DUI

[G35Princess]

This is not my week. I finally take a vacation up to Northern Cali. I'm in Rancho Cordova (Sacramento area) and was having such a great time until last night....

My friend got arrested for DUI. I really don't know what happened. I was asleep in his car. 2 of my other friends were following from behind. Supposily right when they got onto the Bay bridge, my friend took off real fast... the 2 that followed estimated at about 90-95... the cops said 105.

He pulled over... I kinda woke up and he told me to go back to sleep but then the cop shined his flashlight into my face so I really woke up and was really confuse as what was going on...plus I'm definitely not sober. The made him do all those drunk drivng tests... AND HE PASSED ALL OF THEM !!!!

The other cop came back and asked me for my id... asked if I was cold cuz I was freezing..he tried to tell me how to keep warm... and asked if my freind was drinking... I told him, I was drinking and I can't drive and my friend is perfectly fine. None the less they finally give him a breathe analyser and it was .09 or .1....not sure and so they ARRESTED him for that.

The cop used my phone to call my other 2 friends. Asked them if they can take me cuz my friend is gonna have to stay until morning at the station. I asked if there was anything I can do. Post bail..etc. the cop said NO. Told us to go home and wait for him to contact us when he's out. I wanted to just pay for a hotel for the night until he gets out but my other 2 friends insist that there's nothing they or I can do .. and to just go home. The drive from oakland back to rancho cordova is 1.5 hrs.

I felt like shit all night and even til now. I called up my friend's other friend to tell him what happened...and all I got is his bitching. He started yelling at me -- saying that I'm messed up that went back to rancho cordova- puts the entire blame on me. Then askes if I can see his point! Of course I can, but it's always easier to say what should of been done when you're not there. I really don't know what to do at this point. I haven't heard from him yet...and I wanna go back to make sure he's okay...but I don't wanna be a burden to the friends I'm staying with by asking them to take me back there.... (they've only slept for about 3 hrs) and I don't know what to do right now and somehow I feel responsible and I feel like shit

[lovechild1970]

If he spent the night in jail he will be pissed and needing sex to make up for it...then he will be fine...it isn't the end of the world spending the night in jail is it? Unless it is me...I would not be thrilled by the experience...

It sounds you had nothing to do with the charges and there was really nothing you could do...if you are asked to help, then help at that point? Keep me posted on this story unfolding...

I think I was just in another thread saying something about you and drama.

[msb3079]

i'm in Vermont.. so i don't have much time to read/comment on this now... but i did get a DUI in July i'm sorta getting out of it, i'll explain later...
but i will say that the experience (and realizing how we don't have the rights we think we do) 0has made me seriously consider moving out of the country.

[ckforensic]

Sorry to hear that, princess. That's a tough situation. Good luck and keep us posted.

msb- when/where did you get your DUI? What level did you blow? How are you getting out of it?

[Jaylin]

Why would it be your fault....you didn't force him to drive, let alone going 90-95, that's his own stupidity...

[ckforensic]

Originally Posted by Jaylin

Why would it be your fault....you didn't force him to drive, let alone going 90-95, that's his own stupidity...

Bingo. I don't get it either... It's all about personal responsibility. It's absurd to blame princess for this (unless she's withholding evidence from us).

[uhohNumber2brb]

my lil bro got a dui this past summer. He ended up settling for ARD charges, which will be exsponged(however you spell it) after a year. If this is your friends first time for a DUI, it wont be that bad. Several other friends also got a reduced charge to ARD as well.

[msb3079]

#2 got it.
i will be in the ARD programas well. bc it was my first offense. i don't think many other states do that (especially CA)
LUCKILY for me - it happened in PA and they have this program in which you lose your driving privledges in PA for 30 days and goto a few classes.
i live in NJ. because i am going on this program, it is NOT a "conviction" therefore PA does not inform NJ. i just can't drive in PA for 30 days. the funny thing is I almost make out (besides the $1500 lawyer) bc i got the 81 mph speeding ticket thrown away completely.

i'm at work... hopfully i have more time later on to explain the story... but will say, i'm still PISSED about it! cops can lie, stretch the truth and do pretty much whatever they want.
no offense Gard... but i have very little respect for cops. AND i am friends with a lot. and yes -- i do not respect them in a professional manner.
if you ask me -- the legal system is FUCKED.
IT IS ALL ABOUT $$$$$$$$$$$$ and noone can convince me otherwise!!

[GZire]

Your friend is a dumbshit for driving drunk.

He has no reason for blaming you. He put your life and the lives of the other drivers in danger by driving drunk.

I drove drunk once in my life. It was to date the stupidest thing I have ever done and I will never do it again.

[partyman66]

Sounds like the states that you guys live in have relatively lax DUI laws.

