DUI Stories

[Sean C]

About 20 years ago I was at a friend's house late at night when he decided we should go to my house to retrieve a VHS tape I had of a comedy routine he liked. We had both had [quite] a few drinks, so his girlfriend convinced us we should walk instead of driving. (It wasn't very far.)


On the way back we were walking in the median of a divided highway when a car pulled in behind us, which was odd because we weren't near an intersection. Then came the unmistakable blue and red flashing lights.


The officer approached us and my friend immediately blurted out that he had been drinking and was under the legal age of 21. "Great", I thought. Now I'm going to be charged with "contributing to the delinquency of a minor" in addition to being "drunk in public". The officer asked for our IDs and when I tried to hand him mine, I fell over into the ditch. (Did I mention that I had QUITE a few drinks?)


The officer asked us to step into the back of his cruiser. I was sure I would be spending the night in jail. ... Nope. He took us back to my friend's house and told us to "Be safe." I think he was satisfied that we had followed the advice of my friend's girlfriend and decided not to drive.


I'm not proud of it, but I've had more than a couple run-ins with the law. But thankfully, honesty and common sense has gotten me out of many a sticky situation. (I have a few other stories which might blow your mind, too.)

[Reece]

I would have thrown the book at you and locked you up!!


Just kidding, and nice to find a Policeman that gives warnings, very rare!

[Gargamel]

Might have mentioned this a bit ago, but about 6 weeks I was arrested for DUI.

Was out on a date with a girl, had a few drinks, but not many. I'm a big guy, and can drink, and I never drive if I'm feeling much at all. So the date ends, And I'm on my way home. I'm leaving town, 50 feet from the edge of town, I start accelerating from the 35mph zone into the 55 mph zone.

State Trooper spins around behind me, pulls me over.

Says he got me doing 47 in a 35, I argue I was just about in the 55 zone. He then asks if I have had anything to drink. Since I didn't think I was intoxicated, I say sure, I had a few with dinner.

He asks me to step out of the car. I do the field sobriety test. He says take off your glasses and follow my finger. He then holds the flashlight in front of his finger. I cannot see the finger at all, but I try to follow it. He then has me walk the line, which was covered in Ice and snow, I do that fine. When I have to stand on one foot, I realize I'm a real Klutz and I end up putting a foot down once, joking about it as I do it.

He then tells me he's putting me under arrest for DUI. I'm like What? I know I'm fine, it's cold and I'm shivering. We had been sitting outside on the smoking porch for a couple hours, and my motor control isn't that good when I'm shivering, but he's not buying any of it. I'm now thinking about how I have driven when I was more drunk than this, but still capable of driving, and now I'm rethinking every decision I ever made in this regard.



After reading me my rights, He tries to cuff me around the back, but since a childhood injury to my right arm, I cannot touch my right hand to my right shoulder, nor as I learn this night, put my hands together behind my back. He has to use two sets of cuffs, and they're on painfully tight, since he's now kinda annoyed.

He now helps me into the back of the cruiser, which is NOT made for people who are 6'3" and 330lbs. I don't fit. He had to push. He now gets my phone and asks if there is someone I can call to come get the car. I call my brother, but then I realize he's got kids, and he'd need to bundle them and her up to have a second driver. So I tell him nevermind, but by then he's awake (it's 2 am), and call's my parent's, but they're too far away to help in time, and now they're awake and worried.

So they tow the car. Great.

I'm jammed in the back of the cruiser, head crammed against the ceiling, hat being forced down over my eyes. I can't see when he's going to stop, or accelerate, and being a trooper, his pedals only have two positions, all the way down or up. So I'm not a happy camper by the time we make it to the barracks.

He helps pull me out of the cruiser. Says Walk over to the door. I'm like what door? I'm pissed now. And by the way I'm walking, cuffed and blindfolded, he's realizing I'm actually not the drunk. He pulls my hat up, and I head over to the door.

It's then I realize the drunk tank is up a flight of stairs. What Fool designed this place??? I bound up the stairs, let's just get this over with.

Sit's me down, reads me a bunch of stuff. Gives me the breathalyzer. And again. I blow a .012. Legal limit is .08. I'm barely even registering.

I actually say to him "I told you so".

He hems and haws for a bit. Then he says he's only going to cite me for the license plate light being out, and not the speeding nor the DUI. I'm like thanks, happy to just not be getting a DUI.

