So I just got a DUI

[Deegee]

Originally Posted by CaramonLS

...? That is a pretty dumb question because everyone probably has.

No.

[moon]

Originally Posted by Eric Vail

I wonder how many people would choose to drive knowing they were over .08. I bet there are many who get behind the wheel feeling they are less than .08, and then find out in a horrible way that they weren't.

Originally Posted by onetwo_threefour

My view is there should be a lifetime drinking prohibition. In this day and age with all the advertising it shows that you are not able to make rational decisions associated with alcohol. As such the privelege of drinking alcohol, arbitrarily earned by you attaining your 21st birthday should now be revoked from you.

Originally Posted by Dion

With all the repeat offenders out there, these DUI drivers don't seem to be getting the message.

DUI laws aren't tough enough.

Originally Posted by Boblobla

Hmmm.

A better transit system maybe? I would really like to know what I can drink and still blow under. The few times I have been through a checkstop they haven't even stopped me so I can't get a gauge on what I can drink/hr to drive legally.

I would say most drunk drivers fall either the had a few drinks and weren't "drunk" but were legally drunk so drove or so drunk but will drive no matter what category. In either case I don't see better transit, cheaper cabs, harsher sentencing etc. really working. These people are going to drive anyways, whether it is because they don't realise that they are legally drunk or they are so drunk and/or stupid that they don't care, if their logic says that they should drive drunk I am not confident that they will then figure out that the bus is only .50 cents so they should take that instead.

While the direct penalties may not seem tough having a DUI conviction is a pretty tough thing to have on your record and reputation. It can affect you life in many ways, as it should, and in my view is a pretty good deterant. However, my point again is that I am not sure most people even consider the laws when they decide to drive. If the fact that they could kill someone as the result of their driving doesn't concern them I am not sure that losing their license for 5 year, 10 years or ever is going to do much either.

Originally Posted by Rhettzky

There's the ticket. Here's a thread I posted showing holiday drunk driving statistics... not enough is being done to catch offenders to act as a deterent.

I agree that this is the major problem/solution to DUI's.

I know that in Lethbridge there are many people who know/think that there is no chance they are going to get caught if they do drive drunk. There are people from Calgary who comment on it when they come down. When I lived in Calgary it was the same thing. In 4 years of living there and another 7 years of going back often I have never gone through/seen a check stop.

If people go out knowing they won't be pulled over they often will not bother to think/plan ahead about other ways of getting home. If they think they might be borderline they will take the risk to drive home. If they think they are fine but might over .08 they are more willing to drive.

It won't stop it totally but seeing check stops, hearing about friends/co-workers/family etc. getting caught, pulled over, getting pulled over themselves will go a long way to just getting people aware of the fact that the chance to get caught is there.

The penalties can be as stiff as you want but if you aren't catching anybody it really doesn't matter.

In my view the places that I have lived in/visited have done an awful job in this area.

[StoneCole]

I did a project about a year and a bit ago for university where I tried to answer some of the questions you guys have posted here, ie how many people knowingly drink and drive and this type of thing. If I can find the damn thing I will post some of my results although it was a very small study and it was really tough to get honest results.

I will also add some points about people I know and DUI's or "near miss" situations (and I use near-miss similar to how it is used in the working world...it's a real misnomer)

...anyhow if I can find the shiz I will post the shiz.

[Lucifer]

So I went to the bar last night with my buddy. After having a few, left, stumbling around a little bit and ended up falling flat on my face. Stole a van so I could take my buddy home, all the while running from the cops, and hitting a few cars, probably injuring a few people.

^ all from Grand Theft Auto.

I've never droven while drunk, and I never will. I actually have never drank a single beer in my life, just something I'd rather not do. Not trying to make it seem like I'm better than anyone else, because I'm not....LOL. Anyways, I definately don't agree with drinking and driving, and I hope that if anyone gets caught their first time will learn not to do that a second time. Actually, nobody should ever drink and drive in the first place, for obvious reasons. I won't go off on the guy that started the thread. People make mistakes, and I'm sure this guy has learned something from this.

