First Time Offender

[Spectral]

And you are making your point with a paper from 1991, that not to mention estimates the numbers from where, noone knows, and from how big study group, again noone knows. So ye, sry if i dont take most of those papers that release statistics based on some imaginary number seriuously. Most of articles that get released are made to prove the point of the person who is releasing it, so dont always trust them, just a tip.

I can find much more recent papers if you like, the conclusions are essentially always the same. But really, I'd be wasting my time, as you've settled on drunk driving not really being a cause of accidents, and will not proceed to dismiss the mountains of evidence otherwise. Not to put too fine of a point on it, but you're exhibiting absolutely everything that's wrong with people's reasoning; inability to absorb new information and adjust ideas based on it is a mark of weakness.

[Ciddy]

First thing I would do is advise your friend to learn his lesson from this and be more careful in the future. It's pretty easy to have a few beers and think "Well, I feel fine, should be okay to drive" without realizing that is not the case.

I've never gotten a DUI myself, but the best advice I could give him is to get a lawyer. Yes, lawyers are expensive as fuck, but I'd say nowhere near as expensive as what this whole thing will cost him if he doesn't get a lawyer. They might be able to get the charges reduced.

[Ethes]

You shouldn't drink and drive! Your friend deserves to get his license taken away from him for a long time imo. Alcohol and driving is a very dangerous combination and your friend should take responsibility for his actions

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I can find much more recent papers if you like, the conclusions are essentially always the same. But really, I'd be wasting my time, as you've settled on drunk driving not really being a cause of accidents, and will not proceed to dismiss the mountains of evidence otherwise. Not to put too fine of a point on it, but you're exhibiting absolutely everything that's wrong with people's reasoning; inability to absorb new information and adjust ideas based on it is a mark of weakness.

I partially agree with him. If you drive under influence and cause an accident, the alcohol might not be the cause. Granted, you can probably drive home safely while you're rather drunk without an issue. The problems generally occur when you have to respond quickly to an unforseen situation or have to deal with irregular situations in general. There is a good reason for not being allowed to drink & drive, the OP's friend did this anyway regardless the fact he knew it was illegal and should therefore be punished.

I don't see the problem tbh....

[Deleted]

I have no sympathy for anyone that drinks and drives, even 1 beer is too much.

[Seirith]

If he had 4 beers and thought he was ok to drive, I am sure he has had 4 beers other nights and thought it was ok to drive then too. He is not a "first time offender" he is a "first time getting caught". He deserves to have his license taken away. I lost a friend I played DAoC with because of a drunk driver. Her brother told us and then quit the game because he was so devastated. They were really close and played together.

[prwraith]

When i was younger I remember driving home after about a dozen or more craft beers with pretty high alcoholic content. Problem was I drove on the interstate at around 80 mph all the way home.

Was it stupid yea. Would it cause most people to die or kill someone else yea.

Did i? Nope. Would I do it again? Nope.

[oxymoronic]

Even if you have eaten 2 minutes ago you should not drive after having 4 beers, your friend is a retard and hopefully gets the max.

depends on the person - 4beers is a lite snack for me.

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He needs to take his lumps and learn from his mistakes and not try to weasel a way out of the consequences. He broke the law and knew he was breaking the law. He is just lucky he didnt hit someone and get a murder charge as well. Personally I dont think he will be punished enough. For doing something so dangerous, stupid, and easily preventable, he should lose his license for 10 years, have his car impounded, and get at least 1 year in jail and a $10,000 fine

I love how people act like cause you're drunk behind the wheel you all of a sudden are going to cause a wreck. Do you have any idea how many drunk drivers there are per day? The deaths are a lot far and fewer between than people think. I bet adjusting the stereo causes as many if not more accidents than DUI. But people don't think do they...

[prwraith]

depends on the person - 4beers is a lite snack for me.

I'll agree with that. I agree there should be a baseline BAC limit. But if the man passed a field sobriety test he was ok to drive imo.

I'm a far better driver than most people, which frankly it's hard not to be. 4 Beers might lower me to the pitiful level that the sheep drive at.

[ukxenon]

At the end of the day it is a proven fact that drinking and driving does effect the person behind the wheel and can kill so why do people take the risk?

People what drink and drive are not just putting their own lives at risk they are putting others in the line of fire and no matter how people try to rationalise it, it is wrong and reckless and irresponsible.....it can and does kill people and destroys families lives

If you ask me it should not matter if it is your first offence the punishment should be loss of licence a huge fine and community hours if no one was hurt when caught, but if life is lost then all of the above plus jail time should be the outcome.
First time should never come into it because it is drilled into everyone that drinking and driving is bad and we all know why.

[Wikko]

I have no sympathy of people who DUI. You never know what might happen, to yourself or to someone else. I hope your friends gets his licence taken of and some heavy fines/jail time. Drunkdriving is something of your choice and if you decide to drive when drink then it's your stupid decision and you should pay for it to the max. I personally wont drive even if I drink one beer, even though I know one beer doesnt really register in the test or impair my driving, it's just a choice.

