DUI/DWI Talk

[Rujah]

I had a DUI a few years back. I drank the night before, sleep it off, drove in the morning and still got arrested. Luckily, I didn\'t go to jail or worse kill myself or someone else, but I did lose my license for a year, had to take outpatient care. The fines were enormous, stress was outrageous, and the whole situation definitely put my life on hold for a whole summer. I couldn\'t go to shows, and was basically stuck in my house all summer. I could only drive one day a week at a specified time of the day. In NY they will offer you a conditional license so you can drive to work, but, since you work with children and need to drive them, I don\'t know how they will treat these situation.

Personally, I have no sympathy for people who go out to a bar with the intention of drinking and driving home afterwards. Now, I don\'t know your situation, but those people just piss me the fuck off. And for all the times people drive drunk and don\'t get caught, they will eventually if they continue to do so and who knows what kind of damage they will cause.

With that being said, I wish you best Joc. I understand what you\'re going through and it can be tough for sure. Keep on keeping on, things will get better

[Yoda]

If it seems like my comments are harsh, I\'m sorry.  I feel for Joce, I really do, but I also believe that in a DWI or DUI situation, if you\'re guilty, should shouldn\'t be able to plea your way to a lesser charge.  It\'s a life lesson and a serious one.  I think about when my car was hit; there are a lot of kids in my area and if any of them were walking on the sidewalk at 7:00PM the night car was hit, they\'d be seriously hurt or dead as the car was doing 70+ mph at the time of impact.  Luckily everyone was in-doors at the time.

I think the one thing to take from this is that this can happen to anyone.  It\'s good that no one was hurt.  Joce - good luck with which ever way you decide to deal with it.

[Klout]

drinking and driving is not a victim less crime.  

Its serious shit. people die, get mamed, parlyzed, lose loved ones etc.

that said we all make mistakes.

getting out of it and doing the same thing again is low.

getting out of it and learning from your mistake and changing your ways is something totally different.

Also even if there is no jail or loss of license there is no getting out of it for free. There are psychological, financial, reputation, relationship, job related, etc complications. Some people dont learn their lesson though unfortunately which is when they really throw the book at you.

[SkyePrizm]

i\'m appalled that so many of you condone driving under the influence.

Joce, I\'m sorry that you\'re work is being affected by this, but on the other hand, you\'re lucky that you\'re just dealing with license issues as opposed to having killed someone.

No one is condoning the behavior.

Let\'s be honest, all of us on this board at one point or another in some capacity have had something to drink and then gotten behind the wheel.   Even if it was one...  We have all made the mistake.

This is coming from someone who had a girl in her high school get MURDERED by a drunk driver.  This is coming from a girl who lost a great-aunt to a drunk driver.  

Sometimes I\'ve done it too, and I shake my head and regret it.  But its a mistake many people make.  

The point is to drink as a responsible adult, and not get wasted or trashed.

That being said, since they have changed the legal limits of drinking in many new england states, it doesn\'t take much to qualify as a "drunk" for a DUI.   Meaning, Jocelyn may have been very coherent but by the law, she was considered drunk.

[oldnewbie]

 I know that Jocelyn is not looking for sympathy, but I also don\'t agree with finding ways to get off when you know that you were guilty.  That\'s all that this ass has to say.

absolutely she\'s looking for some sympathetic advice from a group of friends that may have some similar experiences. not some "whah whah i got my car wrecked so you got what you deserved" rant. that\'s exactly whats she\'s doing. looking for a bit of sympathy from her friends. where else does a person look for that sort of thing. anyone else should just do what they said and shut the fuck up IMHO!

[ds673488]

my friend got arrested in washington state for dui, second offense. they put a breathalizer in his car - he needs to pass it: 1) before starting the car, 2) 10 minutes after starting the car, and 3) at 40 minute intervals while driving the car, for 8 months. pretty awful eh?

wouuld you be able to hook up a can of compressed air to the breathalizer they put in his car? or would it know that it was fake?

if you are even trying this in the first place, you have a serious problem

[Yoda]

absolutely she\'s looking for some sympathetic advice from a group of friends that may have some similar experiences. not some "whah whah i got my car wrecked so you got what you deserved" rant. that\'s exactly whats she\'s doing. looking for a bit of sympathy from her friends. where else does a person look for that sort of thing. anyone else should just do what they said and shut the fuck up IMHO!

If you had your car wrecked by a fucking drunk while it was parked on the street, I think you\'d be a bit pissed.  And if that didn\'t make you think differently about drunk driving, then I would think you\'re a little bit brain dead.  

Joce - I\'m glad no one was hurt.  Good luck with however you decide to deal with the legal aspect of it.

