Drunk Driving……..Need we say more….yes!

Let’s talk about something that I deal with on a nightly basis – Drunk Driving. Does drunk driving make you a criminal? Not on the same level as someone who robs a bank, shoots someone, steals a car, vandalizes property and so on. In fact, that’s something I hear frequently from the drunk driver after I arrest them. “Why don’t you go out and arrest a REAL Criminal”.

My exposure to drunk drivers started when I was driving an ambulance. The death and destruction that I saw was over whelming. Aside from the mess on the roadway, I had and still have the misfortune to see what the aftermath does to a family. In a split second your life can change dramatically. Either by being a victim yourself or by becoming a victim when we knock on your door and deliver the news to you that your loved one is either dead, or critically injured at the hospital.

There are 2 perspectives to cover here. One is towards the drunk driver. The other is towards the victims of drunk drivers. We’ll start with the drunk driver.

Who is the drunk driver? I’m not going to categorize in general who the drunk driver is. I’m not going to tell you it’s a car salesman, an insurance broker, the banker, a cop, a fireman, a doctor, the 17-year-old kid down the street, a housewife, or a school teacher. It’s broad, but it’s simple. The drunk driver is ANYONE who is legally intoxicated by the effects of alcohol, who is operating a motor vehicle upon a highway. (Yes, that includes roadways and in most cases parking lots.) In California you are considered legally intoxicated with a B.A.C. of .08%. In some states the level is .10%. In other states it may be less.

What’s this “point oh-eight” stuff. Look at it this way. On a scale from 1 to 25, you are considered legally intoxicated at 8. In other states 10 is the number where you get popped. In California if you are under 21 years of age and you are at a “1”, you AUTOMATICALLY lose your drivers license for 1 YEAR!
(Some teens think whoopee dooh, no license for a year. It gets worse, because you have to pay a hefty reissue fee to get your license back. Worse yet, your insurance rates WILL triple.

Do you need to know the technical aspects of Blood Alcohol Content? Do you need to know the formula of how many drinks you can safely drink per hour to be able to drive? Do you need to know how fast alcohol burns off in your body? No, No, and No!

I have to laugh at some of those charts that came out a few years ago. If your body weight is so and so, and you consume a) 2-12 ounce beers, or b) 3 ounces of 80 proof liquor, or c) 8 ounces of wine, in a 2-hour period, you may be D.U.I. Of course that’s if you weigh 90 to 110 pounds. If you weigh 200 or more pounds, you’re probably safe for a few more. You don’t need a chart. Everybody’s metabolism is different. Alcohol effects everybody differently! I’ve had disgruntled drunk drivers in custody tell me that “drunk driving laws are a joke, because it doesn’t take hardly anything at all to get up to a .08 level.” And you know what? They’re right!

I’ve “heard it all” over the years. “Officer I only had one drink”. “I haven’t had a drink in hours.” “It’s not me, you don’t smell alcohol on me, my friend spilled a beer on me”, “I’m on pain medication”, “I’m not drunk I’m just tired.” When Cops go to calls, they like 2 and 2 to add up to 4. On a car stop it’s the same thing. 2 and 2 should add up to 4. As soon as you start lying to the Cop the warning signals go off because 2 plus 2 is coming up 8. (As in point-oh-eight!)

Let me tell you what we look for:

Weaving! This is the big one because it’s so obvious to us. Whether it’s gradual weaving within the lane with a gradual drift onto or over the painted lines, or jerky erratic swerving. Weaving is weaving. I usually give a person 3 attempts to straighten out. The 3rd time on or over the line is when my red and blue lights come on. You may have a mechanical problem with your car like play in the steering wheel. You may have been changing a tape or CD, lighting a cigarette, dialing a cell phone, whatever the reason – YOU GIVE US PROBABLE CAUSE TO STOP YOU. And may god help you if you’ve been drinking.

