Busted

[MMDad]

Whatever, I think my cause was more impulse control - not having it, rather than the drinking.

Keep telling yourself that and you'll guarantee that you get another one.

 

[itsbob]

You know, any of us could go to dinner and have a glass or two of wine, get pulled over and be DUI.

Thank you.. softcrab, whoever they maybe he/she I don't know.. They didn't kill anyone. They got caught DUI, it's not even a felony, and in most states it's not even a misdemeanor. Why should you have to spend a butt load of money to defend yourself against something you really can't defend yourself against anyways? You're not paying the lawyer to defend you, you're paying him to make you a deal.. ie.. You have the money, you get the deal, you don't have the money you get the shaft. Not how our judicial system is SUPPOSED to work.

We don't know what she "blew" to get the DUI. Did she blow a .08?? A drink or two with dinner? OR did she blow a .20 over twice the legal limt?

As far as the law goes, there is no data to support the limits.. There's research into the effects of alcohol, and that you may be impaired at .08, but the research to compile would be the last 50 years of data that drunk drivers were involved in accidents, fatal and non-fatal, and what their BAC was at the time.. AND if they were actually at fault. Today if you're over the limit you are automatically at fault, even if the other driver ran a red light and broadsided you in an intersection (ok I exaggerate, but you get the point).

I THINK the data would show, that most accidents, especially the fatal ones, where the driver was REALLY at fault, their BAC was well above the .08 mark set by the courts. So how did we come to the .08 mark for DUI/DWI? Emotions!! "OMG my *fill in the blank* was killed by a drunk driver. We need stricter DUI/DWI laws." Research the facts and MOST (not all) times the killer was 2 or more times beyond the legal limit, and yet we insist that we need STRICTER laws. Granted I haven't done any real research on this subject but it seems to me anytime you hear about a DUI fatality it's usually above the .2 mark..

I agree that drunk drivers should be off the roads.. and I believe punishment should be stricter MUCH stricter, for 2nd and 3rd time offenders, but base the laws on REAL research, facts, and not emotions.

 

[vraiblonde]

Research the facts and MOST (not all) times the killer was 2 or more times beyond the legal limit, and yet we insist that we need STRICTER laws.

Exactly. It's not the people who had one beer we need to worry about - it's the ones who get rip snorting drunk that are the problem. And making the laws stricter isn't going to stop them.

 

[BuddyLee]

You know, any of us could go to dinner and have a glass or two of wine, get pulled over and be DUI.

Which is exactly why you have someone else drive.

 

[Fubar]

Every single injury and death caused by drunk driving is totally preventable-d'oh.
It's easy to forget that dry statistics represent real people and real lives. Stay the hell off the road or call a friend/cab-end of story.

 

[schaubam]

Hate to break it to all of you, but you can be arrested for DUI even if you blow under .08% if the officer believes that you are intoxicated. While that charge may not stand up in court, but you will still have to lawyer up and fight it.

 

[chernmax]

If this is a first offense the driver may just get a PBJ here in SOMD. Also in MD it's different because a DWI is Driving While Impaired and in other states its Driving While Intoxicated. So in MD a DWI is less of an offense than a DUI!

Now with that said, I in no way shape or form condone drunk driving and in some sense deserves all the hate being received (tough love), but hey maybe, just maybe this person can get a new beginning and it's my opinion just may be reaching out by posting their f@ckup and despair!

Last, court will not be fun and the MVA administrative hearing I heard can be harder than what the judge gives you? Good luck and I do hope you posted this to make a positive change in your like, not sympathy for F@cking Up!

 

[itsbob]

Every single injury and death caused by drunk driving is totally preventable-d'oh.
It's easy to forget that dry statistics represent real people and real lives. Stay the hell off the road or call a friend/cab-end of story.

Show me the data that supports the level of "drunk" that should warrant arrest, and change of life.

 

[blondie4512]

Ya know, I was kinda thinking along these lines. I mean, I wonder if a lot of these people calling for the heads of those who have drank and drove ever did it but didn't get caught. Then they have this tragedy in their life, and now they are calling for the heads of those who did the same thing they did.

