I got a DUI and can't live with myself - dont' know what to do

[Anonymous]

PP here to add: a woman I knew with her baby were killed when her car was struck by a driver who was DUI. That driver did not feel drunk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks for the support. I am pretty small and very rarely drink - I believe I have low tolerance. It was two drinks over a light dinner - we didn't linger afterwards since it was druing the work week. It obviously impacted my ability to think twice about getting in the car. I have been doing some research and am just terrified about going to jail. I am also worried if I ever need to get a clearance or anotehr job. I do recall that most job applications ask about your criminal history. Again, I deserve what I get, but this will affect me for the rest of my life.

I call bullshit. According to this University of Oklahoma website, you were closer to .03 with two glasses of wine....if you weigh 100 pounds. If so, you were fine to drive. I think you're making this whole thing up, trying to start a big old fight.

http://www.ou.edu/oupd/bac.htm

Even if you weigh 100 pounds and downed those glasses in less than an hour, your level would still be .04 acc'd to the calculator. Oh, and there is no such thing as "low tolerance" - you're measuring the level of alcohol in your blood. You're lying about something here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks for the support. I am pretty small and very rarely drink - I believe I have low tolerance. It was two drinks over a light dinner - we didn't linger afterwards since it was druing the work week. It obviously impacted my ability to think twice about getting in the car. I have been doing some research and am just terrified about going to jail. I am also worried if I ever need to get a clearance or anotehr job. I do recall that most job applications ask about your criminal history. Again, I deserve what I get, but this will affect me for the rest of my life.

I call bullshit. According to this University of Oklahoma website, you were closer to .03 with two glasses of wine....if you weigh 100 pounds. If so, you were fine to drive. I think you're making this whole thing up, trying to start a big old fight.

http://www.ou.edu/oupd/bac.htm

Even if you weigh 100 pounds and downed those glasses in less than an hour, your level would still be .04 acc'd to the calculator. Oh, and there is no such thing as "low tolerance" - you're measuring the level of alcohol in your blood. You're lying about something here.

At 130 lbs, if I have two glasses, I am in no position to drive. I don't think the OP is lying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DUIs today are a witch-hunt. .08 is NOT DRUNK, you did nothing wrong, but unfortunately you have to pay the price of an overreaction. seriously don't feel bad in the least. get a good lawyer and fight it and most likely it will get dismissed.

Okay, I hope this doesn't come out wrong, because I know the OP feels bad. By no means am I trying to condemn her or anyone else in this situation, but I MUST address the poster I quoted above.

However, .08 is legally drunk and that's all that matters. My brother had two beers after work three years ago. On his way home, a really man stepped off the curb in front of him. He hit the man and he, unfortunately died. My brothers BAC was .09. He did not feel drunk. It has nearly ruined his life. He plead guilty and was sentanced to 5 years. He is up for parole next week after serving 20 months. My brother did not have any priors. We grew up middle class, going to private schools and had all of the benefits of a good family and involved parents, etc.

It was a horrible accident that took one man's life, and has hurt two families in ways you cannot imagine. Not everyone gets second chances.

OP, you will be fine. You will likely pay a fine and maybe serve some community service.

But .08 is drunk, and can most definitely take and change lives, it is not an overreaction.

Well, I hate to break this to you since you sound like a nice person, but your brother was LYING about having two beers before killing a man. If your brother just weighed 160 pounds, and he drank two beers in less than an hour, his level would be .034.

http://bloodalcoholcalculator.org/#LinkURL

I live in the city and would never drive anywhere if I had even one drink - that's why we have taxis. But really, let's stick with some facts here. Your post makes NO sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks for the support. I am pretty small and very rarely drink - I believe I have low tolerance. It was two drinks over a light dinner - we didn't linger afterwards since it was druing the work week. It obviously impacted my ability to think twice about getting in the car. I have been doing some research and am just terrified about going to jail. I am also worried if I ever need to get a clearance or anotehr job. I do recall that most job applications ask about your criminal history. Again, I deserve what I get, but this will affect me for the rest of my life.