[chazus]

First, contact a local 'cheap lawyers' place (In Vegas, we have have a billion 'half price lawyers' and dui lawyers for $100) They may be able to reduce the fine, if anything. They can also advise you on if courses should be taken. If you show you are trying to fix things before court, the judge has a possibility of being lenient.
Second, look into SR-22 insurance. His license will likely be suspended for a year. That will allow him to apply for a Work Permit so he can drive to work still. School may be another matter, I'm not sure if work permit covers that.

[Xarkan]

I love how people act like cause you're drunk behind the wheel you all of a sudden are going to cause a wreck. Do you have any idea how many drunk drivers there are per day? The deaths are a lot far and fewer between than people think. I bet adjusting the stereo causes as many if not more accidents than DUI. But people don't think do they...

The obligation of anyone who wish to operate a vehicle should be to reduce the risk they represent to others not to point at what some other person does that increases risk more.

Not saying you are wrong more that it is largely irrelevant if something causes more deaths

[Wynnyelle]

Please slap your friend for me. It doesn't matter how much you've had to drink, you do NOT get into a vehicle and try to drive it. That's how people die. Why should he have it reduced when he made the choice completely voluntarily to do it in the first place?

I love how people act like cause you're drunk behind the wheel you all of a sudden are going to cause a wreck. Do you have any idea how many drunk drivers there are per day? The deaths are a lot far and fewer between than people think. I bet adjusting the stereo causes as many if not more accidents than DUI. But people don't think do they...

You're way more likely to than somebody who's sober. I'd rather have as many DUI offenders off the road as possible so my family and friends don't have to drive near them. And yeah, if you do other activities while you are in the car besides driving, it's just as bad. I'm looking at you, people who text while driving.

[Ethes]

First, contact a local 'cheap lawyers' place (In Vegas, we have have a billion 'half price lawyers' and dui lawyers for $100) They may be able to reduce the fine, if anything. They can also advise you on if courses should be taken. If you show you are trying to fix things before court, the judge has a possibility of being lenient.
Second, look into SR-22 insurance. His license will likely be suspended for a year. That will allow him to apply for a Work Permit so he can drive to work still. School may be another matter, I'm not sure if work permit covers that.

I think rules like that are retarded, I know they exist. You should not be allowed to drive after your license has been taken away, not for work-related reasons not for anything. If anything, he should just take the bus

[Auloria]

It's time for self-driving cars already!

[the_dynamite]

Hello everyone. I just need some advise. So my friend live in Georgia and he was out Sunday night to celebrate his friends birthday. he hadn't eaten all day but had about 4 beers at the bar. Thinking he was OK,he drove home and got pulled over. The officer made him to take a sobriety test, which he passed, then a blow test. he blew a .09 and he arrested him and charged him with a DUI, he have never been arrested before and have always maintained a clean record, He is 23 by the way. Is there ANYWAY he could get this reduced and keep his license?? he needs to go to school and work full time and can't afford to have a lawyer... he was thinking about taking some DUI courses before his court date. What do you guys think about it??

May be you should ask someone who had their family member killed by a drunk driver. Personally, if someone gets caught while DUI then max penalty.

[Ethes]

It's time for self-driving cars already!

They're called taxi's

[Xarkan]

Eatin doesn't really influence how much you can take.
It's stil around 0,25 pr beer you take regardless what you do. Just like you can't run it out of your blood as others think. Also takes a good deal more than one hour to get it out of the system, unlike main belief that it's just one hour. Some even go for 2½ hour for one beer.
Takes pretty exactly 1½ hour for me to get rid of one beer, have alchometer in the car, and common sense
Your friend should have read up on it, but still a bit of shame for him. You're more strict than us, allowing 0,5 in DK. Used to be 0.8, untill some 10-13ish years ago.
You will always get the blame in an accident though, if you have alchohol in the blood,regardless of it being legal, which is a kinda weird way to do it, i think :P

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dui

Notice how they describe the difference between the BAC and promille system? [in the Blood alcohol content (BAC) section] Since the difference is a factor 10 the friend of the OP was tested to 0.9 promille. Which is illegal by Danish standards

[Orlong]

Jesus man calm down, he fucked up. Yeah he'll get punished but my god that's just evil there.

The only people who think its just a mistake and its ok to DUI as long as you dont hit someone are people who are likely to commit DUI themselves, or have already done so. People who lost a loved one due to a drunk driver will think no punishment is enough especially for a crime that is so easy not to commit

[Vokal]

Drunk driving kills.

His mistake, if you could even call it that given he was conscious enough to make it at 23 and legally an adult (although given the circumstances one may question that), could have cost him his life not to mention that of other drivers on the road or pedestrians (people who did not make the choice of driving under the influence, responsible innocent people). Some people don't end up dead after accidents, some people end up horribly disabled or disfigured. Your friend needs to learn his lesson.