Moving Violations we look for:
Running a stop sign or red signal light.
Stopping on or over the limit line or crosswalk at a stop sign or signal light.
Stopping before you get to the limit line.
Abrupt braking for no reason.
Abrupt acceleration or skidding your tires from loss of traction. (Exhibition of speed)
Wide turns.
Striking a curb.
Speeding. Excessive or minimum speeding, either one can get you stopped.
(Doing 25mph in a posted 45 will get you stopped just as if you were going 65!)
Unsafe passing.
Unsafe turns.
Turning without signaling.
Unsafe lane changes.
NOT WEARING YOUR SEATBELT.
Throwing litter or cigarettes out your window.

Alot more info follows – Plus this is a two part post this week – So look for part two next month:

Mechanical Violations that will do you in after midnight…

Driving with no lights on at night Head lamp out
Tail lamp out Brake lamp out
License plate lamp out Cracked windshield
Expired registration No plates displayed at all
No front plate Excessive smoking
Tinted side windows Loud muffler
Playing loud music

You get the picture? All cops have hundreds of reasons to stop you at night, but in essence, YOU are the one giving us the reason to stop you! Excuse me for being blunt, but if you’ve been drinking and we stop you, YOU’RE SCREWED!

No doubt about it, if you’ve had enough alcohol to drink to warrant a car stop, you’re going to exhibit Physical Symptoms of Alcohol Intoxication. The most common we look for include:

Red, watery, or glassy eyes
Thick or slurred speech
An odor of an alcoholic beverage upon your person
Overall fatigued appearance
Droopy eyelids
Confused mental state

If you display any of the above symptoms when I stop you and explain the reason for the stop, I will ask you the following questions:

Where are you driving from right now? Where are you driving to?
Have you had any alcohol to drink tonight? What did you have to eat?
When did you start drinking? Where were you drinking?
When was your last drink? When did you last sleep and for how long?
Are you Epileptic or Diabetic? Do you take prescription medication?
When did you last eat? Are there any mechanical problems with your car?

*For you lawyer types out there, these are Investigative Field Questions that can be asked without “Advising you of your rights!” This is an investigative status, not a Custody status.

Read back on the text regarding Car Stops. Your honesty goes a long way here.

Based on driving that I observed, physical symptoms of intoxication exhibited and statements made during investigative questioning, I will more than likely have you step out of the car to perform a series of F.S.T.’s.
(Field Sobriety Test.)

Test vary from City to City, State to State, but the most common are:

Walking the line heel to toe.
Touching the tip of your nose with your index fingers while your eyes are closed.
Standing at attention, looking up at the sky with your eyes closed.
Standing on one leg while counting predetermined numbers. (1 to 25 or 25 to 1 backward etc.)
Finger dexterity.
Reciting the English alphabet. (No we don’t make you say it backwards!)

These tests measure your ability to carry out a simple test of balance and coordination, but MORE IMPORTANTLY, your ability to FOLLOW simple instructions! Your Physical AND Mental impairment is being evaluated here folks!

Keep in mind that the officer is noting every response that you make. In most cases you are being taped on either a tape recorder, or your worst bet, a video camera. What do you think the Judge or Jury will think when you say you had only one drink, hours ago and that the officer lied about your impairment? They hear you slurring your words and see you stumbling and falling down while attempting to perform the test!

Let’s use my own name in a very common scenario.

Cop> “Ok Jim, I’m going to ask you to perform a series of tests. Part of these tests, are you understanding what I am asking you to do. If you do not understand the instructions for a test, stop me and I’ll re-explain it for you, ok?”

Jim> OK.

Cop> “Jim, this is important, DO NOT attempt to perform any tests until I am done explaining and demonstrating the test to you and I ask you to begin. Do you understand that?”

Jim> Yes I do.

Cop> “Ok Jim, the first thing I’m going to have you do, is stand in a position of attention, arms at your sides, heels and toes together. Once in that position I want you to tilt your head back towards the sky and close your eyes. Jim, don’t start yet, I haven’t finished explaining the test and I haven’t told you to begin”.
Jim,,,,,, JIM!!!! Put your head back down, open your eyes, and let me finish the instructions. OK, Once you have your head tilted back,,,,, Jim, take your hands out of your pockets and keep them at your sides. Ok good, now once you are in position with your head back and eyes closed, I want you to,,, Jim,,,,,JIM!!!!
Don’t start yet! I haven’t asked you to begin yet. Jim, open your eyes so you can watch me first. And Jim, Take your hands out of your pockets,,,,, Good. Now put your heels and toes together in a position of attention. Jim, JIM!!!! Not heel to toe, Put your feet together just like mine are. Jim, If you open your eyes you can see me better!