I call bullshit. According to this University of Oklahoma website, you were closer to .03 with two glasses of wine....if you weigh 100 pounds. If so, you were fine to drive. I think you're making this whole thing up, trying to start a big old fight.

http://www.ou.edu/oupd/bac.htm

Even if you weigh 100 pounds and downed those glasses in less than an hour, your level would still be .04 acc'd to the calculator. Oh, and there is no such thing as "low tolerance" - you're measuring the level of alcohol in your blood. You're lying about something here.

At 130 lbs, if I have two glasses, I am in no position to drive. I don't think the OP is lying.

You might be in no position to drive, but you can NOT get a reading of .08 after drinking two glasses of wine. (I agree about two glasses, actually, but OP is lying about her consumption - or she's lying about something else.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks for the support. I am pretty small and very rarely drink - I believe I have low tolerance. It was two drinks over a light dinner - we didn't linger afterwards since it was druing the work week. It obviously impacted my ability to think twice about getting in the car. I have been doing some research and am just terrified about going to jail. I am also worried if I ever need to get a clearance or anotehr job. I do recall that most job applications ask about your criminal history. Again, I deserve what I get, but this will affect me for the rest of my life.

I call bullshit. According to this University of Oklahoma website, you were closer to .03 with two glasses of wine....if you weigh 100 pounds. If so, you were fine to drive. I think you're making this whole thing up, trying to start a big old fight.

http://www.ou.edu/oupd/bac.htm

Even if you weigh 100 pounds and downed those glasses in less than an hour, your level would still be .04 acc'd to the calculator. Oh, and there is no such thing as "low tolerance" - you're measuring the level of alcohol in your blood. You're lying about something here.

At 130 lbs, if I have two glasses, I am in no position to drive. I don't think the OP is lying.

You might be in no position to drive, but you can NOT get a reading of .08 after drinking two glasses of wine. (I agree about two glasses, actually, but OP is lying about her consumption - or she's lying about something else.)

FWIW, that calculator does not differentiate for men and women. Women and men metabolize alcohol at different rates, and you can find BAC calculators http://www.brad21.org/bac_charts.html that put a 120 lb women at .08 after two drinks. And a drink equals 5 ounces of wine. Presumably one of these calculators is more accurate than the other, and I don't have the background to know which one that it is, but I'm not willing to call the OP a liar with this information.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry, but your title is a little misleading.... I truly think, that instead of feeling guilty, like you should, you are purely and simply worried about how this effects YOU instead of how you could have effected others..

[Anonymous]

00 08 nailed it.

OP is only regretful because she got caught. If she reached her home w/o being pulled over all the reasons for her "guilt" would be non existent.

[Anonymous]

Well, I hate to break this to you since you sound like a nice person, but your brother was LYING about having two beers before killing a man. If your brother just weighed 160 pounds, and he drank two beers in less than an hour, his level would be .034.

http://bloodalcoholcalculator.org/#LinkURL

I live in the city and would never drive anywhere if I had even one drink - that's why we have taxis. But really, let's stick with some facts here. Your post makes NO sense.

You are not breaking anything to me and I don't care if you believe me or him. I didn't share in order to defend him or his actions. The story is pretty unbelievable, and I've thought to myself, 'this is not happening'. Those are the facts as I know them in talking and emailing with his attorney. He has no reason to lie, he had sworn statements that corborated his statement. I don't care what any calculator says, because I've lived this first hand.

And you don't sound like a nice person, you have no idea how much just typing that story effected me. I hope it helped someone.

[Anonymous]

I think the disconnect is the definition of a "glass." Many wine glasses these days hold almost a half bottle of wine. I suspect that those "two glasses" may have actually been more like 20 ounces, not 10.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I think the disconnect is the definition of a "glass." Many wine glasses these days hold almost a half bottle of wine. I suspect that those "two glasses" may have actually been more like 20 ounces, not 10.

Good point. It is possible the restaurant poured more than the standard 5 ounces. I also believe the OP - I have often felt tipsy after one drink- especially on an empty stomach.

