrated an iota of personal responsibility. She SHARES the blame for who she is with her terrible parents. If she can't, she should be committed.

She's the poster girl for the inheritance tax.

[devilgrrl]

31. I'm glad that you mentioned the "inheritance tax"...

I'm hoping that it becomes a topic of conversation as the Paris circus continues as a case for keeping it in place, if you know what I mean.

[Digit]

16. Yep, in 1982

I was within walking distance to my home, but my friend had latched onto another patron and they were ordering me shooters so I would not leave. They were busy making out and I was sitting there bored.

It was time to leave and my friend's car would not start. She asked for a ride home and against my better judgement (which at this time was near none), I gave her a ride.

The cop was sitting in the parking lot and followed me.

Five houses from our destination, he stopped me. He did the field sobriety test, which I summarily failed. My friend's mother had to come and try to drive my car to her home and she did not know how to drive a stick.

I spent a horrible night in jail. I had to pee where everyone could see me in this cell and blew a 1.0, back when that WAS the limit.

I was mortified.

I contacted an attorney and the whole thing cost me a bundle. I had a perfect driving record up to that time. Because of my record, and probably because I had an attorney, they reduced it to reckless driving. I had to take the ASAP class and I recall the mouse from Chuck E Cheese was in my class.

I have not done that sort of thing ever again. In fact, when I have gone out with friends to drink, I volunteer as the designated driver. I only will drink soda on those nights. I do not trust anyone with having to be able to get me home.

Oh, and as a sidenote....when I went to court, the cop who pulled me over had his brother in court for DWI as his SECOND offense.

The laws are worse now than they were....so don't even ATTEMPT this!

[hlthe2b]

19. It certainly seems the enforcement/sentences are much much

tougher.

It has been decades since I've gone out and had more than a single beer or glass of wine over an entire evening... usually I stick with coffee or diet coke. The few times I really felt like partying, the entire group stayed at a nearby hotel and taxied to the restaurant/bars.

This must be so hard to get through to teens. There really is NO margin of error for mistakes anymore. NONE.

[Sukie1941]

17. No, but I should have been

In my younger years I was lucky to not be stopped for drinking while driving.

Wonder what would have happened.

[CabalPowered]

18. I have a friend who's about to finish his sentence

He had a very strange offer from the prosecutor, reduced jail time if he accepted random home searches. He lost his license completely for one year. He did a month in jail, serving only weekends. He was searched several times but didn't have any alcohol in the house. Unfortunately the guy still drinks heavily and I can't say that he's been "corrected".

[Lasher]

I was, 10 years ago

Carted off to mandatory 24 hours in jail, license suspended for 6 months but got that reduced to 3 months by attending drunk driving classes. Family members drove me to work and picked me up to bring me home. For driving while suspended you get 6 months in jail so I didn't make any burger runs. $200 fine. Spent $2000 on a crooked lawyer who neglected my case after he got the money.

[Digit]

22. A neighbor of my mother was busted for her 7th offense.

She lost her license for a year, but that seems to inadequate to me.

I notice down her in NC it happens time and time again.

Oh, I can tell you something to piss you off. I am an insurance agent and rates for people with DWI's are cheaper that regular rates (at least in NC). They have such a concentrated segment for people with this charge that it has reduced their rates significantly.

This is not right and something should be done.

[siouxsiecreamcheese]

25. nope never have

The worst story I can think of about drunk driving was back during the 2000 election. I lived in a pretty small hick town in NY and I went to a gas station to get some coffee before work. Anyway it was election day and there was a group of employees gathered at the front register discussing who they were going to vote for. I overheard one of them say that they were gonna vote for Bush because he had a drunk driving conviction and they all had one too. They all agreed with this guy that that was a good reason to vote for Bush as they all too had gotten into trouble for drunk driving. This was the ONLY reason they were voting for him. I couldn't believe the stupidity I heard that morning. Then later on Bush was selected as president and I finally realized how dumb this country can be.

[Berry Cool]

33. siouxsie, your story explains a lot.

Maybe that story, multiplied millions of times, goes a long way toward explaining a couple of election outcomes.

Maybe people didn't vote for Bush because he was the candidate they most wanted to have a beer with. They voted for him because he was the candidate they'd be most willing to bail out after they had a beer with him and he drove home and got busted for it.

[Minimus]

26. Ex-husband - 5 DWIs

1st time - fined and court ordered alcohol education classes
2nd time - night in jail, fined, court ordered AA
3rd time - jailed for the weekend, fined, court ordered AA, restricted driving, probation
4th time - jailed (bailed out by sister), fined, licensed revoked, court ordered AA, probation
5th time - occurred after finally getting his license back. Jailed (bailed out by sister), fined, court ordered AA, probation, Breathalyzer installed on his car at his expense.


I was gone after the 3rd time. Thousands of dollars for attorney's fees and fines, worrying that he would kill someone or himself was hard to take.

This man was an alcoholic and just refused to admit it. I moved away and don't know what ever happened to him but I can bet he probably kept drinking and driving.

[mrcheerful]

28. Well in 1975 I was pulled over for loud exhaust, my car had a cracked manifold and ever now and then

it would pop when you let off the gas pedal. From a car accident in 1962 I was left with a slurred speech defect and had trouble balancing, I also had a sever limp on my right leg. When the cop heard me speak he demanded that I get out of the car and do some "tests" to check my sobriety. Seeings as every test he wanted me to do dealt with balance I refused. So I got a free trip to the hospital for blood work to check alcohol levels in my system. Boy was dad mad when I called him from the hospital at 3 am for a ride back to where my car was parked because the cop said he couldn't give me a ride back to where he picked me up from.

Edited because theres no e at the end of mad.

[porphyrian]

29. Nope, dodged that bullet.

I pretty much did all my drinking in a fifteen year period. I can hardly finish a beer any more, for whatever reason. And now I don't even have a car.

[Wiley50]

30. Yeah, in 1985

I spent that night in the tank

After court

I spent mandatory 48 hours in jail

a few years later, after a divorce
i was staying at my mom's house
and came home from a bar
only to find the lights on
and her still awake

so I pulled past our house by three houses
pulled to the curb and passed out

So i wake up being pulled from the car by cops
as the neighbors didn't recocnize my car in ftont of their house
and called the cops
I wasn't bothering a soul

the car I was in was a demo
belonging to the car dealer I was working for
and it took a lot of pull
for the sales manager to get them to charge me with public drunk
instead of another Dui

But there were things different between paris and I

I didn't drive TWICE on a suspended license
I showed up, personally, for my court dates
and
I never gave the judge the notion
that I thought I was above the law

The little socialite got everything she deserves

[BlooInBloo]

32. I'm the only one of my inner circle of friends who *hasn't* gotten a dui.