i got my first dui and need some advice

[Trus'Me]

I would like to start off by saying I agree that we shouldn't be drunk and drive. Recently, I have noticed an unintended consequence of the current drink and drive laws that are turning some casual drinkers into heavy/binge drinkers. Some people who used to have one or two drinks are now drinking until they drop so as to justify/maximize the value of the cab ride home. The theory is that if I am getting a cab ride home, I may as well make the trip worth while. How? By drinking more...

@BJ, glad we're not Swedish!!

I'm noticing something a little different. My buddy owns a bar that has a cold beer and wine offsales store and I sit with him there and chat with him and the customers all the time. Since the laws came in to effect, the regulars that would sit at the bar for a few hours every day spending an average of say, $25 on 4 or 5 beers or highballs, aren't sticking around anymore out of fear being caught at a road block. Instead they're coming over to the store, spending the same $25 on a case of beer or a 26er of vodka and going home and getting royally shitfaced by guzzling all 12 or pouring quadruple highballs. The cost of drinking at the bar actually kept them from drinking excessively.

We live in a small town so I know most of these guys. Since this shift in where they drink and what they can afford has happened, some of them, particularly the older guys, aren't looking too good when after years they maintained a steady but modest daily ingestion of booze. One could argue it's a good thing that at least they're killing themselves at home and not innocent people on the road, but this change is causing an increase in the severity of many peoples alcoholism which comes along with a whole host of emerging problems.

Just an observation.

 

[wilde]

I'm noticing something a little different. My buddy owns a bar that has a cold beer and wine offsales store and I sit with him there and chat with him and the customers all the time. Since the laws came in to effect, the regulars that would sit at the bar for a few hours every day spending an average of say, $25 on 4 or 5 beers or highballs, aren't sticking around anymore out of fear being caught at a road block. Instead they're coming over to the store, spending the same $25 on a case of beer or a 26er of vodka and going home and getting royally shitfaced by guzzling all 12 or pouring quadruple highballs. The cost of drinking at the bar actually kept them from drinking excessively.

We live in a small town so I know most of these guys. Since this shift in where they drink and what they can afford has happened, some of them, particularly the older guys, aren't looking too good when after years they maintained a steady but modest daily ingestion of booze. One could argue it's a good thing that at least they're killing themselves at home and not innocent people on the road, but this change is causing an increase in the severity of many peoples alcoholism.

Just an observation.

The end result is the same under both of our observations though, people are drinking more...

 

[wilde]

Thx for the helpful comments. It was at starlight casino. I waa playing blackjack up 200bux. But yah i would suggest not even drinking 1 beer and driving because even within the legal limit theres is fines and suspensions not worth it. I got pulled over after the alex fraser bridge i waa driving.fine within speed limit and everything got pulled over so i asked what the reason was and they said starlight casino reported my license plate for impaired driver. They gave me 2 breathalyzers both failed. Then ordered me a cab impoumded my car for 30 days ....told be my license is suspended for 90 days and then i read online that to get my license back i have to pay 1700$ for a ignition breath lock machine then take a 900$ impaired drivers program and pay all associated fines and if criminally convicted get a criminal charge along with another 1000$ fine a monthly fee of 150$ for the ignition lock monthly feefor 1 year etc ... but cops are cracking down hard i even got a fine last week for goin 70km in a 60km zone near fraser highway and 152st. 4 Beers to me is my maximum i drink as im 6'2 207 pounds

The security at Starlight (thanks for letting us know BTW) seems to be quite active, last time I was there I was being followed by security. I later found out that they had mistaken me for a loan shark...

Regarding your case, I would follow hemademedoit's advice (morals aside, pretty good advice).

 

[MissingOne]

I don't want to preach at anybody, but I will describe my personal policy. If I have a drink, I don't drive, period. I used to allow myself to drive after a beer or two, but my imagination is too vivid. I imagine myself driving home after having a drink, and hitting somebody. Whether or not I was over or under some legal limit, I'd spend the rest of my life wondering if having the drink made the difference.

 

[bananasplit]

smoke pot, eat twat, all day long!!

 

[the old maxx50]

I know the casino in View Royal .. that is Victoria's Casino they are very observant about drinking and driving .. They even saw a guy go there car and drink there .. and call them on it when they came back in to the casino . They will call the police if they think someone is driving drunk .

The law say the servers are responsible for the drunk driver.. and Casinos licenses depend of very strict ahearance to the rules. or they loss their license

I think 4 beer would blow over the limit so you should of know .. Now on the other hand .. you should also get a lawyer , yes it will cost you a few grand for that also .. on the other hand , a few month ago the rules on just doing road side test changed and he should of taken you in for proper test ..

 

[rampagejackson]

I just finished emailing a few lawyers via there websites lets see what they say.

