Hello to all my friends at TUSCL.I hope you're doing well.I have not been out here for awhile,because it just hasn't felt right.On February 3rd. after leaving a SC I was pulled over and arrested for DUI.I will not go into painstaking detail as regards the legal proceedings,but merely tell you what this has cost me literally and otherwise.Bail bondsman:$40.Fines/fees:$600.One year probation: $65 a month,$780.An interview with a psychologist as part of an alcohol awareness "Intake": $83.Cost for a "hardship" license:$500.Total costs thus far:$2,000.My son is an attorney,so I did not have to have pay for that.(that law school tuition paid some dividends,but not in the way I would have liked)My car insurance renews soon and that is when the chickens will come home to roost.My premium will spike.I had a million dollar personal liability rider on my homeowner's insurance that was taken off as a result of this.I have to go to a alcohol awareness class,two hours a week for 16 weeks.I have to watch a film on brain injuries,attend two AA meetings and go to a lecture from someone from MADD.All this is separate from the 16 week class.I work in sales and for four months my mother-in-law drove me to my appointments (insert punchline here).This cost me money as well,because I simply couldn't push her too hard and lost out on sales I oterwise would have made.(My numbers are down as compared to last year) My hardship license allows me to drive from 0800-2000,so I am limited as to when I am able to drive.I've been told it will cost me another $500 to get my "full" license back in September.Whew.That was some pretty expensive Jameson huh ? This does not count the embarrassment of my grown children learning what happened and having to tell the owner of the company I work for. (He had to write a letter explaining why a hardship license was required).No lecture from me as regards the stupidity of drunk driving.I trust my words will suffice.
Also sorry for your bad experience. Fear of something similar has kept me from drinking more than one beer at a stripclub. Most of the time I order water and concentrate n the dancers. I am not a big drinker anyway, so not really a problem.
On my infamous Amarillo strip club extravaganza this spring I hit a club that was selling Budweiser dirt cheap. I overindulged and drove back to the hotel dizzy as hell. I made it, then proceded to park the car. Twenty seconds later I threw up on some faggot's Acura. Damn, that was a close call. I learned my lesson and now buy one water or soda for every beer I consume to dilute the alcohol and keep from getting drunk. Talking to a coworker a month later who has worked almost every state in the union, he started telling me that Amarillo cops are the worst in the nation for DUI's. Hell, I firsthand saw a couple get lit up after leaving the BYOB club Beaver's. I ran the gauntlet and survived.
In lots of places the cops love to sit near strip clubs and prey on patrons leaving, knowing they will find a decent percentage that will fail a breathalyzer test.
Jeez, JohnBuford, that is real shitty news to hear. Glad that no physical consequences from an accident were involved. You must be a valued employee. Your employer was very decent about this. You are correct to fear the insurance premium hit that you will experience.
About two years ago a horseman caught me doing an outrageous speed in my 'big boy toy' hot car. The insurance package for my personal vehicles is now in the $20k/year neighbourhood and will remain in that neighbourhood for another five years.
I hope that you come out better with insurance premiums when this all shakes out for you.
Sinclair. That's exactly what happened to me leaving the Hip Hugger in Kokomo IN at closing. The cop pulled me over, asked if I had been drinking, I said only wafer, and asked me to take a breathalyzer test. I blew 0.0
Thanks John for your honestly. Hope it all works out for you.
That sucks, John. I'm glad you are surviving. States have really cracked down, for good reason on drinking and driving. Unfortunately, it becomes a big hardship for many if not all.
@Rickdugan:No sir,no history.In fact when when my son talked to the DA's office to make my plea bargain deal they specifically said my driving record was impeccable,zero moving violations and no other criminal history.To the rest of you guys,thanks for the words of encouragement
That's a big bummer but a useful life lesson, esp. since no one got hurt. They need to invent them self-driving cars soon. Read they're actively looking into putting driver side alcohol detection units in future cars. It'll curtail the temptation to drive. In the meantime, consider taking a cab and leaving your car in the SC (if in decently safe area) which is what I do when drinking too much. The cab fare is chum change compared to what we spend on the girls.
Drinking and driving is a very dangerous thing we would all agree.
But I think this has gotten too politicized by groups such as MADD. The current DUI laws make convicts out of otherwise fine contributing members of society whom may have slipped one day and had one or two too many – hey haven’t most people overeaten during a meal more than once in their life – it happens.
As others have mentioned, if one has multiple offenses, that is one thing, but for a one time offense, or one offense 5 years apart let’s say, the penalties are way too harsh and unjust in my opinion. There have been folks whom have even lost their employment b/c of a DUI offense. I think some flexibility is in order.
ROFL @ "Alcohol & Drinking. Quit before it happens again." Didn't you mean, "Alcohol & DRIVING"?
