[Kickb]

I've noticed that most of my friends drink and drive yet none have been stopped yet. But I know a few people who got DUI's in their mid 20s and some in their 30s and 40s. judging from athlete related DUI's, it seems most of them are in their mid to late 20s.

Do you guys think my observation is also true for you? If so, what do you think the reason is? The law of averages catching up to them? Over confidence due to doing it so many times in the past?

I would think at an older age you would be more careful and know when it would be retarded for you to drive.

[Veloce]

Depends where. In LA there's very little bar hopping culture until recent years. Bars are typically only driving distance from each other, so if you're reckless you'll get a few drinks at one place and then move to the next. For that reason, I know a LOT of people who've gotten DUIs here, and they're very very common.

I've been going 16 years strong driving wasted on certain occasions and never getting caught, but I've got the right constitution for being a functional degenerate. I've been stopped 3 times at sobriety checkpoints and been completely wasted and gotten through. I've also been in a friend's car when they got pulled over and the cop gave me the keys and I was the most wasted out of all of us.

I used to play a drinking game with my friends, of seeing how blitzed we could get and still do shit like touch our nose with our finger standing on one foot while reciting the alphabet backwards. I always won, and every once in a while I'll still do the alphabet backwards when I'm drunk (even though I've never been asked to.

[OGNorCal707]

Law of averages catches up to you.... I've driven drunk so many times without issue, at a certain point especially when you're younger you start to feel like you're invincible (as far as drinking/driving/and not getting caught goes). All it takes is one little bit of bad luck and you're fucked, DUI checkpoint, asshole cop pulls you over for B.S. reason, etc.

I've been very lucky to only have come close, but I've had 3 close calls now, and I've recently cut back on my drinking and my approach to drinking and driving. First time I was for sure over the limit, but I got lucky and the cops gave me a field sobriety test which I passed easily, but no breathalizer (prob would have failed that). I got pulled over because it was night time, the cops were riding my ass, and I didn't realize it was the cops, so I gunned it up to 50 mph to get them off my ass, but it was a 25 zone. Ooops, fortunately I not only got let off without getting a DUI, but they didn't write me a ticket either.

The next two times I got pulled over drinking and driving, were for complete B.S. reasons, having a headlight out (didn't realize it was out), and the last time about 8 months ago, the cops claimed I made an illegal turn, but I'm quite sure it was B.S. on their part.

Basically, if you're going to drink and drive make sure you have a full stomache once you start drinking, and although it's not really good for healthy lifestyle purposes, I'd suggest maybe even eating a slice of pizza or something after the bars close to soak up the alcohol. Also drink a shit ton of water, before, after, and in between drinks.

Not sure if it's in every state, but I heard somewhere (on this forum I believe) that in CA you can refuse a breathalizer and instead get a blood test which is not only more accurate, but will take longer to produce, which can lower your BAL by the time they draw blood.

[Kickb]

The closest I came to getting pulled over is when I ran this red light right. The cop was just on the other side of the median I was so close to my apartments too. I sped up and raced over the overpass, ran through a yellow lights and turned into my complex. I was 19 at the time. I would have been completely fucked!

[bacon]

my 2 cents

go to amazon or craigslist and buy a police grade breathilizer it will be 150 and up used but it will help you know for sure when youve had enough and should take a cab.

also never submit to a breathilizer or any of the other walking in a straight line shit the cops could make you do.

- get an attorneys card and tell the cop if he pulls you over that
a) ive not had anything to drink
b) i respect him and his job but if we are going to test for alchohol i request a blood test as was recommended by my legal council

the cops cant force you to blow into a breathilizer or walk a straight line legally all they can do to you is take you to a police station or hospital for a blood test

this alone gives you an extra 45-1hr to get sober if he commits to taking you in to be blood tested.

if you are convicted use a lawyer for representation, especially for first time offenders this can be often fought and charges can be reduced or dropped esspecially if your lawyer requests the officer show up in court which will be burden to officers and if they dont show up it helps get your case dropped.

[Timoteo]

Since you pretty much need a car in LA (I know...you CAN survive without one depending on where you live, but most need one), you know thousands of people are driving drunk every night, so they can't bust all of them. One of my best friends out there got busted and had his license suspended for 6 months. Luckily, he can bike back and forth to work.

[Andy_B]

It`s got to be law of averages, most people are better drivers at 25 than at 20.

[Nonpareil]

I've done some stupid shit and never been caught, but I try to do things to minimize my risk; I'll stick to either country roads or major highways if I can (since there are less cops on country roads, and as long as you can drive straight on a major highway at the speed limit, they probably won't pull you over), and if I'm absolutely blackout, falling on my ass drunk, I won't drive. I've gotten through spot checks before using many of the pointers people here have posted as well as my own; chew gum, guzzle tons of water and make sure you have some food in you.

