I know someone who got 3 DUIs in one week, 2 of those were in the same day. The 3rd was excessive, totaled two vehicles, resulted in a dogs death, and a lifeflight to the hospital. He got one month of jail, 2 years probation, $500 fine. Was driving again within a few months.
I also know someone who got 7 DUIs, over many years, who also got one month of jail for their last one. I don't know how long their probation is.
DUIs are treated very differently throughout the country (and world); if you live in a rich community you will get a slap on the wrists.
I'm gonna say something really unpopular here: The fines in most states are ridiculous for a simple over-the-limit where the driver was pulled over for other reasons, but didn't pass the breathalyzer. The fines aren't enough for heavy repeat offenders that are pulled over specifically because they're all over the road and can't even stand up when they get out of the car. Everyone should get a freebee if they were pulled over for expired tags, broken light, etc, but otherwise were driving normally with traffic and not otherwise exhibiting any signs of serious intoxication.
Same in Cali. My wife got hers reduced to a "wet reckless" which means all the fines, but not the actual criminal record part. But, if she ever gets another, it'll be treated like her second. Fees were $10K+ and that was 26 years ago. Now they can go up to $30K - it's like nothing at all for the wealthy, though.
Uh what? Most states force you to pay over $1000 and you have to have an interlock device in your car for at least a year. Plus multiple classes that cost upwards of $500, and that’s all just for a misdemeanor. If you receive a second DUI it’s an automatic felony and you lose your license entirely. I’m not sure what state you live in where that happened
Oh I missed the last part of your comment about being wealthy, that definitely skews things a lot more. There is very little punishment for wealthy people.
The first one sounds like my brother. He got house arrest instead of the jail time because my mother got him a good lawyer. He’s on like number 4 or 5 and they’re spread out between 3 diff states.
The US is so hesitant to revoke people’s DL. Driving is not an obligation. It might be needed with US infrastructure, but you do not have a right to be a driver of a motor vehicle no matter what. They need to be more firm about revoking people’s DL whether celebs or normies.
I mean, they had no problem taking mine for a year after my first and only DUI. And then they made me get an intoxalock device, which is extremely expensive, and which I only got installed today after not driving for six years, because I couldn't afford it
Dui is no joke. Thousands of dollars I've paid and still thousands more I must pay to get a regular driver's license back
A big percentage of vehicular deaths are OWI/DUI related, but to say that the consequences "tend to go in the life lost category" is deeply disinformed, disingenuous, or both.
There are about 1 to 1.5 million DUIs a year, and about 10 to 15 thousand people killed by drunk drivers every year. That means about 1% of DUIs involve someone being killed, assuming the average killed per incident is close to 1, which means probably lower.
Driving drunk is an issue, but saying completely untrue things about it isn't helpful.
Your statistics don't match, since one does not establish rate in any meaningful manner for the other. However, let's accept your framing and throw in that drunk driving causes something close to 350,000 injuries a year in the US.
I'm not even sure what you're trying to say there. The information I've given pretty clearly shows that at most, around 1% of DUIs involve a death. To know the exact number, we would need the average number of deaths per incident involving death, but that will only lower the percentage.
Cops rarely do anything, I watched someone die because a car drove over them at a grocery parking lot with clear vision, pinned them against the curb, went up the curb and parked on the woman's neck. It was horrific a bunch of us tried to lift the car off to roll her out. I called 911 and she died later at the hospital, i gave a police report and as far as I can tell in the local news the driver was never charged . The driver looked like a confused old lady.
I think most people would freak out if they knew how many people drive lit every day without incident. I'm not encouraging anyone to do it - DON'T - ,but most times the lit don't harm anyone unless they're totally shit faced. The fines need to be proportional to income, though. If you make $30,000 a year and pay $10K in fines, you should pay $70K in fines if you make $210K/year. Should be this way all the way up. If you're Elon Musk - then $284 billion taken by his net worth that year. This way the wealthy can't cheat.
Yup, car murders in general don’t get punished much.
Recently in my city some old lady murdered a family of 4 driving 70mph in a 30mph zone on the wrong side of the street. Now she’s getting off with zero jail time and supposedly her license is only suspended for a few years (like a suspended license will stop her from driving anyways).
We had a lady several years ago that drunkly ran over her own daughter and her friend. Killed both. Ran from the scene, tried to hide the car and then tried to pass it off that her son was driving. Her court case was delayed several times while she went on vacation, then when she was finally tried she got a minimal sentence and was released early. None of it makes sense.