Anyway, very sorry to the OP and others who have had this experience. I too have over-indulged and driven. I have not (yet) gotten caught. I thank you for sharing your experience, because I shall try to take it as a solemn warning. I have often told myself I need to stop doing that old high-school trick of driving tipsy, or merely, drinking SOME, an then driving, REGARDLESS of whether I'd call myself "buzzed" or "tipsy" or "blotto" or "passed out." If you've had any, then, fact is, you can be caught by a breathalyzer, and the other fact is, you're more impaired than if you've had none. I shall endeavor to remember those obvious facts. Again.
I'm sorry to hear that. I feel like I got lucky as I never got pulled over when I drank and drove. When I first got some medical conditions which required me to stop drinking alcohol a couple years ago, the very first time I went to a club afterward, I got pulled over literally right out of the lot, ostensibly because my license plate light was out. That whole scenario felt like the Spanish Inquisition, and I just couldn't convince the cop I was sober. (It didn't help that I was genuinely sick at the time, which was probably my first mistake.) Eventually, I got to the breathalyzer and I was 0.0. I haven't drank alcohol since, although with some of the pills I take, it's genuinely a bad idea.
@papi- As someone who has had someone close to them killed by a drunk driver who didnt have any prior offenses, the law seems fine to me. You think I care if that person lost his job?
Just because a person has no prior offenses doesnt mean they are any less dangerous. All it takes is once.
"Just because a person has no prior offenses doesnt mean they are any less dangerous. All it takes is once."
That is exactly right. Takes only 1 time to possibly Kill someone else. Because a person has never been drunk or driven drunk before is not an excuse. If anything I personally feel the penalties for drunk driving should be even harsher. It needs to be totally discouraged!
I find myself in complete agreement with Stiletto and Alucard on this one.
If a man was pointing a gun at your head and pull the trigger and missed, would you want the courts to let him off easier because it was a "first offense"?
That's what drunk driving is, pulling the trigger on a several hundred pound gun.
It should be noted that what has happened to me thus far is only because I did not cause any property or bodily damage.Please note,I am NOT looking for an "attaboy" for that,merely giving everyone the facts.Had I hit something/someone and/or blown higher than .08 penalties are far greater.I refused the breathalyzer,but am certain I was above .08.
#1 cause of accidents is NOT drinking and driving - it is driver inattention.
About 40,000 people a year get killed in car accidents and the majority of those are NOT b/c of drinking and driving.
Many accidents and deaths are caused by folks falling asleep at the wheel. Does that mean if you get pulled over b/c you may have been a bit drowsey, and perhaps swerving in your lane, that you should have to pay $2000 in fines and perhaps lose your livelyhood/employment?
My current watering hole stops allowing alcohol at 2am, despite being BYOB!? At first it irritated me, now it gives me 2hrs to sober up. That and alternating water every other drink like sinclair said has kept me from getting too wasted. Still, some nights I take a taxi.
In general, I don't drink. On rare occasion, I might have beer or two, and if I do, I give myself plenty of time before I drive. Stories like this reinforce that I'm doing the right thing.
Having said that, I feel dancers need to stop pressuring customers to drink. Not saying all dancers do, but I've had my share of dancers comment about my not drinking, or tell me "have just one" to loosen up.
Here's hoping dancers read this thread and accept those who wish to abstain.
@Motorhead:It's interesting you should say that,because the night I was arrested I spent my time with a dancer I had never seen before.I know in my heart that if I had been with one of my faves they would not have let me leave in the condition I did.I think your observation is spot on.
Papi, you are correct. However, drinking and driving is still against the law. Im sure if you had a family member killed by a first time drunk driver, you would see the light. But you havent, I'm hoping , by your desire to lighten the law, so I'll brush your last comment off simply a difference in experiences between us.
"#1 cause of accidents is NOT drinking and driving - it is driver inattention."
First, so what? Do we only concentrate on the "#1" causes of everything? No, we don't.
Second, drunk driving is something that can be detected *before* something bad happens. Drunk driving is also the result of a *deliberate* decision made well before the time of the actual danger period, and then another choice later on to get behind the wheel. Choices like that should have consequences.
"Many accidents and deaths are caused by folks falling asleep at the wheel. Does that mean if you get pulled over b/c you may have been a bit drowsey, and perhaps swerving in your lane, that you should have to pay $2000 in fines and perhaps lose your livelyhood/employment?"
Not entirely a valid comparison. Fatigue is not something people deliberately drink from a bottle *knowing* that it will impair them. It is often something that creeps up on a person, without that person being fully aware of it.
However, to your point, yes, there should be consequences for endangering others, irrespective of how that endangerment is accomplished. Fatigue at the level of driving impairment doesn't have the same degree of *thought* impairment that alcohol or drug intoxication does, so in most cases it's possible to recognize that one is too tired to drive slightly before one actually becomes a large danger. Punishment for choosing to drive in that state wouldn't meet any objections from me.
