Don't Drink & Drive

Per RomanDad's advice I have created a new name as my case is still pending...

 

After the case has been handled in court I will probably reopen this thread and go into details if it is wise to do so then.

 

I was arrested for DWAI (not DWI) on sat morning. I was taken in after refusing a roadside breathalyzer....2 hours later I blew under the limit.

 

I can thank L/P for that decision as I recall reading one of our members advising to delay the blow. It's not something I think about often, but it was instinctual at the time even under the stressful situation. It has allowed me to keep my license and not be detained on bail, for which I'm very grateful.

 

The unfortunate part was how I got into the whole mess. I was asleep in my car, with the ENGINE RUNNING on a main street....those two words are all that separated me from freedom and no freedom!!!

 

The engine running/not running has been covered here as well and I've slept in cars numerous times with the engine off. Do not know why I didn't do that this time....I guess those times I was a lot more tired and figured I wasn't planning on going anywhere anytime soon.

 

I was to start a new job this week. Due to scheduling conflicts with impound and the new job I had to delay the start time by a few hours. I could have came up with anything but I decided to be truthful and told the recruiter (who has been acting as a liaison between me & the company) what happened.....she had an easy out as my drug test results didn't come back on friday. I thought I had a lucky coincidence on hand.

 

On the train yesterday morning about to pick up the car I got a call from her telling me she spoke to some people and it was unacceptable. Don't come to work.

 

Tough break.

 

As shitty as all that is, I'll chalk it up to two things:

 

a. A HUGE LESSON LEARNED - No accidents, no bail, no suspended license. All it will really cost me is about $2000-2500....not a fun amount of money, but could be worse.

 

b. THIS JOB WASN'T MEANT TO BE - It never felt 100% right plus this place is a long ass distance from home.

 

I'm 99.9% sure I will never be in this position again as you can imagine the paranoia that will exist now every time I drink. I'm not here to tell people how to live their lives , except this:

 

IF YOU ARE GOING TO SLEEP IN YOUR CAR WHILE UNDER QUESTIONABLE BAC, DO EVERYONE A FAVOR, TURN THE CAR OFF AND THROW AWAY THE FUCKIN KEY!!!!!

 

 

Thank You for listening. If I hear anybody here get picked up for leaving the engine running I will be disappointed in you.

dont drink and drive, no excuses

dont drink and drive, no excuses

I thought that even if your are in the car WITHOUT the key you will still be nailed? Is there truth in this?

im glad you are alive and well, and no one else was involved...hopefully others can learn from this rather than having to experience it themselves

Drink driving is a big NO NO.

Good luck with sorting out the mess you're in!

I thought that even if your are in the car WITHOUT the key you will still be nailed? Is there truth in this?

 

from my understanding at least in CA, the car has to be running in order for you to suffer the repercussions...many people who have drank too much end up sleeping it off in the car, and the cops are more kind if they know you were being responsible enough to not start the car

So now I can ask a couple of questions....

 

 

Where was the car when you went to sleep in it? A "Main street"? What does that mean? You went to sleep in the middle of the damned road?

 

Could the car have been there without you driving it there?

 

What was the temperature?

 

Depending on the answers, I think you have a very winnable case.

exactly what I was thinking, what if it is freezing cold?

 

I've never had alcohol in my life so I am far from being able to comment but if you intend to drink why not leave the car home and go by cab? Everyone wins.

If you have $ to drink you should be able to afford a cab ride, it is sad when good guys get into shit because they exercise poor judgment.

 

So now I can ask a couple of questions....

 

 

Where was the car when you went to sleep in it? A "Main street"? What does that mean? You went to sleep in the middle of the damned road?

I know someone who was so drunk, he fell asleep in the middle of the street. And, had a hooker in the car who was also asleep from passing out. He is in jail (on other charges).

I know someone who was so drunk, he fell asleep in the middle of the street. And, had a hooker in the car who was also asleep from passing out. He is in jail (on other charges).

I had a fcuking guy pass out in a car that was pointed at my fcuking bedroom window..... A pothole kept the dipshit from joining me in bed..... He no Hable, so the LAPD let him park the car and go back to sleep.

 

 

Christ..... Ive been here too long..... Im starting to recycle my stories...

True story:

 

I had a friend that got a DUI. At the courtroom the officer came over and talked with him. He said, "I was going to let you go. I would have followed you home and let you sleep it off, but you were passed out at a traffic light and when I opened the door you started moving over to the passenger seat and said 'I'm so glad you are here, I'm too fcuking drunk to drive.'"

Glad you are okay. It takes a lot of self control to realize where your limit is - AND - knowing that if you go over your limit, then you need to NOT drive!

 

.08 comes up quick

 

And in some states, AFAIK in IN, if you refuse a breath test they can take your license away. Or is it the blood test?

In NM you just have to have "actual physical control" of the car...the state court of appeals and supreme court have found actual physical control in the following types of scenarios...man in the car with keys in the ignition, but engine off (Guilty), keys in the seat next to the passed out person (guilty); keys on the floor (guilty); etc. The car doesn't have to be on, and if the keys are anywhere near the person, the courts will likely find actual physical control. maybe in the keys are locked in the trunk or outside in the bushes somewhere you might be safe from being charged, otherwise its game on.

I got a call from her telling me she spoke to some people and it was unacceptable. Don't come to work.

 

So you suppose to start a new job, your first day in the office you don't show up in time and when you do you tell them you had a DUI...