Jim> C’mon Officer, I’m only a block from home, can’t you follow me home?

You are being evaluated more so on your ability to follow SIMPLE instructions while performing this simple test of coordination, rather than the actual physical test themselves. We often hear, “Did I Pass, Did I Fail?”
Theses are not Pass / Fail tests. You either performed the test as EXPLAINED and DEMONSTRATED or you didn’t. And our concern is why you didn’t!

After the F.S.T.’s the officer has to do one thing before placing you under arrest. He or she has to FORM A REASONABLE OPINION that the driver was operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.

This reasonable opinion is based on:
Driving observed
Physical symptoms of intoxication exhibited
Statements made during Investigative Field Questioning, and
Both, the Mental or Physical Impairment demonstrated during the field sobriety tests.

If I’ve formed this reasonable opinion, the handcuffs go on. I advise you that I am placing you under arrest for the “Investigation of D.U.I.”. (It’s not a D.U.I. ARREST until we find out what your blood alcohol level is.) We go to the station where you have your choice of 3 chemical test. Keep in mind that if you’re from outside California your D.U.I. laws may be different. Here you have the choice of Blood, Breath, or Urine.

People often ask me what tests they should take. I cannot advise you, influence you, intimidate you, or tell you what test to take. After taking a test the arrested person will often ask me off the record, what test I would personally choose if I were in their position. This is what I tell them. If I was sitting in the “hot seat” I can honestly tell you that I would choose the breath test.

Some of you that have been arrested for D.U.I. may think that I’m full of it, but here’s why. Blood and Urine test notoriously come out .01 to .02 points higher than the breath test, because they are a deeper concentrated test. If you blow a .07 on the breath machine (Intoxilyzer) you will probably come out as a .09 or .10 with a Urine or Blood test.

In California we have to give an advisement following the breath test. It goes something like this.

“The breath testing equipment does not retain a physical sample for later analysis by you or anyone else. If you choose, we will provide an additional blood or urine test for you at no charge. The results of this test can be used by both parties in a criminal prosecution.”

In English this means that if you blow on the machine and you think the machine is faulty, you can have a “referee sample” by providing an additional blood or urine test. The breath machine does not retain a physical sample to place into evidence. It spits out a card that tells what your Blood Alcohol content was on the time and date of the test. There is no physical sample placed into an evidence refrigerator to be analyzed like with blood or urine.

If you want a sample retained, we’ll provide that test for you BUT, more often than not, your referee sample will come back 1 to 2 points higher than the Intoxilyzer test. It’s your call but what I see is a referee sample only adding to our case against you. We flat out tell you in the advisement; the results of any additional test CAN BE USED BY BOTH PARTIES IN CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.

In court the test that is most commonly contested by defense attorneys is the Intoxilyzer test. There are many opportunities for human error. The machine has to be calibrated on a regular basis. The machine takes 2 samples that must be within 2 points of each other. If not, it’s considered an invalid test. The Officer MUST observe you for a minimum of 15 minutes prior to the test to make sure that you don’t ingest anything, smoke anything, or drink anything 15 minutes prior to the test.

I’ve seen cases thrown out because the officer left the Intoxilyzer room just for a second to go answer the station phone and then came back to do the test. A good attorney will notice that the 15-minute observation period was not maintained, and wham, the case is out the window.

The Officer has to have had formal training on the Intoxilyzer used. If not, the test is invalid.

There is a check off list that the Officer must use when operating the Intoxilyzer. If this was not done correctly, wham, it’s an invalid test.

Like I said, aside from the breath test being lower in results than the blood or urine test, there is much more chance for human error to occur with the Intoxilyzer than with the other 2 test. Because of that, I would personally choose the breath test.

Ok, you get to the station and the Officer tells you that you have a choice of blood breath or urine. What if you don’t choose any test and REFUSE? I know Officers’ that like refusals because they make the report quite a bit shorter than documenting all the testing procedures. If you do refuse, you are screwing yourself.

