Dear Abby: DUI and jail

[cereta]

DEAR ABBY: I am normally a law-abiding citizen. I was pulled over a half-block away from picking up my son and charged with DUI.

I don't dispute the facts, but I didn't injure anyone. I had taken prescription meds (the meds did have warnings) in addition to having drunk three beers two hours earlier. I hurt myself and my son, because he needed me to pick him up. I didn't put anyone else in jeopardy. No one was physically hurt.

I did not contest that I should lose my license for a year, but I do contest jail time. I feel if they are going to put me in jail, they should have put away the men who rear-ended my sister and niece and caused them lasting injuries.

I don't deny my guilt. I suggest only that I am less guilty than others. Abby, what do you think? -- PULLED OVER SOMEWHERE IN THE USA

DEAR PULLED OVER: I think you are just as guilty as the individuals you mentioned, but because of pure luck you didn't cause anyone physical harm. What you did was irresponsible because it could have placed your son in jeopardy. Pointing at "the ones who got away" is a waste of time.

This unfortunate incident should serve as a reminder about the importance of reading the labels and following the directions on medications, and paying attention to the problems that can occur when they are mixed with alcohol.

Comments

bad analogy

[cereta]

The LW doesn't say what the cause was of the accidents involving her/his family. Accidents do happen. There might have been ice on the road. The people who go hit might have braked suddenly. I just rear-ended a car a few weeks ago (no injuries, thankfully) because I had a sneezing fit - like seven sneezes in a row. I was given a ticket and paid it, but I don't think I would have deserved to go to jail because I had a sneezing fit in heavy traffic. A good friend of mine prosecuted traffic offenses for years, and he said that the hardest thing for people to understand is that, even when someone was hurt, there isn't necessarily a serious crime, or a crime at all. Sometimes, things are just *accidents.*

However, drinking and taking medications at the same time is not an accident; it is something you can avoid doing. As someone who is on some serious meds, I don't drive if I have even one drink (I actually almost never drink, period, because of those meds), and I don't take some of the heavier ones if I know I'm going to be driving that day. I'm not sure I agree that the LW should go to jail - if it's her first offense, I would hope that the scare would be enough to make her more careful. But without more information on what caused the sister and niece's accidents, I wouldn't say that just because they were hurt, that the men who hit them deserved to go to jail.

Re: bad analogy

[redbird]

My hunch is that while it may be LW's first arrest for DUI, it probably wasn't their* first time drinking and driving; people who will do that tend to think "oh, it's harmless" and "I didn't get in an accident the last three times, so I'll be okay this time." If the LW knew ahead of time that they were going to need to pick up the child, the three beers two hours before driving were a bad idea even without the prescription meds. And given the "it's not my fault" tone of the letter, I'm fairly sure they would have mentioned something like "unexpectedly had to pick up my son because my wife was stuck at work."

*Nothing in the letter states gender.

[torachan]

I agree they shouldn't have to serve jail time, but that is more because I'm against imprisonment (even short-term) than because I'm sympathetic to the LW. If they didn't cause a crash but were still pulled over, I'm guessing they were probably driving pretty erratically and it was only a matter of time before they did do some damage. They did put people in jeopardy simply by being out on the road in that state.

I also agree with redbird that it seems like they probably drive while intoxicated often and don't think of it as a big deal, since they were planning on picking up their son and that didn't stop them from drinking beforehand.

Mainly I'm just not sure what the point of the letter is. Even if they got a response saying "oh yeah, you totes shouldn't get jailtime", that's not going to stop them from having to go to jail...

[cereta]

Yeah, that would be an odd defense strategy: "Dear Abby said I didn't deserve to go to jail!"

[sara]

As an additional data point: in many jurisdictions if it's your first DUI and you haven't done something REALLY egregious, you'll probably be sent to a diversion program, not threatened with jail time. That the letter writer apparently isn't being offered that option says something either about them or their local court system. Since the writer admits to driving while drunk and on prescription meds, I'm... skeptical about the problem being with the court system.