Because Josiah opened up with a contrite statement and asked us for leniency, I'll bet there are PLENTY of members who have not commented at all, or backed way off of what they would like to say about drunk drivers in general and Josiah in particular.

IMO, the 'bashing' has been pretty restrained, all things considered.

For the record, my mother and I were nearly killed in a head on collision with a drunk driver. I'd need two hands to count the number of friends and acquaintenances I've had that have been killed in drunk driving accidents. One of my best friends from high school has been in a wheel chair for the last 27 years through no fault of his own.

So you can guess what kind of comments I COULD make about drunk drivers.

 

Agreed. It takes restraint.

 

I don't know how the laws work where you guys live, but here in Ontario, if you refuse a breath test, they treat it exactly the same as if you blew over.

I feel bad for Josiah because I think he's a good kid who used poor judgement.
Myself, I would rather pay $500 for a taxi ride than get an imparied driving conviction because when it's all said and done, you get beat up pretty bad with all the fines, penalties, suspensions, as well as increased insurance premiums for a long time. (if you can even get it)

I've made plenty of poor decisions when I was young, so I'm not about to judge anyone, all I can do is offer encouragment and wish him luck.

Good luck Josiah and let us know how it ends up.
For the record, I always thought your truck was one of the nicest I've seen on here, I guess it's time to buy a nice car cover and store her away for a while eh?

Keep your chin up, you'll be alright.

 

Is there a person here, that can say absolutly, that they have never endangered anothers life?


I don't think so.

 

so to get it right....

blew stop sign

open container in the vehicle

beer box being covered by jacket

refuse fst

refuse intox test



good luck. enjoy your 12 months with no license.

 

Whether you choose to believe it or not, there'll come a day when you realize it is NOT fiction, and you'll DEEPLY regret being so blase about it. I hope, for your sake, it's not too late....

And so you'll know, I don't profess to be some sort of holy rollin' super-Christian either...far from it. But I certainly believe it's all true.

As for the stone-throwing? Amazing. Simply amazing. I do NOT take a "lax" stance on the issue of driving drunk! It's terribly wrong....period. I've done it in the past, and I'm certainly not proud of it. In fact, if our friend "buckdropper" had witnessed some of the "excursions" I'd been on in my day, even he would have to admit that the fact that I'm even alive to type this message is nothing short of Miraculous. It's also "hit close to home" in my life and changed the lives of some of my nearest and dearest friends forever.

Having lived a while and witnessed many things, I, for one, am in NO position to judge anybody. Judgement is not up to me, and it's not up to you. Opinions on the matter are one thing, but condemning the guy before he's even gone to court (I don't think he's even gotten the results of his BAC test for crying out loud!) is just silly.

 

x2, breaking the law is breaking the law, from drunk driving to turning without a blinker. josiah get a good attorney and hopefully all the people in your truck have the same story. last time i got my tit in the ringer, i struck a deal with the dea, maybe that would be an option for ya. i know laws aint the same state to state. everyone phucs up now and then, its just called life, you'll make it through this, not a big deal IMO.

 

I drink a lot... but I do it only at home, or if I do drink out, I will take a taxi, call a friend, or just sleep over some place. But if I have any, I don't drive. It's not worth it!!

I've taken a breathalizer test before while screwing around at my campus security office fixing one of their computers. They are campus police, but are really state troopers. They had this jar with somekind of mixing thing on it, and I asked one of them what it was, and they told me it was a breathalizer caliberation device. We were then chatting, and I asked them if I could have a breathlizer done for the fun of it. He was like sure! I took it, and I blew into it, and it read like .002 or something like that, which is normal.

The fact of the matter is, that it doesn't hurt to take a breathalizer test. In fact, I thought it was cool.

Also the accuracy of the new units is pretty much fool proof. Not to mention, if you request, you can get it checked multiple times during a stop.

99% of cops are not out to get you... trust me on this one. Especially a DWI or DUI case, as they know it will negatively affect you for a long period of time.

In fact, I'm surprised at Josiah that he chose to have his blood taken. If you had nothing to hide, you would've taken a less invasive way to prove you weren't intoxicated. If I had my option, I'd take the breathalizer vs getting blood drawn, yeah, I'm a panzy, but it just creeps me out to be stuck up with needles especially in the middle of the night.


Well... good luck... feel bad for you! But if it was me, I would've taken the easy way out and got a breathalizer... even if I was drunk... but whatever. Good luck man...

 

You forgot to mention one of the persons in the vehicle was under 21.

With the refusals, the DA may well decide to pile on all on all kinds of 'small' extra charges. Lots of codes on the books these days. Piling on by the DA is a common tactic.

Unlike the people on this site, the DA does not care if you are a nice guy who owns an F150. They'll often try to scare the defendant with a huge pile of 'maximum' penalties to induce a guilty plea to only a portion of the charges. Josiah's potential max fines and penalties are going to be ugly, and may well include jail time.

 

Agreed, it does take some restraint to be responsible and not put other people's lives in danger.

 

My opinion about drinking and driving often gets laughed at and I'm told it's rediculous. I feel if you get caught driving while drunk then you should lose your license for LIFE and never be able to drive again. Our current system of punishing drunk drivers is absolutely rediculous. There is absolutely no reason to drink and drive. Have a DD, call a cab, or drink at home.

 

1%, that's all it takes. it's also been proven modified vehicles are more likely to get pulled over.

 

Aye, and Josiah could have shown restraint by:

A) Not driving after drinking enough beers to make refusing a breathalyzer seem like a good idea...

B) Going on the internet and telling everyone about it...

C) Not asking, or expecting, the general public to with hold judgment when asking for advice on a drunk driving charge...

D) Saying things like Just to comment on D.... One of my best friends was arrested a couple years ago on multiple felony drug charges. The same friend was arrested a year or so before that with a DUI when he passed out at the wheel going 70 down a major interstate around here. Both times, regardless of how good of a friend he was, I did not help to bail him out. Some people need a serious kick in the *** to straighten up. It wasn't a lack of caring that kept me from bailing him out, but the fact that I cared enough about him that I hoped jail would finally scare the chit out of him enough to change.

He got the felonies dropped and has been clean since that arrest. He's now got a good job, a house of his own and we're still best friends. Just because someone says something you don't want to hear doesn't mean they're against you.

- NCSU

 

You're not ridiculous, asking people to take responsibility for their own actions sounds good to me.

 

I don't know how probable cause works in Canada, but here in the U.S. that alone does NOT give probable cause to search a vehicle.