[Jim Cobb]

my apologies for what seemed a bit harsh.  these situations arise as a catalyst for change.  sometimes we take those opportunities, and sometimes we repeat our mistakes until the consequences get bad enough that we change.  joce, you\'re a good egg, i know you\'ll turn this into a positive experience.

[kindm's]

If it seems like my comments are harsh, I\'m sorry.  I feel for Joce, I really do, but I also believe that in a DWI or DUI situation, if you\'re guilty, should shouldn\'t be able to plea your way to a lesser charge.  It\'s a life lesson and a serious one.  I think about when my car was hit; there are a lot of kids in my area and if any of them were walking on the sidewalk at 7:00PM the night car was hit, they\'d be seriously hurt or dead as the car was doing 70+ mph at the time of impact.  Luckily everyone was in-doors at the time.

I think the one thing to take from this is that this can happen to anyone.  It\'s good that no one was hurt.  Joce - good luck with which ever way you decide to deal with it.

Umm. I really hope you are never in legal trouble. Whether it be DUI, Divorce, possession, etc. You pay an attorney to do whatever he or she can to lessen the blow. I\'m sure that if you run afoul of the law you are going to plead to the maximum eeh ? Because I somehow doubt it.

The legal system works like this. The police will charge you with whatever they can. Any crime they can cite you for they will. The DA will look at those charges and see what he/she thinks they can make stick. Then your lawyer goes in and says this charge is BS, and so is this one and the dance begins. If you would simply plead guilty to everything you would be charged with then your an idiot.

[FrankZappa]

:popcorn:

[ChrisF]

my friend got arrested in washington state for dui, second offense. they put a breathalizer in his car - he needs to pass it: 1) before starting the car, 2) 10 minutes after starting the car, and 3) at 40 minute intervals while driving the car, for 8 months. pretty awful eh?

wouuld you be able to hook up a can of compressed air to the breathalizer they put in his car? or would it know that it was fake?

if you are even trying this in the first place, you have a serious problem

just wondering if its that easy to pass the breathalyser test if they install one in a car. im not saying its something you should do.

[Klout]

yoda kindms is right. thats the system we have in place. Its not perfect but it is what is and its in a constant state of reform.

You dont have any sympathy for drunk drivers and thats fine but its not just, you did it, maximum penalty, end of story. And rightly so.

The cops are required by law to make an arrest if there is a crime committed and yes they will usually hit you with every charge they can. Its the DAs job to decide how to handle the cases presented to the court by the police on a CASE by CASE basis.  Then the lawyers and prosecuters go back and forth and determine what they consider to be fair. The judge mediates it all and decides whether or not justice is being served with the proposed compromise. If he thinks it isnt fair either way he can veto the bargain. but really they all work together to do what they aggree should be done. some times its fair sometimes it aint.  every case is different.  Most cases end in a guilty plea for a reduced charge. I think its only about 2% of all arrests that actually get to trial.  But everyone has legal rights for serious offenses like this and trial by jury if you choose is one of those rights. By accepting the bargain you are waiving that right. You also have rights when you get arrested. For eample if a cop pulls you over illegally then you can not be prosecuted for any chages that resulted from that illegal stop. Thats a right you do not want to give up and highly doubt you would refuse to exercises if you were in that position. In fact you would actually be breaking the law if you agreed to plead guilty to a charge that resulted from an arrest that was known to be illegal!  Anyway if the other 98% of arrests actually went to trial the courts would be so backed up they would not even be able to function. The system has its benefits as in situations like this where a good person can realize they made a mistake, lessen the blow. and turn something negative into a positive growth experience. Of course the system has its flaws and people abuse it (OJ) but thats life and thats the system we have.

[Gordo]

my apologies for what seemed a bit harsh.  these situations arise as a catalyst for change.  sometimes we take those opportunities, and sometimes we repeat our mistakes until the consequences get bad enough that we change.  joce, you\'re a good egg, i know you\'ll turn this into a positive experience.

That\'s what I was saying earlier. I don\'t condone it.

Yoda, I think you\'re treating the grand scheme of DUI/WI\'s too black and white. I know an easy rebuttal would be "Drink? DON\'T drive, period." However just like most things in life (other than the argument of crunchy vs. creamy peanut butter) this falls into a huge grey area. Tons of variables make for cases unique to each other. I\'m not hating on you. You\'re passionate about something important and are obviously on the "right side" of things. It\'s just a tad extreme imo.

[Vassillios]

I just drank a fifth of vodka.

dare me to drive?

(Sorry but this thread needs some enlightenment)

[Wolfman]

This is a good thread to remind everyone (including myself) that you can get arrested for DUI/DWI even if you are BELOW the legal limit if the cops think your driving is lousy.  If you\'re driving, you should really plan on drinking Cokes or Red Bulls for the night.