 

[rexxx]

207 pounds 4 beers in 1.5 hours putting you over .08% no way no how. Were they 16 ounce 10% alcohol beers?

 

[Papa Chongo]

HOLY FACK!!

Just don't drink and drive, its that friggin simple!, all thses people whining about blowing over when they only had a few drinks...you're guilty you deserve whatever you get.

now if you got pulled over and smelt like alchohol cuase your buddy spilt his beer on you and you got charged, well then I would be in your corner, but you drank the beers, then got into your car, too bad for you. Like other have said you're lucky you didn't kill, mame, or seriously injure someone...

 

[SFMIKE]

The key words in the subject line is "first dui". How many more do you plan to get and are you asking for help in finding a way around the consequences so you may continue this type of behavior?

Man up, admit that you were stupid and admit that in the future you must make choices about what you will do when you decide to imbibe away from home. Or more than a short walk from home.

The Washington state highway patrol and the Tribal police patrols have been running a great commercial on radio for a long time.

"Ask yourself? Is $25 for a cab ride home cheaper than $5000 for a DUI?

 

[ReluctantPooner]

Thx for the helpful comments. It was at starlight casino. I waa playing blackjack up 200bux. But yah i would suggest not even drinking 1 beer and driving because even within the legal limit theres is fines and suspensions not worth it. I got pulled over after the alex fraser bridge i waa driving.fine within speed limit and everything got pulled over so i asked what the reason was and they said starlight casino reported my license plate for impaired driver. They gave me 2 breathalyzers both failed. Then ordered me a cab impoumded my car for 30 days ....told be my license is suspended for 90 days and then i read online that to get my license back i have to pay 1700$ for a ignition breath lock machine then take a 900$ impaired drivers program and pay all associated fines and if criminally convicted get a criminal charge along with another 1000$ fine a monthly fee of 150$ for the ignition lock monthly feefor 1 year etc ... but cops are cracking down hard i even got a fine last week for goin 70km in a 60km zone near fraser highway and 152st. 4 Beers to me is my maximum i drink as im 6'2 207 pounds

Did they take you back to the station and make you blow into the big machine there? Those roadside ones are known to be wildly inaccurate. About 15 years ago I blew into one after 4 sleeves and passed. Would have been a similar weight, maybe a bit heavier.
Call a lawyer in North Van named Harry Hunter. He specializes in impaired driving, and when you tell him your details over the phone he will give you an honest assessment of whether or not he can help you and what your chances are.

 

[Hype149]

I was at the casino.and had 4beers within about a 1.5 hours then i left to go home. On my way home i got pulled over and the cop said the casino had called to report me as getting in a vehicle and driving after having drinks. I blew a fail twice and got a 90 day suspension vehicle impounded for 30 days for blowing over 0.08. now i read i will be forst to put a ignition interlock on my car. Take a drivers safety awarness program etc. Now my question is if im moving to alberta to work and not come back to bc can i get a license in alberta to drive in alberta?

As a victim of a drunk driver, I hope you consider yourself lucky and take your wounds and move on and think about what you did. Thankfully you didn't kill a family or make a child an orphan.

I hope you take your year away from driving and your drivers awareness training and think about what you did and how bad things could have gone. You have a problem and need help. Who gets behind a wheel after drinking???

I pray to god everyday that I was not killed or seriously hurt by that women who decided drinking a 6 pack and then getting behind a wheel was acceptable.

 

[mercyshooter]

I was at the casino.and had 4beers within about a 1.5 hours then i left to go home. On my way home i got pulled over and the cop said the casino had called to report me as getting in a vehicle and driving after having drinks. I blew a fail twice and got a 90 day suspension vehicle impounded for 30 days for blowing over 0.08. now i read i will be forst to put a ignition interlock on my car. Take a drivers safety awarness program etc. Now my question is if im moving to alberta to work and not come back to bc can i get a license in alberta to drive in alberta?

This is a serious crime. I hope the government has harsher punishment to smack some sense out of your head.

 

[storm rider]

My personal rule is that I wont have even 1 SINGLE beer and drive( I rarely drink the hard stuff) as
it is just not worth the punishment/consequences.In fact I refused to have a beer after a round of
golf at the start of the season this year with a fellow pooner and I think he took it as an insult
as he did not play another round of golf with me this year.I refused to have a beer as I had to drive home.
If I got in the most piddliest of fender benders and a the smell of beer was on me I would be fucked
completely.

As for the casino all I can say is they are douchebags for outing the OP.If he had sloshed back
12 beers and was staggering as he walked then their actions are warranted and fully approved.
To call the cops and alert them with the OP's plate # and say he was drunk when they are
not medical experts is just plain fucked especially when the guy gets hit hard by the cops.