[killer_carlson]

My father was killed in a drunk driving accident when I was 2.

I haven't a lot of respect for those that drive drunk.

I have zero respect and get angry when people sit there in front of me and try and justify why it's "ok" because "everyone does it".

[HelloHockeyFans]

nm

[The_Dude]

To me it all depends on the type of cop you run into to. I know guys who have had up to 6 run ins with a cop. My friend only had a couple beers. Nothing to ruin his judgment whatsoever. Like water to him. Cop lets him go.

I have another friend. Straight A student. Never had a run in with the law, etc. He got caught driving home in the morning after he slept. He wasn't swirving or anything. We always take cabs if we think we had even a tiny amount over legal limit.

Well, my buddy can say bye bye to law school. He now has a criminal record. He's getting married this summer. bye bye $10 000 honey moon. He can't travel to the US. Bye bye stag.

i think it's utter bullsh** that you can get a record and be punished this severely for that. If you kill somebody, run your car off the road, etc. Something that serious deserves higher punishment in my eyes. Any sort of situation where you blow over deserves a driving suspension. I don't agree with the criminal record.

Don't count too much on the charter of rights either. The rookie cop who arrested my friend didn't read him his rights and pretty much did everything wrong. Nothing by the book. he still lost after getting a $10 000+ laywer. Not to mention your driving insurance is screwed.


he got a 1 year suspension and can drive after 3 months with one of those gadgets you stick in your car and blow into to. Drunk driving is bad, but I think even the smallest screw ups get punished too heavy. If it's more than once, then throw the book down.

[StoneCole]

Points of interest:

-U of C Department of Civil Engineering runs a course (ENCI 571) on road safety...it is a very interesting course with a very interesting prof. (Dr. Tay).

-the Aussie state of Queensland spends big bucks on road safety (not only drunk driving, but seatbelts and such) research and psa's and what not...in the past they have used some pretty shocking ads, below is the link (the current ads are pretty mild):

http://www.transport.qld.gov.au/Home...iving_campaign

[StoneCole]

Originally Posted by The_Dude

To me it all depends on the type of cop you run into to. I know guys who have had up to 6 run ins with a cop. My friend only had a couple beers. Nothing to ruin his judgment whatsoever. Like water to him. Cop lets him go.

I have another friend. Straight A student. Never had a run in with the law, etc. He got caught driving home in the morning after he slept. He wasn't swirving or anything. We always take cabs if we think we had even a tiny amount over legal limit.

Well, my buddy can say bye bye to law school. He now has a criminal record. He's getting married this summer. bye bye $10 000 honey moon. He can't travel to the US. Bye bye stag.

1. I know a guy who recently got a DUI, told me he had four beers and nothing to eat (he is an honest guy but I think he might have actually had five or six beers)...the lawyer was amazed how much he remembered and mentioned how most of his clients don't remember a damn thing.

2. a friend told me he once puked right as he got to his parked car, and then proceeded to drive home (terrible)

3. a guy on my hockey team had one of those breath-starters installed on his car...now he has no car. He claims he was at a party, went out to start the car, and then forgot (you have to blow every 15 or so minutes if you have one of these)

4. a guy I knew in highschool...his parents knew he would drink and drive and they installed a breath-starter in his car. He bitched and they took it out (spoiled kid of an orthodantist)

5. I've known a couple people who've gotten one day suspensions...one case from a probably too nice cop who pulled the one guy over, and just slapped him with the one-day when he probably could've gotten more

6. a brother of a friend got a 30 day suspension...I'm not sure exactly how this works, but from what I heard the cop who pulled him over didn't have the breathalyzer, and it was a long time until they could get to one...he blew under (0.08) by the time analysis was done, but he got the 30 day suspension because they knew and they gave him the biggest penalty they could

7. a guy I work with claims he once got pulled over, had his buddy fake an asthma attack and actually get the police to "forget" the whole thing and escort him to the hospital while he was impaired (I doubt this is completely true)

...ever hear older guys talk about their experiences? Basically the laws used to be way more lax...so many stories I've heard where the cops actually left guys in their vehicles and told them to "just go (drive) home right now" because they were too drunk to be out. Maybe some of the older guys can describe what it was like a few years back.