 

Damn, it was very inconsiderate of them not to hire you...

 

 

So you suppose to start a new job, your first day in the office you don't show up in time and when you do you tell them you had a DUI...

 

Damn, it was very inconsiderate of them not to hire you...

 

 

 

One more point comes to mind, did you think it would be a good idea to show up for your first day at work after night of drinking?

 

Maybe your judgement is impaired even without drinking..

dont drink and drive, no excuses

 

Agreed.

I thought that even if your are in the car WITHOUT the key you will still be nailed? Is there truth in this?

 

Don't know, and don't wish to find out!

 

 

 

So now I can ask a couple of questions....

 

 

Where was the car when you went to sleep in it? A "Main street"? What does that mean? You went to sleep in the middle of the damned road?

 

Could the car have been there without you driving it there?

 

What was the temperature?

 

Depending on the answers, I think you have a very winnable case.

 

A "Main street" being the main drag through a small town. One lane in each direction, shops and stores on both sides....

 

I was legally parked by a meter...

 

The car could have technically been there without me driving there but unlikely. I already admitted to dropping a friend off who lived a few blocks away (making it unlikely I'd be there)....plus I admitted we were at a bar and I had a drink. This is all official record too.

 

Temperature was about 45-50 degrees, slight drizzle.

 

 

Glad you are okay. It takes a lot of self control to realize where your limit is - AND - knowing that if you go over your limit, then you need to NOT drive!

 

.08 comes up quick

 

And in some states, AFAIK in IN, if you refuse a breath test they can take your license away. Or is it the blood test?

 

Thanks....

 

.08 does come up quick indeed. Doesn't take a very long time to get it down but certainly time best served away from a vehicle.

 

I was threatened with a one year license suspension if I refused the second breathalyzer, but that is certainly worse than anything I could have blown (or at least would have blown given my condition).

In NM you just have to have "actual physical control" of the car...the state court of appeals and supreme court have found actual physical control in the following types of scenarios...man in the car with keys in the ignition, but engine off (Guilty), keys in the seat next to the passed out person (guilty); keys on the floor (guilty); etc. The car doesn't have to be on, and if the keys are anywhere near the person, the courts will likely find actual physical control. maybe in the keys are locked in the trunk or outside in the bushes somewhere you might be safe from being charged, otherwise its game on.

 

My god, this is taking things too f**** far!

 

I can put up with key in the ignition, but all these other scenarios are ridiculous. What, should you put your keys in your underwear??? LOL.

 

Or if you're a woman, in your bra??

 

 

My god, this is taking things too f**** far!

 

I can put up with key in the ignition, but all these other scenarios are ridiculous. What, should you put your keys in your underwear??? LOL.

 

Or if you're a woman, in your bra??

Um, no... If you're going to go out drinking YOU LEAVE THE fcuking KEYS AND THE fcuking CAR HOME!

 

Hire a limo for the night or call a cab, can't afford that then stay the fcuk home.

One more point comes to mind, did you think it would be a good idea to show up for your first day at work after night of drinking?

 

Maybe your judgement is impaired even without drinking..

 

How very considerate of you...thanks for the sympathy.

 

If you paid any attention to what I wrote you'll see it says saturday morning, which is really friday night....

 

I was free to society at 4 pm saturday afternoon, a good 40+ hours BEFORE work.

 

My car was taken away and I needed a car to get to work. So I go to the police station for the release papers and they tell me that I can't get my car until MONDAY morning.

 

The reality is that I can borrow a car from my parents or my brother, but without my physical presence (and whose hours conflict with work) I can't retrieve the vehicle. So we're looking at a car that's somewhat unretrievable for sometime, and I didn't want to (or was too annoyed/stressed) to come up with a scheme to get it back. It cost $190 to pick up yesterday, so imagine a few more days.....I'm not a baller like you so it's sorta a big deal.

 

No matter how you cut it, I'd have to take *some* time off of work. The distance between the two places is like the distance between The Valley and downtown LA...

 

So I make a dumb decision to be TRUTHFUL here, when I could have called up any number of friends (or maybe even come here) and asked for any good excuses. The reality is, any excuse would have been legit.

 

It was even vague that I had to be there at 8 anyways as their drug test results weren't in. They literally were waiting on that and weren't informed over the weekend so any excuse I could have pulled with the recruiter would have been FINE with them. She even told me she hadn't called them to verify my results, so it was really only between ME & HER.

 

Once this is cleared up in court, it will most likely never show on my record esp. if it's pleaded down to a lesser charge.

 

Anyone is entitled to make a pass on employment based on a judgment call, that's okay....

 

But get your facts straight before making crazy accusations like drinking the night before my first day....what kind of moron does that???

 

Ask RD for some time verification if you don't believe me.

Sorry to come off like the asshole, but no one really needs a "don't drink and drive PSA" -- especially from someone who just got nicked doing so..

 

You fucked up.

Lying your way out only helps in the short run.. so good on you to tell the truth, even if it seems worse now.

 

Good luck with the court judgment. Hopefully you get off easy and are smart enough to never let it happen again.

 

 

I disagree with some of these laws. Just because someone is drunk, in the car sleeping with keys, doesn't make him dangerous. I've been shitfaced and never had the urge to drive. I've never gotten drunk and lacked the judgement not to rob a bank, why can't i be drunk in my car with the judgement not to drive home?