He walks into the other office to do the paperwork, and I hear him talking to his sergeant. Can't hear what they are saying, but there's a conversation. He comes back and says he's not going to cite me for anything, as the tow charge would be enough. Well good, I think.

He says he'll give me a ride home then. I say just take me back to my car and I'll be fine. He can't do that he says, I've been drinking. Ok..... /facepalm.

Then he tells me he'll have to cuff me again and put me in the back. I look him dead on, and say I'll only be cuffed in the front, and only so he'll feel safe. he does have a gun, he's young, and jumpy, and I really understand why he has to cuff me, but I'm not getting getting cuffed in the back again. He agrees.

He cuffs me, THEN he hands my my wallet, keys, paperwork, and phone. What the heck am I supposed to do with this now? I can't reach my pockets.

So I'm loaded into the back of the cruiser again. But this time..... I can text! And take Selfies! While handcuffed! This does nothing but annoy him more, but he's not going to say a damn thing. I let my family know the quick and dirty of what's going on, and they can go back to sleep.

He drops me off at my house, uncuffs me, says goodnight, and leaves. Didn't even get a good night kiss!

After finally getting the car back a couple days later, I find the Only thing he searched was my glove compartment, which hold an electric razor, which in hindsight the case really does look like a really big weed pipe case. At that point he gave up.



He never did find the brass knuckles (made out of resin) I had in my jacket pocket the whole time.

[Reece]

Good grief, what a nob!! Oh for a hidden camera!

[Platapus]

"I'm now thinking about how I have driven when I was more drunk than this, but still capable of driving"

A lot of people think this.

[Gargamel]

Originally Posted by Platapus

"I'm now thinking about how I have driven when I was more drunk than this, but still capable of driving"

A lot of people think this.

I knew that would get interpreted that way, and that's not what I meant at all.

If I have any doubt at all about my abilities, then I'll wait. I've crawled in the back seat and slept it off before. There's no way I'm putting myself or others at risk for something as stupid as that.

What I meant was, if I was drunk then (I wasn't, not in the slightest), then the atrocities I had committed in the past were really scaring me. Having finally been able to put a breathalyzer test to how I felt, it let me know I had been making the safe decision all along.

[Sailor Steve]

A big part of the problem with drinking and driving is that the person who is drunk enough to be dangerous is also drunk enough to be convinced he's not drunk.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

A big part of the problem with drinking and driving is that the person who is drunk enough to be dangerous is also drunk enough to be convinced he's not drunk.

True that and been a witness to the fact more times than I can remember

[Commander Wallace]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

A big part of the problem with drinking and driving is that the person who is drunk enough to be dangerous is also drunk enough to be convinced he's not drunk.

An answer to this, that is too easy. Just don't drink when you are out. More often than not, if one goes out to the clubs, you will encounter the loudmouth who has had too much to drink and is intent on causing problems. If you don't drink when out, and have your wits about you, then you should be able to handle the drunken individual, as peacefully as possible. Additionally, you will be sober and can If necessary, handle the situation physically. I have dealt with those situations a few times and it didn't end well for the drunk.

Further, one can get a " designated driver " or call a cab or get a Uber ride. If i went out with a group, I was usually the designated driver since I don't drink anyhow except on rare occasions. The rare occasion is watching sports at home when my favorite teams are losing badly.

This way, everyone has a good time and I make sure they get home safe.

Years ago, our band played out and some high school chums I graduated with a few years before came out to hear us play. It was a great night and a good time was had by all. The next day, I received a phone call to tell me one high school friend who had been there with us had been drunk and got in a car accident and was killed. I didn't see him as he left before we were done playing. To make matters worse, his brother had also been killed the same way 10 months earlier. His parents buried 2 sons in less than a year. I blamed myself and the " friends " for the longest time for not looking out for him that night.

I had looked out for friends in high school if they did drink but learned a lot from our friends needless death. I made sure they got home and after the incident above. I redoubled my efforts to make sure anyone with us stayed safe and that they didn't hurt anyone else by driving drunk.

I guess it comes down to being responsible. You said pretty much the same thing.

[Jimbuna]

Back in the day there used to be a road sign on the M25, featuring an illustration of a police car with lights flashing.

"If you drink and drive, we'll provide the chasers."

[GoldenRivet]

As someone who has personally been hit in a traffic accident by someone who was driving under the influence... twice, i say people who are this bad at being grown ups and make such blatantly bad decisions so as to take the lives of innocent motorists and pedestrians in their own inebriated hands; DUI should be an automatic 15 year prison sentence on the first offense.