Finally, she is positing her story and seeking advice - why would she lie about what she blew. She could have just as easily come on and said she blew .25 and still feel bad about it. Plus, if she blew higher, she have been locked up and her license suspended. This recently happened to a friend of mine.

Good people make mistakes - for those holier than though, I hope one day that you can understand this.

[Anonymous]

Ignore the crazy poster with the blood alcohol level calculator. Those things are about as accurate as online BMI calculators.

[Anonymous]

I've worked as a prosecutor and criminal defense attorney.

It's amazing how many people arrested and charged with DUI say that they only "had two beers/glasses of wine/drinks." It's called "minimization."

But why do people feel that 2 drinks makes drinking and driving ok? I think because our efforts to educate people about drinking & driving have focused on what is the average amount of drinks a person can consume before
they reach the legal limit. The standard line is about 2 drinks for an adult. But this "average" does take into account the variety of physiological factors that affect intoxication.

I always wonder if our education campaigns had focused on the theme that any alcohol impairs driving that a greater percentage of folks would not have taken the risk to drive. The "2 drink" norm somehow seems to make people feel that they have a pass to drive even if they've consumed that amount.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:0.8 is on the high side of limits compared to other countries:

"Established maximum legal BAC thresholds range from 0.0 mg/ml—the level of “zero tolerance”—to 0.8 mg/ml. Only a handful of countries do not set a legal BAC limit. Out of all nations reporting to a WHO survey published in 2004, 28% set their BAC limit at a “lower” level (0.0–0.3 mg/ml), 39% set limits at a “middle” level (0.4–0.6 mg/ml), and 26% have adopted a “higher” limit (0.6 mg/ml and above)."

Our car was hit and badly damaged by a driver who, according to the police, had been drinking. He didn't seem "drunk" when we talked after the collision, but I know that people have increased risk of being in an accident at much lower than 0.8. In our particular case, the accident resulted from a combination of alcohol use, icy roads, nighttime driving, and bad luck. I feel lucky that none of us were injured.

but our penalties are much more severe than in other countries. its is insane.

care to share your sources?

http://www.icap.org/PolicyTools/ICAPBlueBook/BlueBookModules/16BloodAlcoholConcentrationLimits/tabid/176/Default.aspx

[Anonymous]

I hope it helped someone.

PP, it helped me. I had a DUI ten years ago in my late 20s, way old enough to know better. I was a little over .1 BAC. OP, what I went through (in Montgomery County, though) was:
A hearing when a judge determined whether I could still drive to and from work (yes) and to and from the home of my VERY ill immediate family member when I was playing a large role taking care of her (no.) There was also a meeting at MVA to change the status of my license as a result of that.
An evaluation by a psychologist as to whether my drinking was social in nature (yes) or a problem (no)
Several months of weekly alcohol awareness classes
Attendance at an assembly sponsored by MADD. This is where the PP with the brother comes in: The woman who spoke at the MADD panel spoke of the devastating consequences to her family from a crash where the driver's BAC was about three times the legal limit. Although she spoke very powerfully and her story was incredibly moving, I don't think it resonated with most of us who were there who would never consider driving under those circumstances, but often thought little of driving after two-three drinks with dinner, which sounds like what your brother did. The key is that if the man had stepped off the curb in front of a sober driver, it would have been a tragic accident. But since he stepped in front of your brother who had been drinking, it automatically was not, even though there might have been nothing a sober driver could have done to prevent the accident.
After completing everything that was required, I went back to court and received Probation Before Judgement and a fine - something like $2,000. My lawyer cost about that much, too. I also had to report to the probation office a few times before that commitment ended, and I went back to MVA to get a non-suspended license. I think my driving to work and back only was between 3 and 6 months.
Because of the PBJ, it does not appear on my record but I did some years later enter a profession where I need to be licensed, and there was a question about convictions that I felt to answer correctly I had to give full disclosure about this even though it was not technically a conviction. That made that process much more difficult.
I hope this helps. Get yourself a good lawyer and LEARN from this!