You are required to submit to a chemical test to determine your blood alcohol content.
You sign acknowledgment of that requirement when you get your driver’s license.
If you refuse a chemical test you automatically lose your license for one year.
Your refusal is taken as an admission of guilt in Court.
Your refusal will get you Booked at County Jail as compared to being Cite Released from the station.
In some states and in all Felony cases, blood will be taken from you forcefully.

Is there any advantage to a refusal? Sure. There’s no evidence from a test, to show a judge or jury what your B.A.C. level was. But remember, a refusal is taken as an admission of guilt in court and if the officer is credible and experienced, and your actions and statements were captured on video or audio tape you’re screwed.

OK, the test is done and you are found to be legally intoxicated. What happens next? In California, the Department of motor vehicles takes independent action against your license status, as well as the courts taking criminal action. The ADMINISTRATIVE PER SE ORDER or “Admin per se” for short.

Your driver’s license is confiscated by the officer, at the time of arrest and you are issued a temporary license endorsement allowing you to drive for 30 days. After the 30th day, your license is suspended, regardless of whether your case goes to court in the next year or not. Realistically, most D.U.I. cases that make it to court, do so in a time frame of 6 to 9 months down the road or longer. Keep in mind that the action taken by D.M.V. is independent of the action taken by the court. Your license is gone for 4, 6, 9, or 12 months, depending on your previous history. Under 21 years of age and you can kiss it goodbye for an automatic year!

You have 10 days to file an appeal hearing with D.M.V. What you are appealing is the probable cause for the arrest and the legal actions taken by the officer. What you are not appealing is “ YOUR NEED FOR A LICENSE”. Meaning if you go in there to appeal the suspension because you need your license to go to work, or to pick up your kids from school, it isn’t going to happen.

OK, that’s the D.M.V. action. Now we get down to the end of the arrest process. I have a choice. I can book you at County jail where you will sit amongst real criminals for anywhere from 6 to 18 hours depending on how high your B.A.C. level was. Or I can cite (citation) release you to a friend or relative that is over 18, that has a valid license and who will sign a waiver accepting responsibility for your care during your period of intoxication. 90 percent of the people I’ve arrested for D.U.I. prefer to sleep in their own bed that night, as compared to sitting around in a jail intake area with 50 to 100 really nasty people who are in there for serious crimes.

(Please don’t misunderstand me here. D.U.I. is a serious crime that can cause serious death and destruction. But what I see is the average citizen who has never been arrested before, thrown into the criminal justice system with others who have chosen a life of crime. You made a mistake, you drove after drinking and now you’re in the slammer and YOU WILL be sitting next to the person arrested for murder, assault, robbery, burglary, or what have you.) Not something I’d like to do on a Friday night.

The other 10 percent that I’ve arrested and who get booked at the jail usually have an extremely high B.A.C. level and are uncooperative and unmanageable. They couldn’t reach anyone to accept responsibility for them, had warrants out for their arrest, had prior D.U.I. arrest, refused to provide a chemical test, or had other crimes involved with the arrest.
If you are cite released, I will issue you a citation listing the charge of D.U.I. and a court date about 4 to 5 weeks later. You are signing just like you would a traffic ticket. Not an admission of guilt, but a promise to appear at court. I take your photo, get your fingerprints, and we wait for your ride to get there to pick you up.

When your ride does get there, I give the admonishment stating why you were arrested, that YOU ARE NOT TO DRIVE A VEHICLE AGAIN and that your friend or relative accepts responsibility for your care while you are intoxicated.

What we don’t want is your friend coming down to get you, driving you to your car, and saying “See Ya!”
When your friend signs on the line and accepts responsibility for you, they accept all CIVIL LIABILITY for your actions, so don’t put them in a tough spot. They are putting their necks out for you.

Example; I arrested a 24 year old guy one night who blew a .14 on the machine. He had a clean record, had never been arrested before, and was somewhat up and down with his attitude but I can understand that to a point. No one likes to be arrested. He called his roommate to come down and get him and we got through the whole process. 20 minutes later we got a 911 call for a disturbance at the local Tow Company that had towed the guy’s vehicle at the time of arrest. The guy I had just released was at the tow yard threatening the tow truck driver with a tire iron to get his car back.