I am not going to take the high and mighty route and kick the guy when he is down
so as to make myself feel holier than thou and better than him.

Best of luck to the OP...be it with a high priced lawyer or accepting the consequences
of his actions.

I would definatly boycott that casino though.

SR

 

[Ray]

I don't drink and drive. At all. If I'm going to a bar with friends, we have a DD, or we take a cab. It's that simple.

Having said that, if you have to blow in a breathalyzer, hyperventilate first. Suck in lots of fresh air and clear your lungs.
You'll pass.

Yes, I was foolish in my youth.

 

[Tugela]

I am with Elmore, BJ and PC on this one - you took the chance, you got caught and now you must live up to the consequences. That being said, A good lawyer should be able to do a lot. Mostly likely they would argue the measurement between when you were pulled over, when the breathalyzer was administered (elapsed time) against the elapsed time it would have taken you to reached your destination i.e. if the entire episode took 20 minutes and your house was only 10 minutes away from where you were stopped you would not have been legally drunk (because they didn't catch you) by the time you would have reached your destination - the resulting reasonable doubt is usually enough to squash the conviction.

Good luck with that.

 

[blackcad]

If he had a beer or a drink shortly before jumping in his car and his eventual stop by police. The content of alcohol on his mouth would have lead to him failing the breathe test. Why because there was little absorption..

We ran a test once..(breathanalyzer) at a pub when they first came out. Usually 15-20 minutes after a drink all residual alcohol (vodka) in your mouth has been absorbed.. you won't blow high.. It all about time Especially with breathalizers.

If you had a blood test chances are 4 beer in 90 minutes even for his size would have put him between .05 and .08 anyways. but if he drove within 20 minutes of finishing his last drink. The alcohol residual in his mouth would have been over .08

NO WAY! Police have to wait 15 minutes after your last drink before they make you blow....that's why they always ask when you had you last drink...after 15 minutes mouth alcohol is gone...and the roadside screening device is accurate. I've never seen a cop make the mistake of not ensuring 15 minutes since last drink.....unless they are an absolute rookie.

207 lbs....6'2!..Male..Impossible to be impaired after 4 standard beer....maybe a little buzzed..say .02 to .035....but no way over 0.08.....and blowing a FAIL on the roadside device doesn't mean over 0.08 (that's the legal limit as far as the criminal code is concerned)...blowing a fail actually means over 0.10...to give extra leeway to the accused...and prevent defence's argument on the accuracy of the device. Your body would have processed between 1-2 of those beer in 90 minutes...so at max you'd have 2-3 beer worth of alcohol in you large male body when you were tested.

The casino would only have noticed if you were obviously drunk...slurring words..staggering around...probably....no...guaranteed..... more like 9-12 beer!

There's a lot of people giving "expert" advice here that probably shouldn't.

 

[blackcad]

Did they take you back to the station and make you blow into the big machine there? Those roadside ones are known to be wildly inaccurate. About 15 years ago I blew into one after 4 sleeves and passed. Would have been a similar weight, maybe a bit heavier.
Call a lawyer in North Van named Harry Hunter. He specializes in impaired driving, and when you tell him your details over the phone he will give you an honest assessment of whether or not he can help you and what your chances are.

They are not "wildly innaccurate"....quite the reverse. The reason you passed is that for any reasonable sized male...four sleeves of beer would never cause you to blow over. There's this perception out there that 1 or 2 beer is quite a bit...it's not.

And virtually no lawyer can help you with an Immediate Roadside Prohibition....appealing it is almost never successful...why do you think they offer you two tests on two machines with the lower result always prevailing. The new IRP's are virtually airtight as long as the cop is not a complete moron.

 

[ReluctantPooner]

They are not "wildly innaccurate"....quite the reverse. The reason you passed is that for any reasonable sized male...four sleeves of beer would never cause you to blow over. There's this perception out there that 1 or 2 beer is quite a bit...it's not.

And virtually no lawyer can help you with an Immediate Roadside Prohibition....appealing it is almost never successful...why do you think they offer you two tests on two machines with the lower result always prevailing. The new IRP's are virtually airtight as long as the cop is not a complete moron.

It may have been more accurate for me to say that there have been several cases lately where the roadside machines have not been properly calibrated. But, they are inaccurate enough to not be able to be used as evidence in criminal court, ergo why they take you back to the station to blow into the big breathalyzer machine. I am a little unclear as to whether the OP was sanctioned under the new BC rules for being between .05% and .08%, or if he has been criminally charged with being over .08%. If it's the latter, a lawyer could be most useful, especially if it was just over.

 

[rexxx]

He's lying about something. He might have only had 4 beers at the casino but thats not the only drinks he had that day to blow a fail