I think the dui laws are out of control. I know that you can have a slower reaction time at a .08, but is it any slower than you have after working a sixty hour week? I don't know. I think they should make the laws for dui stricter, but raise the limit. That is, I agree, if you are a .15 or .20 you should go to jail, first time. But if you are a .08/09 I don't know that you are the person out there killing people. Of course this is all just my humble opinion and not based on any factual knowlege. For the record, I won't have more than a beer or two, and drive, I'm 6'1" 240lbs.

This is actually true, and there is a formula out there someone actually created and studied on how someone who is fatigued has the same reaction time as someone who has had 2 beers... And so on.. I don't have time to look it up and post a linkie to it, but I attended some training where it was discussed..

 

[Roberta]

It is Self Rightousness.

Would the suffering you experienced be lessened if the person at fault wasnt drunk, but still ended up killing the loved one?

I'm not excusing the drunk, and yes the drunk may have lesser response times, but your loved one could have been killed by a driver without the necessary skills to navigate a vehicle.

The Drunks actions in the incident are his own, the suffering you experienced has nothing to do with the drunk it has to do with the loss of the loved one.

 

[FED_UP]

Okay, I'm dealing with a DWI.

To the tune of $2200 to my lawyer.

I lost my train of thought, but part of it is I should figure a way to make money off the "reality show"f it.

Maybe I could work in religion and confession, after all I'm Catholic..

I ain't trying to make light of it, just tryingn to imply the f*ck up in an other wise normal life.

And how I have to deal with "big brother" assuming I'm a "f*ck up."

I've already realized I have to talk the "truth" they want to hear.

I have to suffer it, or find amusement in iti

Too bad you finally got busted, is this the first time? a lot of good feedback in here for your ears, are you still drinking? Will you stop?

 

[vince77]

smoke pot instead

 

[protectmd]

Drunk Driving in Maryland. Hilarious! You know whats amusing is Marylands DUI/DWI laws. For starters, you should put the beer down dude and do some research. This state lets all criminals off, and will probably let you off easy too.... So don't worry. but... You are fortunate that you are not living in a foreign country... In some, the mandatory sentence is death.... Other countries will forcefully take your blood/breath/urine sample to determine if you have been drinking/driving.

North Carolina puts a fun twist on it.... your 3rd one, you are convicted of Felony DWI/DUI.

Maryland's DUI/DWI laws are weak. Simply because most of the state legislature are DWI lawyers. They are not going to make laws that make their jobs harder in the off season.

In Maryland, its optional for you to take a field sobriety test, and optional to blow into the machine. Sure.... you can refuse and they will suspend your license for awhile.... but most good DWI/DUI attorneys get that back at the MVA hearing pending you didn't blow into any machines, and most likely will get the DWI/DUI nolle Prossed.... meaing thrown out. In fact, the only time they can make you give a blood sample is in the event you killed someone in a motor vehicle accident.

Repeat offenders have this crap down to a science.... Meaning they refuse to do anything asked of them when getting pulled over by the cops, from answering questions to performing tests. Skilled lawyers will inform them of this and they basically drink and drive constantly, since they are never convicted. These are the same ones who know all of the magical wording like.... Well I have natural nystagmus, balancing problems from a bad back and on top of that, im handicapped so its difficult for me to walk a straight line. My doctor will meet you in court officer.

Maryland doesn't make it mandatory to give breath/blood/urine samples like in some states.

Maryland doesn't have felony DUI/DWI laws... meaning your 3rd strike equals FELONY, hence you have multiple offenders running loose driving on the same highways you drive on. The guy who killed the family of 4 in DC, the news said he had 4 DWI/DUI arrests in Maryland.... yet he was still out driving around.

So the answer is this. When you get Mike Miller and the rest of the lawyers in the senate to pass tougher DUI/DWI laws.... you'll get people to actually stop drunk driving. Until then.... yeah... what a joke this state is.