[StoneCole]

DUI defense (not to give any losers ideas, but it is interesting some of the things I've heard):

1. if you have a bottle of liquor in your car and you get pulled over, get out and just start a-chugging in plain view of the officer...they can't prove whether you were actually drunk when they pulled you over or if this happened after (my cousin claims he heard this in a high-school criminology class in BC...I don't really believe it)

2. if you get pulled over, you have the option to phone a lawyer (the guy I know who recently got a DUI told me this one, seems more plausible)...at a checkstop they put buddy in a room with a list of lawyers #s...apparently buddy can spend as much time as he needs in there if he's talking to a lawyer...so the idea would be to stay in there hours and hours until buddy sobers up

...apparently the officers try to get buddy out (knock loudly..."COME ON BUDDY LET'S GO), but they aren't actually allowed to remove buddy...it's up to buddy to come out.

[StoneCole]

A friend told me he once heard a stat (I believe this) that the most likely candidates for DUI arrests are males aged ~21-25 (i think this is for Alberta)

...makes sense to me (aged 24)...been driving for years, haven't seen a ton of enforcement when I've been out (whether as the driver or not), and generally by this age we've gotten to know ourselves and our tolerances better. I think for other areas with different legal age the window probably starts a bit later and is a bit shorter overall.

[Scrambler]

I got a 24 hour and a huge ticket named "Driving without due care and attention" here in BC back in November. I felt very stupid, but very lucky. Will cost me thousands in points/insurance over the next few years if I renew my insurance with ICBC. Moving back to Alberta, so I have to see how I can get around it. Considering tossing out my BC license instead of transferring it and just start from scratch with a new Alberta license and abstract.

Wow Stone Cole... you have a lot of misinformation and strange anecdotal info there. I don't even know where to start... so I just won't I guess.

Impaired driving is bad.... regardless of age, sez, race, intelligence, etc.

[StoneCole]

The study I did (in a very slim nutshell):

Background:

-had people answer a few questions and then I breathalyzed them if they allowed it
-target sample was 400 and I was able to obtain 200
-sample split between urban and more suburban location (account for differences due to transit accessibility, walkability, those types of things)
-had to go through ethics board at U of C
-was supposed to get permission from the bars...no bar wants any part of a study like this. I actually got permission to stand outside the Pig N' Whistle and survey their patrons (Suburban)...for the urban bar I just went down to 17th and got people on the street

Uncertainty:

-breath analysis is innacurate if performed less than ~ 20 minutes after the last drink is consumed (alcohol in the mouth still)...this is probably why it would'nt work to supply breathalyzers at bars, they would read innacurate because no one actually waits 20 minutes without a drink at a bar
-survey questions were sometimes "rushed through" as many subjects seemed only interested in finding their BAC
-EVERYONE LIED...I got the feeling, because it is such a touchy subject, that many people doing the survey were lieing
-finally, intoxicated people not fully understanding what I was axing of them

a few results:

-~70% of people claimed they used DD at times...of this ~64% claimed DD was chosen at the start of the night, ~13% said it was chosen at the end of the night "whoever is least drunk...the rest said a "turns" system or something else was used

-~37% said their DDs never drink, 45% said their DD has "one or two", and a whopping 18% claimed their DD has several drinks

-~62% knew the legal limit was 0.08 (other common answers included 0.8 and 0.07)

-74% of people I axed correctly guessed whether they were above or below the legal limit (impressive) (~3% didn't guess and ~12% declined to have breath analysis done)

-~60% of the people I analyzed were over the legal limit

SCARY:

-~half of the people that said they were driving home were 0.08 or above

-...I axed some questions about whether drivers change their plans if they are intoxicated...~1/3 of the people who said they would not change their plans (ie. the people who still planned to drive) had correctly predicted that they were 0.08 or above (meaning that they in fact both thought they were over the limit and still chose to drive).