I ended up arresting the man with no brains for “Drunk in public” and for “Assault with a Deadly Weapon”. I asked the roommate what he was thinking by bringing his drunk friend to get his car after I had just instructed that he was not to drive a vehicle for the next 8 hours. The roommate told me he was just trying to do him a favor because he would need his car in the morning to get to work.

Remember your responsibility if you sign for a friend to be released from a D.U.I. on a Cite Release. You are liable for the actions of the person you sign for. (GOD HELP YOU if you take them back to their car and let them drive! I will BOOK you in jail for any legitimate reason I can find.)

Point being we are trying to make a D.U.I. arrest a little less traumatic. It is much better for you to go to your own home and sleep in your own bed. Then wake up and deal with the aftermath the next morning. Don’t abuse the privilege.

After court you will probably be looking at the following for a first offense:
A fine in the area of $1000.00,
D.U.I. school that YOU pay for, and it’s expensive,
A suspended license for anywhere up to a year,
Probation usually around 3 years,
An incredible and painful increase in your insurance rates,
And finally any Court and Attorney fee’s you’ve accumulated.
People that I’ve arrested for D.U.I. have later told me that the first offense cost them about $7,000.00 or more depending on attorney fee’s. If there are no attorney fee’s it’s substantially less. Let’s put it in this perspective.

I’ve arrested over 450 persons for D.U.I. in the past 6 years. I’ve been to Court on maybe 10 of those. 10 out of 450 D.U.I. arrests. And those 10 were found guilty in Jury trials. If the Officer had legal reason to stop you, and if the Officer formed a reasonable opinion that you were intoxicated and finally if the officer has in hand the results of your test showing that you were over the legal limit in your state, you’re screwed.

It’s safe to say that most the first offenders that I’ve arrested for D.U.I. plead guilty to a lesser charge of D.U.I. under the advice of a lawyer. A lesser charge is usually “Wet Reckless Driving” meaning your history will show that you were arrested for reckless driving with alcohol involved. The fines and penalties are much lower than a D.U.I. charge. You’ll still get probation and if you get popped for another D.U.I. while on probation you’re looking at an additional charge of Violation of Probation. Not a very good position to be in. Trust me!

I’m not going to go through all the reasons and excuses that I’ve heard over the years as to why people drank and then drove a vehicle. I’ve gone through enough reasons above in regards to why you should “NOT” drink and drive.

You know what we look for. You know the process. So the big question is?

HOW DO YOU AVOID A D.U.I.?

Don’t drink and drive a vehicle, period!

At a bar, at a ballgame, at a bachelor or bachelorette party, wedding, birthday party, anniversary, job promotion, marriage, divorce, money problems, feeling sorry for yourself, feeling happy for yourself, the company christmas party. There are hundreds of reasons to drink alcohol when you go out to celebrate.

There’s one very good reason why you shouldn’t drive afterwards and it’s called the Drunk Driving Arrest.

Drinking and driving is like rolling the dice, and sooner or later, You WILL Lose!

If you’re lucky you will just get arrested for D.U.I.
If you’re uncooperative of if you’re stopped in a hazardous place, your car will be towed at your expense.
If you’re really unlucky, you’ll be involved in a collision.
If you’re even unluckier than that, you’ll injure or kill another party, your passenger, or yourself.

The charge gets more and more severe depending on the severity of the incident.

Do yourself a big favor. Do us an even bigger favor. Follow these steps when you go into a bar or drink at a friend’s house.

• Drink as much as you want. And then call a cab or a friend for a ride home. You should never go out drinking unless you have enough Cab money in your purse or wallet for a ride home. If you don’t set that money aside you’ll be tempted to drive. My dad used to always tell me to put a $100.00 bill under my license in my wallet for emergencies. I do it to this day. You can modify that practice to avoid a D.U.I. arrest. Put a $20.00 bill under your license and keep it there for emergency cab fare. That 5 or 10 dollar cab fare WILL save you thousands of dollars. I’m not going to beg you to believe me. If you’re smart, you’ll put a 20.00 bill in there right now. If not, and you should decide to take a chance on driving, YOU WILL GET STOPPED AND ARRESTED. It’s just a matter of time.