I have 2 close friends who have gotten DUI's in Massachusetts, and both of them lost their license for at least 6 months. I guess the way the law works right now for a first time offense(In Massachusetts), is that you lose your license for 1 year if you fail a breathalyzer. But.. if you know that you're definitely drunk when they go to test you, you're supposed to decline to take the breathalyzer... resulting in a mandatory 6 month license suspension and no record of the offense going into your drivers history. You can decline to take the test anytime you want(even if you've had nothing to drink)... meaning you get your license suspended for that 6 month period, regardless.

A DUI stays on your record here, whereas a suspension for declining the test does not go on your record supposedly. I think a DUI might also be considered a criminal offense as well.

I can't vouch for how accurate this info is regardling the law, but this is what the people I know have told me based on their experiences in Massachusetts.

[Kalmairn]

Thank you, GZire, for stating what should be obvious. Driving drunk is just plain stupid, you're playing Russian Roulette with innocent people.

Anyone who is caught deserves what happens to them. Anyone who kills or injures an innocent while drunk should be put away for a long time - if not put down entirely.

If you don't believe that a 0.08BAC has an impact on driving, you need to rethink. When I used to autocross I could tell the difference between being on Advil vs. not being on Advil, let alone alcohol. There is a serious impact at even lower levels than 0.08, but that's where the law is and that's what will be enforced.

In Texas, you lose your license for 30 days on the first conviction, 90 for the second, the third is a felony. If you blow over, you have effectively no defense while if you don't blow at all you can stand in court and have a chance of getting off.

Kal.

[uhohNumber2brb]

Originally Posted by Kalmairn

If you blow over, you have effectively no defense while if you don't blow at all you can stand in court and have a chance of getting off.Kal.

shh....don't let this leak out to the gf's.

[msb3079]

Originally Posted by Kalmairn

Thank you, GZire, for stating what should be obvious. Driving drunk is just plain stupid, you're playing Russian Roulette with innocent people.

but see.. i was not drunk. i had 4 drinks in over 4 hours and somehow "magically" blow a .11???????????????
i felt completely sober. i know what drunk and even "buzzed" is. i was neither.
and i don't like to hear the "affecting" shit either. some people drive sober as if they are a .15 BAC
.11 means nothing to me. its a number. i know i was fine.
.11 is not fair... how do i know what the hell it is?? if we are gonna play the number game... then they should give everyone breathalyzers.
what if i blow a .081?? compared to a .079???? how the FUCK do i know???

i actually did research on the beers i had that night -- and they were all higher levels 7-9% beers. so i guess thats why. but they were draught beers -- it doenst tell you the AC. a lot of labels even dont. that should be a law (is it?) HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO KNOW IS MY POINT.

i also don't wanna hear "don't drink at all" thats BS. if i wanna take my GF out and have a glass of wine... well fuck me if i can't. "land of the free" MY ASS


disclaimer: yes, i'm pissed. and i haven't even told the story yet. but you'd be pissed if you were supposedly "drunk" but had to tell the dumbass state trooper how to use his new fingerprint machine that he was supposedly trained on that i figured out in 2 seconds. oo and how to take pictures too.

[partyman66]

They do sell personal breathalyzer tester devices that you can use to get an approximate reading on your true drunkenness level. I think they are about 20 bucks and use a watch battery.

My friend has one and it's a pretty fun toy... but also very educational for giving you a better feel for just how drunk .08(or whatever your states legal limit is set at) is.

The fact of the matter is that if you're drunk, you're not in a rational enough state of mind to determine your own drunkenness. Alcohol makes us stupid and feel invinceable, which is not a good combination when you're relying on yourself to determine your ability to drive.

My friends and I go clubbing virtually every weekend and we like to play around with the personal breathalyzer on the ride home... and I must admit, I've been quite shocked many-a-time when testing the thing on myself and thinking that I was completely sober, but still came up with a .09 or .12 on the tester(I wasn't the driver).

If you buy one of these things, you need to also keep i mind that they aren't 100% accurate, and they are just an approximation tool to give you a ballpark idea of how drunk you are. They can also be thrown off if you take a gulp of an alcoholic beverage and then take the breathalyzer test very shortly after that... because you still have amounts of the alcohol in your mouth and on your breath that skew the test results.


I very highly recommend that anyone here who frequents bars or clubs pick one of these devices up and use it regularly when leaving such establishments(whether you've had 1 drink or many drinks).. it could save your life, the lives of others, and also save you a ton of money and legal-headaches.

I'll see if I can find a link for the tester that my friend has and post it here if I can find it.

[partyman66]

There are apparently a ton of Breathalyzer testers on the market.

They're a bit pricier than I thought, but there are some cheap ones available for under 20 bucks that won't be terribly accurate, but good enough to give you a ballpark figure for safety purposes

Here is a cheap one(2 links to the same product):

http://www.frattoys.com/breathalyzer.asp

http://cgi.ebay.com/2005-Portable-Br...cmdZV iewItem



More Variety and Higher Quality(expensive and more accurate) Testers:

http://www.q3alcoholdetectors.com/