Conclusions:

...basically what we all know: the amount of people that drive drunk, and willingly chose to do so, is astounding

...if you want any more info let me know (if you actually got this far)

[StoneCole]

wow I've posted a lot of shiz here...here's the last one.

what happens if buddy gets pulled over at a checkstop:

1. officer puts buddy in the back of the cop car and locks him in
2. officer explains to buddy what's going on and has him blow
3. at this stage, three readings from the breath analyzer:
"O" means little or no alcohol
"A" means between 0.05 and 0.1
"F" means above 0.1
4. (again there are probably exceptions to this but)
-if buddy blows "O", he is free to leave, take his car
-if buddy blows "A", he has the option to take a 24 hr. suspension, or too go on the checkstop bus and blow again to get his actual reading
-if buddy blows "F", he's screwed

...in the case of "A" the car is impounded regardless of whether buddy takes the suspension or chooses to go in the bus. In the case of "F", obviously, the car is impounded.

Late.

[StoneCole]

Originally Posted by Bent Wookie

Wow Stone Cole... you have a lot of misinformation and strange anecdotal info there. I don't even know where to start... so I just won't I guess.

yes, yes, and yes...mostly stuff I've heard: anecdotes some true, some false, and some embelished I'm sure...misinformation again based on all the crappola I've heard, so some maybe true, some (esp. the stuff about things you can do to possibly get out of it) very unlikely.

[Berger_4_]

Man the perspectives in the city are really, really different than out here in the boonies. Obviously drunk driving is frowned upon, but it's nowhere near as big a deal out here. I guess it's just the logistics or whatever you want to call it here. Sometimes you've just gotta do what you gotta do to get home.

Having said that, I certainly don't condone it. I've had my experience (and let me tell you what, going to pull my vehicle out of the ditch the next morning was one of the scariest things I've ever done...I was shaking and could just barely bring myself to drive that thing home...). My dad's had his experience (hit by a car full of Native's [not trying to get racist or anything, just that's who hit him] and they tried to blame him for having his brights on). I'm lucky I didn't kill my sister or myself on the gravel road that night. It's something I will never, ever do again. But to say that you can't drink at all and drive is foolish. I know my limit, and I won't ever drink over it if I need to drive anywhere later.

What I'd like to see bars institute is some sort of breathalyzer that's right at the door. You check your keys with the bouncers or whoever for the night, and when you go to leave, you have to blow to check them back out. I don't think it'd be that tough to set up, although I suppose there could be some backlog of people trying to leave at the end of the night.

Edit---And just like that, StoneCole crushes my idea...perhaps you keep the bar open half an hour later? Of course then the bars would be pissed since they aren't selling drinks but having to pay employees...

[StoneCole]

Originally Posted by Berger_4_

Edit---And just like that, StoneCole crushes my idea...perhaps you keep the bar open half an hour later? Of course then the bars would be pissed since they aren't selling drinks but having to pay employees...

...not to mention liability on the bar's part...the bar breathalyzer gives buddy a reading below 0.08, but the cops get a reading above it, buddy is blaming the bar....the bar breathalyzer gives buddy a reading below 0.08, he kills someone and the cops determine alcohol was involved, the cops and the family of the casualty are blaming the bar for giving buddy his keys back.

Those are quite the stories that you have, be prepared to get hit with some pretty firm posts from a few people, but I guess you're owning it. I don't want to justify drunk-driving or be a sympathizer to those that have been punished, but I think what Rouge said earlier about levels of intoxication is valid.