It sounds like a shitty thing to say, but sometimes you have to do it; not every friend of mine, party I go to or girl I fuck is going to be within walking distance or reachable by public transit* (for real, what sounds better? Driving for 30 minutes A to B, or taking three buses and a train then walking for ten minutes?), and tomorrow I'll have some shit to do, and I don't want to drop $40 each way on a taxi.

One of my friends got pulled over at 8 AM, on a Tuesday, after a night of drinking and I think that's fucked. Yes, there's alcohol in your system from the night before, but you aren't 'drunk' drunk, cost the guy his job. Considering how many alcoholics there are out there (I've heard estimates that it's around 10% of the population), there's always going to be drunk drivers on the roads.

* - And while I'm at it, for all we hear about 'we're trying to keep drunk drivers off the road!', when I see that you stop running buses and subways at 10 PM or midnight, I'm calling bullshit. There have been times when for sure I would have taken the train or the bus instead of driving if they were running.

[oregonziggy]

Older you get the less the cops bother you. a 45 year old guy and a 20 year old at a stoplight with a cop next to them. Who are they going to follow or bother or assume is doing something wrong?

Depends on what you drive also. My strip club buddy and I take his wife's minivan when out for the night. If we took my car or his we would have gotten pulled over for sure.

A minivan at 3am or a red sports car?

[TheBulldozer]

We've all done dumb shit before. Please don't include this on the list of dumb things you do. I'd rather not go further into why. For fucks sake, pay $20 and take a taxi home.

[WestIndianArchie]

Work in a criminal defense office, you'll quickly be disabused of this notion.

The college set gets plenty of DWI's/DUI's, Public Intoxications, and Assault charges as a result of imbibing.

WIA

[billy]

Drink driving is great right up untill someone dies.

[Monty Brown]

(12-08-2012 05:10 PM)Kickb Wrote:  

I've noticed that most of my friends drink and drive yet none have been stopped yet. But I know a few people who got DUI's in their mid 20s and some in their 30s and 40s. judging from athlete related DUI's, it seems most of them are in their mid to late 20s.

Do you guys think my observation is also true for you? If so, what do you think the reason is? The law of averages catching up to them? Over confidence due to doing it so many times in the past?

I would think at an older age you would be more careful and know when it would be retarded for you to drive.

I really put the Kabosh on my migos with this post. A bunch of my friends got DUI charges in 2013. One of my best friends got one the day after christmas in 2012.

[Faust]

I don't know the odds of being caught, but it's a fucking stupid thing to do. The cops don't bust DUI drivers because they're buzz-kills, they bust DUI drivers because they kill people.

[Giovonny]

My older brother got 4 DUI's

He told me, "I didn't get 4 DUIs because I drove drunk 4 times. I got 4 DUIs because I drove drunk 400 times"

Law of Averages.

He said if they pull you over and you are totally wasted, run for it, if you get away, report the car stolen in the morning, If they catch you, they will usually drop the charge for running.

It might be worth the risk!

[Dr. Howard]

depends where you are. Ontario, Canada they have sobriety checkpoints that are thorough on the regular and old and young get busted alike. By everywhere I also mean everywhere. They set one up in the middle of nowhere coming out of a logging road during hunting season to check for drunk hunters, I was coming back at the end of a day of work.

They wouldn't believe me that I was literally coming home from work I had to say "I have no gun in my truck, who goes hunting without a gun?"

[iknowexactly]

(12-09-2012 06:10 AM)billy Wrote:  

Drink driving is great right up untill someone dies.

I've counseled two lifers in my prison mental health jobs who caught Murder 2 charges for driving high and killing someone. One had been drunk and one blood tested positive for meth I think. Lifer means no snatch ever again for you. You'll be falling love with the female prison guards, hoping she notices you.

Another had a long sentence which pretty much is death, you get out in your sixties and you're a maladapted prison freak. He hit the back of a occupied stopped car at a red light doing about 60. The victims were hospitalized with severe injuries but they didn't die.

They whined like little bitches how it wasn't fair. The dead people weren't there to whine so I didn't hear their side of the story.

If you kill somebody and you have a prior DUI it's murder 2, moron.

Oh wait, you're not a moron, because you're smart enough to not be the smart-ass who went out and killed somebody.

And although my impression is that these guys were driving shitty, what if some stupid sober person runs into YOU and you're drunk and THEY DIE. They'll just see two wrecks in the street, test you, find you high, find the other person dead and SOBER-- and are not going to care you didn't cause the accident.

What a nice evening-- laughing it up on Grey Goose with an 8 next to you in the car, suddenly an idiot runs a light, killls her, kills himself, and you wake up in the hospital, under arrest for two counts of murder 2. It could EASILY happen.

See you in jail! I kind of cut these sessions short because I don't have much sympathy for the guys. And I'm the only one that listens at all.

[OMYG]

Im guilty of this. I have lost count of how many times I have driven drunk and im here in LA, driving from house party to house party and on the freeway as well. In hind sight I really consider myself lucky.