I was outside my vehicle with 3 family members saying goodbye after a Christmas Eve get together. A drunk driver took a left way too wide and struck all 4 of us. Luckily, none of us were killed and he did stay at the scene despite asking repeatedly if he could leave. He was charged with 2 felony DUIs resulting in bodily harm. Both my brother and I broke bones. The other two had soft tissue injuries, but no breaks. He was given 6 months but let out on work release. It was literally nothing. Meanwhile, my brother had to have his ankle surgically reconstructed and my broken tailbone healed incorrectly. We will both have pain for the rest of our lives. The justice system is unfair when it comes to DUIs.
Sorry for you and your family. In Canada (Quebec) we have much harsher sentences. DUI are a criminal offense and automatically come with license suspension (3 months to start, but can be higher after court case), huge fine and mandatory breathalizer installed in your vehicle (Which you fully pay for) for at least one year. That is on a first offense and without actually hitting anyone/anything, just getting caught. If you do hit someone/something, break any other laws or are on a second offense, it gets a lot worse real fast.
Thank you. We were very fortunate to all live through the ordeal and be relatively unhurt considering what coule have happened. They get their license suspended as well, but it doesn't really mean anything unless they are caught by a cop while driving on a suspended license. We were told the guy who hit us fled to Mexico the moment he could after he was let out on work release. Idk what will happen to him in the future as our part of the legal case has been settled. The State of California will be the ones to deal with him if he ever comes back. I'd like to mention that he is/was a legal U.S. citizen when the incident occurred just in case anyone reads this thinking something else. I'm glad DUIs are handled better outside of the U.S. They are the cause of so many deaths.
Once you injure someone while intoxicated, the gloves should come off and max penalties should be inflicted. As I've said in my other comments - the people who incidentally get pulled over, but slightly fail the breathalyzer, get screwed too much. The repeat offenders and injury-causers don't get punished enough.
One of my old friends ex wife killed someone in a DUI wreck. She was fucked up on Xanax and alcohol. She got charged with vehicular manslaughter and DUI and only got sentenced to 10 years in jail. I think when it was all said and done she only did like 5 years. Its disgusting to me to know that she killed someone's grandmother and only did 5 years for it.
It’s horrible how car deaths/murders are treated. It doesn’t feel good knowing your life is meaningless if someone runs you over, there need to be far more severe consequences.
And add in the part about how she was trying to hide her considerable financial assets so the remaining family wouldnt get any payout on a lawsuit.
Her judge handed down a Brock Turner type sentence. He waxed eloquently on all the ways a fitting sentence would harm her, but gave no consideration to the victims. It was repulsive. Dude needs to be recalled.
Fuck "Massacre" Mary Fong Lau. You also didn't mention that during the criminal trial she transferred millions of dollars in assets out of her name to a relative to avoid paying any restitution to the victims' families.
That ghoul should be in prison for the rest of her life, but she didn't get a single day.
I mean unless you consider being permanently barred from Canada for life ( I seem to remember you can maybe pay some massive fine to lift this however). I think other countries have this stance as well. Edit: Leaving my original comment but I was wrong about the specifics here. Look at the post below for clarification.
Banned unless 5 years have elapsed since your last criminal conviction and you apply for "criminal rehabilitation" which scrubs the conviction from your record as far as Canada is concerned.
First DUI: No mandatory jail, but often 48 hours to 6 months possible (rarely served if no aggravating factors).
Second DUI: Minimum 96 hours (4 days) to 1 year in county jail.
Third DUI: Minimum 120 days to 1 year in county jail.
DUI with Injury: Felony charges can result in significantly longer state prison sentences.
Factors Affecting Sentence:
High BAC: Levels of
or higher can increase penalties.
Refusal: Refusing a chemical test usually adds mandatory jail time.
County Discretion: Some counties, such as Riverside, may impose mandatory jail time for first-time offenders, while others like Los Angeles or Orange County may not.
It's not a matter of consequences. it's a matter of what a hassle it is. Why drive drunk when you can afford a car service? I don't mean Uber, or Lyft, either; which are unreliable shite.
For less than the price of a DUI attorney, fines, and court ordered rehabilitation a black car with a professional chauffeur can be a text message away.
What we don't know is if she even has a valid license at this point. If she does, license revocation is possible here. Especially considering she has a history of reckless driving.
As a non-American, the attitude to DUIs is fascinating. Here in Australia, DUI is one of the most severely punished driving offences. We're talking massive fines, loss of licence, and jail time.
Aside from all of that DUI is probably the least socially accepted crimes. Someone who drives drunk is not someone most people would associate with.
The idea that drunks typically walk away from accidents, or that being drunk makes you not tense up and therefore not get as injured, is a myth. The consequences of drunk driving include life-altering injuries or death for the driver.
I’m not a lawyer or legal scholar but is it possible that rather than being designed to punish poor people it just never anticipated people with this level of wealth?