[Berger_4_]

I guess I should clarify my dad's story. He wasn't driving while impaired, he was hit by a car full of impaired people.

But yeah like I said...it's different out here. There's nobody on the highways by the time you leave the party, and you hate getting somebody out of bed to drive your drunk ass home (although that's a pretty lame excuse). It's a not out of the ordinary in the country to have some brews and then drive home. Nobody makes a big deal out of it. I guess it's just that I've been around this kind of stuff my entire life. I know that sounds awful, but it isn't as bad as you think. It's not like we're all out getting destroyed every weekend then all driving home. People are maybe even more understanding of it out here. Doors are always open and you can alway crash at whoever's place. Maybe that's why there's such a high instance of drunk driving in the cities. You can't just stay at wherever you were drinking.

And another thought about the breathalyzer in the bar that wouldn't work---you could be done drinking, but your body could still be dealing with liquor in your system. Had that feeling before to, where you feel fine to drive, then get down the road a little ways and you all of a sudden get hit with this drunk feeling. There must be some way for bars to regulate those who drive home though...I still think there could be some way for the breathalyzers to work...maybe keep the bar open an hour later, but with no liquor served for the last hour. Then everyone goes to leave and gets tested. I dunno. I guess there's really no way of ensuring people don't drive home drunk. It's up to them to decide whether it's worth it or not I guess.

[The_Dude]

Originally Posted by StoneCole

1. I know a guy who recently got a DUI, told me he had four beers and nothing to eat (he is an honest guy but I think he might have actually had five or six beers)...the lawyer was amazed how much he remembered and mentioned how most of his clients don't remember a damn thing.

2. a friend told me he once puked right as he got to his parked car, and then proceeded to drive home (terrible)

3. a guy on my hockey team had one of those breath-starters installed on his car...now he has no car. He claims he was at a party, went out to start the car, and then forgot (you have to blow every 15 or so minutes if you have one of these)

4. a guy I knew in highschool...his parents knew he would drink and drive and they installed a breath-starter in his car. He bitched and they took it out (spoiled kid of an orthodantist)

5. I've known a couple people who've gotten one day suspensions...one case from a probably too nice cop who pulled the one guy over, and just slapped him with the one-day when he probably could've gotten more

6. a brother of a friend got a 30 day suspension...I'm not sure exactly how this works, but from what I heard the cop who pulled him over didn't have the breathalyzer, and it was a long time until they could get to one...he blew under (0.08) by the time analysis was done, but he got the 30 day suspension because they knew and they gave him the biggest penalty they could

7. a guy I work with claims he once got pulled over, had his buddy fake an asthma attack and actually get the police to "forget" the whole thing and escort him to the hospital while he was impaired (I doubt this is completely true)

...ever hear older guys talk about their experiences? Basically the laws used to be way more lax...so many stories I've heard where the cops actually left guys in their vehicles and told them to "just go (drive) home right now" because they were too drunk to be out. Maybe some of the older guys can describe what it was like a few years back.

I agree 100% with everybody that drinking and driving is pathetic. My example is of a guy who I was with at the time and literally had 4 beers. Guys about 195 pounds, 6'1. I was sober in the passenger seat. I don't know if it was him on his cell phone (might have not driven straight when infront of a cop 100%), but we got pulled over.

I'm thinking, "No sweat, everythings fine." I was so sure he was fine that I didn't even bother to ask for the keys on the way home. This was 6am. Plus he slept.

My overall feeling is that this shouldn't have screwed over his life like it has. The circumstance and how much you blow over should be taken into consideration. Take his license away for 1 year, but giving him a record?

He's lucky his family has some money. He's starting a business now. he's not getting any sort of job with a record. He just dropped out and might continue after he gets a pardon (which takes 3 years PLUS 1/2 to process).

I think he just got bent over.