I severely limit any drinking when I am out. I was coming out of Platinum Showgirls in Toledo a while back (before it burned) I had only drank water that night when the cops pulled the two cars over that had just pulled out before me. I thought if I had been drinking with my luck I would have left 5 min sooner. Besides it leaves more money to spend on the girls.
JohnBuford, I'm sorry it happened to you and for all the consequences that have followed. It sounds pretty miserable, to be honest, but as all the others have noted (and you yourself admit) you were lucky that the damage was not worse.
It's stories like yours that serve as a wake-up call to all of us who think we're sober enough to drive home after a few drinks. I know I'll think twice before having any booze at a club again.
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About two years ago a horseman caught me doing an outrageous speed in my 'big boy toy' hot car. The insurance package for my personal vehicles is now in the $20k/year neighbourhood and will remain in that neighbourhood for another five years.
I hope that you come out better with insurance premiums when this all shakes out for you.
Thanks John for your honestly. Hope it all works out for you.
Quit before it happens again.
But I think this has gotten too politicized by groups such as MADD. The current DUI laws make convicts out of otherwise fine contributing members of society whom may have slipped one day and had one or two too many – hey haven’t most people overeaten during a meal more than once in their life – it happens.
As others have mentioned, if one has multiple offenses, that is one thing, but for a one time offense, or one offense 5 years apart let’s say, the penalties are way too harsh and unjust in my opinion. There have been folks whom have even lost their employment b/c of a DUI offense. I think some flexibility is in order.
Anyway, very sorry to the OP and others who have had this experience. I too have over-indulged and driven. I have not (yet) gotten caught. I thank you for sharing your experience, because I shall try to take it as a solemn warning. I have often told myself I need to stop doing that old high-school trick of driving tipsy, or merely, drinking SOME, an then driving, REGARDLESS of whether I'd call myself "buzzed" or "tipsy" or "blotto" or "passed out." If you've had any, then, fact is, you can be caught by a breathalyzer, and the other fact is, you're more impaired than if you've had none. I shall endeavor to remember those obvious facts. Again.
But then, what would I do at the strip club? :P
It's good to know that they are limiting the driving time of people with DUIs only to the hours where kids might be out and about.
Just because a person has no prior offenses doesnt mean they are any less dangerous. All it takes is once.
"Alcohol & Driving", My ERROR.
"Just because a person has no prior offenses doesnt mean they are any less dangerous. All it takes is once."
That is exactly right. Takes only 1 time to possibly Kill someone else. Because a person has never been drunk or driven drunk before is not an excuse. If anything I personally feel the penalties for drunk driving should be even harsher. It needs to be totally discouraged!
If a man was pointing a gun at your head and pull the trigger and missed, would you want the courts to let him off easier because it was a "first offense"?
That's what drunk driving is, pulling the trigger on a several hundred pound gun.
About 40,000 people a year get killed in car accidents and the majority of those are NOT b/c of drinking and driving.
Many accidents and deaths are caused by folks falling asleep at the wheel. Does that mean if you get pulled over b/c you may have been a bit drowsey, and perhaps swerving in your lane, that you should have to pay $2000 in fines and perhaps lose your livelyhood/employment?
Having said that, I feel dancers need to stop pressuring customers to drink. Not saying all dancers do, but I've had my share of dancers comment about my not drinking, or tell me "have just one" to loosen up.
Here's hoping dancers read this thread and accept those who wish to abstain.
If a person is dependent on alcohol to relax, loosen up & have Fun, well...
Find a Different way.
I have fun & can relax in a Club without consuming alcohol, if I can anyone can.
First, so what? Do we only concentrate on the "#1" causes of everything? No, we don't.
Second, drunk driving is something that can be detected *before* something bad happens. Drunk driving is also the result of a *deliberate* decision made well before the time of the actual danger period, and then another choice later on to get behind the wheel. Choices like that should have consequences.
"Many accidents and deaths are caused by folks falling asleep at the wheel. Does that mean if you get pulled over b/c you may have been a bit drowsey, and perhaps swerving in your lane, that you should have to pay $2000 in fines and perhaps lose your livelyhood/employment?"
Not entirely a valid comparison. Fatigue is not something people deliberately drink from a bottle *knowing* that it will impair them. It is often something that creeps up on a person, without that person being fully aware of it.
However, to your point, yes, there should be consequences for endangering others, irrespective of how that endangerment is accomplished. Fatigue at the level of driving impairment doesn't have the same degree of *thought* impairment that alcohol or drug intoxication does, so in most cases it's possible to recognize that one is too tired to drive slightly before one actually becomes a large danger. Punishment for choosing to drive in that state wouldn't meet any objections from me.
It's stories like yours that serve as a wake-up call to all of us who think we're sober enough to drive home after a few drinks. I know I'll think twice before having any booze at a club again.
Thanks for sharing.