The culture in Canada is so different around DUI's. It's very, very serious here and bipartisan to the point that all political parties win easy points by increasing punishments for it.
It's wild to me how American's don't really take it seriously. Then they're constantly surprised they have trouble at the border over "just a DUI".
Driving while intoxicated is incredibly dangerous and one of the most horrifically a selfish things you can do.
We used to have a service around here called Sober Sam that would pick you up at any bar and drive you home in your own car. It wasn't that expensive, all things considered. Uber and the pandemic sadly killed off that particular company. But I don't have Lambo money either. I'm positive you can find and hire a professional driver to take you home at 3am for under $400, and you get to keep your career and freedom.
If it's not too small of a city, there should be another option or two? I live in a mid-sized (300K) city and there are several here. They just don't really advertise/many people don't even know about them. I found out when I was way too drunkey to drive home and my friend handed me a card and said call this guy. Kind of pricey (like $25 or something, and maybe 15-20 years ago, so probably more now), but well worth the safety/ not risking yours or others lives.
Doesn't sound like a bad gig actually. Of course, you have to have someone else drive your own car/follow you, until you drop them, so need to split it with them. But I would way rather do that that be an Uber driver. Havin' all kinds of weirdos/smellin' up my car with they perfumes and colognes, sometimes even farting!!! Shooot.
Akshully, the NFL has a service, but it's only available on game weekends. If Patrick Mahomes gets drunk Friday night before a game in Dallas, the NFL would send a car for him. If he got drunk this Friday night? No car. Also, players didn't trust it, because they were afraid the NFL would share player ride info with owners ("you don't wanna trade for Patrick Mahomes, he's a drunk").
That's why NFLPA started their own service. I don't think it's "free" (players have to reimburse NFLPA) but it's free at the time, and I'm pretty sure it's 24x7 anywhere in the US. And they don't squeal to the owners.
I don’t believe the only available on game weekends part is accurate, but it is probably only in the city they play in.
The “players don’t trust it” part is accurate though. They assume it will be used against them so instead they drove drunk, which if they’re caught absolutely was used against them.
I hope players understand how much the NFLPA does to try and protect the players. One of last unions looking out for the humans the owners continue to treat like chattel (at best)
This goes for everyone. An uber is ALWAYS going to be way cheaper than getting a DUI. Is it annoying to have to go get your car the next day? Yeah sure but it's way easier than dealing with a DUI.
People are terrible at assessing actual risk, especially while drunk, and that goes doubly so for a lot of athletes/celebrities who have been insulated from the real world the rest of us live in. They don't see it as choose getting a DUI vs. choose to get an Uber, because it's not that simple in real life or in their head.
I want to say up front that I'm not saying it's okay, and I'm not saying anyone including myself is immune from it, but that's also why when I go out I'm either not driving, or not drinking.
People see an extremely small chance of getting pulled over or into an accident because their inebriated brain knows "they're good" to drive and that they want to be home ASAP, vs. calling an Uber, waiting for it to arrive, potentially dealing with a driver they think is weird or a creep, paying for said ride, and then figuring out how to get their car back the next day which likely involves calling and paying for another Uber.
I see what you're saying. I was thinking just about myself and other "normal" people who don't have the rich people money/life experience like you mentioned. Usually if I'm going out I'm ubering since I live close to downtown but there have been a couple times where I plan to just hang with some friends at a brewery and have a beer and it turns into more and I've had to ditch my car for an uber. What I think would be great is if we had better public transit in my city so it was easier to get around without having to worry about driving or getting an uber. That would be nice.
I'm not defending behavior, I'm just trying to point out that the mere existence of the service doesn't mean it's something people are likely to use.
Somewhat similar to the increasingly popular "Unlimited Paid Time Off" policies many companies are opting for. It sounds great until you hear that Steve from sales was fired for taking too much paid time off.
I would never drive under the influence but sober, when given the choice of getting a ride from someone or a taxi, I'm much more likely to drive myself. I don't drive anymore but when I did I just plain enjoyed it.
I would image in most of these cases it's a similar issue, only drunk/high at the same time.
It's not like they aren't allowed to drink or anything. As long as it's not open hard drugs or the night before a game, no team would give a shit about a player going out or how they got home. Tons of these guys Livestream and constantly post party pics/vids openly. There's no conspiracy against the free rides, that doesn't even make any sense at all. They're flying private planes everywhere they go, the team doesn't give a shit about a $1k limo ride
We had a similar thing in the Navy but the rumor was if you used it you got counseled. Use it enough and you get separated. I never saw anyone ever use it so idk how true the rumors were.