(Just so you know, drinking coffee before you drive is nothing more than a myth. It does nothing to sober you up. You don’t see me sticking my neck out by saying it’s OK to have only one drink and then drive.) That’s because everyone’s metabolism is different. Amount of sleep, food intake, medications, medical history, and tolerance to alcohol, all play a part in how much one can safely drink in a time frame. The truth is, in an era where there is zero tolerance to drunk driving, it does not take much alcohol at all, to get up to California’s limit of .08. Zero tolerance means zero options if you never want to get arrested for D.U.I. The only safe option is to not drink and drive. Period!

Here are some safe options to LIVE BY: (Nothing that you haven’t already heard.)

• Use a designated driver! (One that totally refrains from drinking. It’s embarrassing when the designated driver gets arrested and blows a .10 on the machine!) I knew a group of guys that had just gotten out of college that loved to live it up on the weekends. 5 of them. They rotated designated driving responsibilities EVERY friday night when they went out. They always had a blast, and they often offered rides to others that were intoxicated and planning to drive. They were ALWAYS RESPONSIBLE and I respect that.

• Drink non-alcoholic beverages. You can still go to a bar, socialize, throw darts, dance, meet people, and have fun. If you’re driving home afterwards, you’d best heed this advice or your fun is going to be very short lived. There is nothing wrong with drinking non-alcoholic beer, 7-up, ginger ale, juice, ice water, or whatever.

• I see numerous people walking home at 2:00am from our downtown area, and I worry about them being able to walk in a straight line but, I’d rather see that, over them getting behind the wheel of a car!
If I don’t have anything going on I try to reward these people with a quick ride home. If you have no other alternative and you live reasonably close by, then WALK instead of Drive!

• I’LL often cruise through the parking lot of some of the bars after they close and I’ll see a car or 2 with the windows fogged up. Sometimes with the engine running for heating purposes. The driver is sound asleep inside. The intent is good but is it a recommendation. No.

All to often the sleeping intoxicated driver will wake up in discomfort and decide to drive home. Still Intoxicated! Plus you never know who is going to be knocking on your car window at 3am. What if it was someone other than a cop checking on your welfare? What if it was someone who saw you as being an easy target? Sleeping it off in your car? We don’t recommend it.

One of my favorite sayings is that “Every Action causes a Reaction.” This holds true for everything in life. In regards to drunk driving your actions decide on how your night will go.

Use discretion, common sense, and follow some of the simple suggestions listed above and you’ll never, I repeat never have any problems getting home in one piece. (Unless a drunk driver runs into you.)

Disregard the law, use poor judgment, utilize poor common sense, and present a hazard to innocent motorist and pedestrians? The answer comes in the form of a very accurate bumper sticker.

“You Drink and Drive – We’ll provide the CHASER!”

What can you do to prevent being victimized by the drunk driver? You can help yourself by helping us in getting drunk drivers off the road.

• Don’t let your friends or relatives drive drunk. Take the keys, drive them home, call them a cab, or as a last resort call us. You’re not snitching your friend off, and we’re not looking to make an arrest unless your friend makes it onto a roadway.

I got a call from our dispatch center a couple months back, on a Saturday morning at about 1:00am for a “service to a citizen” call. A woman caller was reporting that her fiancé was too intoxicated to drive and that he refused to give her the car keys and wouldn’t consider taking a cab home. (Pride is a funny thing and often gets in the way here.) The woman gave us a perfect description of what they were wearing and told us where they were sitting at the bar. The woman insisted that her fiancé not know that she called. Hey, we’re flexible!

I did a “walk through” the bar which we do frequently just to let people know that we’re out and about. I saw the couple sitting at the bar and it was obvious there was tension between the two. I walked up and said hello and asked them how the night was going. I told the fiancé that I couldn’t help but notice that he was having a “great time” and tactfully told him that I hoped he wasn’t driving home. The fiancé told me that he felt fine and that they were just leaving. I asked “Shawn” if I could be blunt, to which he looked surprised and said “sure.” I told him that as much as I hated to see people get hurt from driving drunk, I also hated to see nice folks get arrested for making a mistake. I told him that from the physical symptoms that I saw, and with the number of young aggressive cops on the street looking to stop a car for any reason, I thought it would be better if he let me call him a cab.
Shawn looked a little surprised as if looking for a trick somewhere along the line, but agreed to let me call him a cab if I really thought that was best. Our dispatcher requested that a cab respond to my location, and Shawn kept telling me that he really didn’t feel that bad and asked if this was really necessary.