I think maybe when you are younger you know the stakes are higher so therefore you are more careful while you drive drunk?

Seriously though sometimes I feel as if I drive better when I am drunk because im trying to not get pulled over. Yet again it could be I just perceive myself as driving better but in reality im not.

Well I still got one more year of illegal drinking.

[spokepoker]

Bottom line; don't do it.
Do it enough, you're going to get caught.
Try to not put yourself in a situation where you will be driving after drinking.
If you have to, put your keys inside a wheel well, and get some sleep in the backseat.

[TheBulldozer]

(04-15-2014 09:09 PM)OMYG Wrote:  

Im guilty of this. I have lost count of how many times I have driven drunk and im here in LA, driving from house party to house party and on the freeway as well. In hind sight I really consider myself lucky.

I think maybe when you are younger you know the stakes are higher so therefore you are more careful while you drive drunk?

Seriously though sometimes I feel as if I drive better when I am drunk because im trying to not get pulled over. Yet again it could be I just perceive myself as driving better but in reality im not.

Well I still got one more year of illegal drinking.

Fuck you.

[Faust]

Quote:

Im guilty of this. I have lost count of how many times I have driven drunk and im here in LA, driving from house party to house party and on the freeway as well. In hind sight I really consider myself lucky.

I think maybe when you are younger you know the stakes are higher so therefore you are more careful while you drive drunk?

Seriously though sometimes I feel as if I drive better when I am drunk because im trying to not get pulled over. Yet again it could be I just perceive myself as driving better but in reality im not.

Well I still got one more year of illegal drinking.

Die in a fire, asshole.

[Drazen]

I'm so damned lucky in this regards.

Throughout college and afterwards, I frequently drove wasted home. First from college parties and bar nights, then from Happy Hours and night outs in my early 20s. I outmaneuvered checkpoints by driving into residential neighborhoods and lucked out. I would drive 20-30 miles from Hollywood to the Westside, from UCLA to back home, from Hermosa Pier back home just completely hammered. I used to actually sleep in the back of my car (you can get a DUI for this BTW but it was a larger car and I could hide out) a few times.

I got pulled over a few years ago on 4/20 after getting wasted at a Sublime reunion concert (when I was in my early 30s)

Lots of weed, lots of booze. Pulled over on the 105 Freeway, did the field sobriety, I think I failed it because they didn't let me go and gave me the option of doing a breath test, but I passed the breathalyzer (or so I was told). Was so thankful, that 30 minute ordeal I was just imagining all the shit that would happen now. The cops let me go, they were cool. I never looked at the number I got on the breathalyzer and I have no idea how I passed it as I was steadily drinking shots, weed and beer all night. I was so grateful that night and was scared shitless. I thanked the cops immensely and told them I'd make life changes (they had known I drank earlier).

That was the last time I ever drove drunk. Scared the shit out of me to be in that situation and what can happen. I know the worst part is how you can fuck up and kill other people, but at that time I wasn't thinking of that. I think you need to shit your pants and go through that personal "ah-ha" moment.

But thank god for Uber and Lyft (and getting hotels). That's all I do now (well, I did Taxis before that but that sucked).

[Faust]

Drazen-

There's a lot of talk now about Uber and how it should/should not be allowed to compete with traditional taxis.
Yours is an angle I've never heard before, and I would really appreciate it if you could answer this question for me:

Does the existence of Uber make you less likely to drive drunk, and if so, why?

[Christian McQueen]

There's this thing called Taxis and another thing called Uber.

If you can't afford a cab or Uber, you can't afford to be going out.

You know what causes people to drive drunk? Arrogance.

Plain and simple. They believe that "It won't happen to me. I'm fine".

Fuck arrogance. Fuck driving that new car you're dying to show off. Fuck trying to impress a girl.

Get a cab, uber, or stay the fuck home, unless the bar is walking distance.

Sit down and talk with a man who's spent over a decade in prison 23-33 and see what his perspective is. I have and it's not a pretty sight. His best years down the drain.

[Drazen]

(04-15-2014 09:26 PM)Faust Wrote:  

Drazen-

There's a lot of talk now about Uber and how it should/should not be allowed to compete with traditional taxis.
Yours is an angle I've never heard before, and I would really appreciate it if you could answer this question for me:

Does the existence of Uber make you less likely to drive drunk, and if so, why?

Well, ever since I got pulled over I choose not to Drive Drunk so that isn't happening.

What Uber does it makes it easier for me to go out and drink as much as I want for less than what a Taxi costs. Its also a lot more reliable. In the past I would call the Taxi company and they would say "5-15". Sometimes it would be that, sometimes no one would show up. Uber makes it trackable. Its also a lot more humane of a way to travel.

Costwise, its a lot less. I used to spend $30-45+ on taxis going out, now I spend 40% of that. Its expensive? So is a DUI. I can also pre-drink at home, I'll make up the costs of transportation by drinking 3 mixed drinks and a beer. And not having to park is a godsend as well. It just makes sense.