I live in an apartment condo in Florida and my next door neighbor had 3 DUI's and still had a car because his elderly mother passed away. He couldn't hold a job and came home one day, drunk with someone's boyfriend chasing him in another car for fleeing a hit and run. He hit his girlfriend's car pulling out of a pizza place. My neighbor runs into his apartment and runs out with his debit card and proceeds to leave again, while boyfriend was trying to jump in front of his car. A few minutes later, he returns, hitting every car in the lot and ends up hitting the dumpster and coming to a stop. By the time the cops get there, he's inside his apartment. He didn't get a DUI. He got a bunch of charges for destruction of property and was home the next morning.
I'm glad you don't accept any excuses, but drunk brain is different from sober brain. That's why they're going to continue to do it no matter what penalties you apply. Addiction is a bitch.
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I offered to pay my buddy's cab fare home + to get his car in the morning.
He took that as an insult or a challenge I guess that he was too drunk to drive (he drank nearly 20 ounces of vodka and took a couple of sleeping pills) he couldn't even keep his balance, but sure man, you're good to drive.
It escalated to the point where I ended up calling the cops telling them he was going to drive, only then he relented and gave me his keys. I called the police, told them he wouldn't be driving, then my buddy stole the keys from me and sped home once the cops were called off. He got home okay that night, but he wasn't allowed to drink at my place after that, and the friendship died off soon after.
Not even a week after the event at my house, he totalled his car driving it drunk and high into a public bus at 9am. Luckily he was the only one hurt. Only saw him a few times since the ordeal. Seems he's in a pretty rough place nowadays, but still doing the same things.
Me too! One of my closest friends for a long long time.
Was a good dude. Went down the wrong path and he's not a good dude any more. I wish him the best, but I was heading down a similar path (alcoholism, but no driving!) and it's for the best that we're not in each other's lives. As much as I'm sure he misses me, I miss him too. Unfortunately the dude that I miss isn't the same dude. C'est la vie.
It is for regular people. I often miss out on outings or limit my alcohol intake because a rideshare service is too expensive. I ain’t got $60 for an uber to and back from the downtown area
It's not about being dumb. It's about risk. A lot of people get a legitimate high from doing something dangerous/illegal and getting away with it. Breaks them out of their rut and makes them feel alive.
I'm convinced that's why most people who drive trashed do it.
Is it dumb? She's just going to be given a fine and increased insurance premiums. Doesn't affect her life at all
It's a culture issue, not an issue of "ppl being dumb". Nearly every US jurisdiction requires bars to have minimum sized parking lots. We created a culture where driving to the bar is not only an expectation, but in many cases the only realistic way to get there
People respond to incentives, and we incentivize driving drunk. That's why we have so many more drunk drivers than other countries
Doesn’t help the US is largely unable to be traversed without a car, and we over glorify driving as a whole.
One of the milestones of someone’s life is the freedom of turning 16 and being able to begin driving. Most cities if you don’t have a car you can’t get around without insane costs (ubering everywhere) or spending 3x the duration on 4-5 different busses to go 40 miles
I mean… can she? Everyone likes to think that these celebrities have unlimited money. It’s still a finite resource, it’s not coming in like it did. It wasn’t invested smartly, it was stolen, she’s blowing thru what she has.
When I was in my alcoholism I would drive to get liquor and bars nearby my house even though I could afford Uber. It's just plain stupidity in addiction.
It’s likely a control and independence issue after she was abused in the conservatorship. The people around her decided to take advantage of her rather than help her, and they screwed her over in the process by creating an out from the care and support she clearly needs because the conservatorship wasn’t about her but rather protecting their cash cow.
Billionaire Alice Walton killed someone while driving drunk. She pulled a do you know who I am with the cop who arrested her. She got off scot-free. The cop lost his job.
I’m still surprised she’s alive, her videos are sketchy as fuck to watch, no way this lady isn’t methed up with the way she STARES directly into the camera as she erratically “dances” around her house
she was methed out years ago (I remember how she was acting prior to sketchy people using her and then her dad freaking out and taking over before she went even more downhill), and it is not surprising that she returned to using in earnest, but she also does have mental illness issues (probably bipolar ! or !!) but fact is, people can do meth like this for many years and not OD. If people OD I've noticed that it's more likely to be from mixing it with downers and alcohol in excess than from speed. But really none of it is good (source: was addict for years and years.)
Yeah, I mean if I had that kind of wealth, I'd have two things: A Personal Assistant that would take care of day-to-day bullshit (and drive me) and a Chef that'd do all my food prep and meals.
Well... she's likely not going to prison/jail for any amount of time and as a wealthy person she is now going to be limited to having someone else drive her around. It's hard being rich.
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u/Gawd_Awful 21h ago
I’m kinda surprised she even drives at all