We have a test we use called “Gaze Nystagmus”. It’s a test where the Officer has a subject follow an object back and forth with their eyes only while keeping their head straight. The Officer is looking for jerky movements of the eye while following the object. The onset of where the jerking starts can pretty much tell an Officer what the subjects Blood Alcohol Content is. While waiting outside, Shawn let me test his eyes and I estimated his B.A.C. level to be just over .10. Shawn disagreed and said there was no way he was over .08. I don’t do this too often but I let Shawn blow into my portable field intoxilyzer. I wasn’t surprised but he was shocked, when the results came up .12 B.A.C.

Shawn shook my hand and couldn’t thank me enough for looking out for their welfare. As Shawn got into the cab the woman shook my hand and said, “Thank you so much”. I told her that the thanks really goes to her, and that Shawn was a lucky guy to have someone watching out for him, despite his pride.

The next night there was a message in my voice mail from Shawn. Shawn thanked me again and told me that he learned a valuable lesson from the night before. He even invited me to their wedding! I still wonder if Shawn’s bride ever told him about her anonymous phone call!

The Moral of that story is just like the commercial on TV. Friends don’t let friends drive drunk!

Could I have sat in the parking lot and waited for them to drive off? Yes.
Do I feel that Shawn learned just as much a lesson from this than if he had gotten arrested? Yes.
The key element in Shawn’s not getting arrested was that Shawn had someone watching out for him.
Do you need to know the drunk driver to look out for him or her? No.

You can do just what Shawn’s fiancée did, and look out for the safety of other motorist, as well as for the drunk driver. You can remain anonymous. Most people prefer that.

We get calls like this all the time:

“Anonymous male caller reporting an intoxicated subject getting ready to drive away from the ABC bar” along with a description of the subject and the vehicle they were getting into, or drove away in.

Or:

“Anonymous mobile 911 caller reporting an erratic driver, northbound on the ABC freeway, now passing the “D” avenue exit. The vehicle is a green newer model so and so, weaving badly in the #3 lane and onto the shoulder.”

That kind of phone call right there, or the kind of phone call from Shawn’s fiancée,

IS WHAT SAVES LIVES!

I say again, please help us help you!

• When you see someone getting into a car, and they look intoxicated, give us a call.

• When you observe erratic driving on a roadway, jot down a license plate and give us a call.

• When you hear reckless driving in your neighborhood, try and get a description and give us a call!

It goes without saying that the Cops cannot be everywhere at once. In most cases we depend on you to report suspicious activity otherwise we’d never know about it.

Think about something. Think about my partners own fiancée who was driving home late one night on her way home from work. She was one mile away from their house where they lived together when a drunk woman crossed over the center divider and smashed head on into her car at 60 mph. I’m told that the impact speed was over 100 mph. I pray that she never felt anything. She died instantly.

The drunk woman certainly didn’t feel anything because she was 3 times over the legal limit and was feeling no pain. She had several prior arrests for D.U.I., and only got a couple years jail time for killing another human being. All due to nothing short of Criminal Reckless Negligence! Would the girl that my partner cherished still be alive if someone had made a call to us?

Put someone you love in place of my partner’s fiancée and tell me if that anonymous phone call is important. You make the call. We’ll do the dirty work. If we can handle it without an arrest we will. If we have to make an arrest, a life is still being saved somewhere down the road.

As I end this subject on drunk driving, please remember Shawn. His situation is all too common. He felt OK to drive but his blood alcohol level was .12! Don’t take the chance on killing or injuring yourself, your passengers, or an innocent victim. Don’t take the chance on screwing up your life with avoidable expensive fines, suspended licenses, sky-high insurance rates, and a criminal history.

If you don’t drink and drive, you’ll never have to worry about it!

JL