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So I'm so full of adrenaline now at 3AM I feel like I need to do a semi-drunk write-up. Kind of scary to have a run in with them after seeing it all on cops, campus PD (one of my favorite shows!), etc. Sort of an eye opener that shit is real and that even though you are always like "nah never gonna happen to me" when it does roll around you're just kind of left there shocked and speechless. And then it just comes crashing down and it's just a crazy, eye-opening experience.
Anyways, my friends and I are at a party. It's sort of a pre-Halloween birthday shindig so we have costumes and I am wearing a Scooby Doo suit, complete with head on top of my head. The rest are a non-dressed, a migrant worker, pirate, and the monkey from baby pig going backwards on a monkey (search it on youtube). We left around midnight and went in two separate cars, it was a few miles off campus. The DD scenario was sort of sketch but one guy sort of volunteered so we were sort of good to go. That was a lot of sort ofs... I was pretty drunk at this point and only had a mild awareness of how we were getting back. I think to myself I will just sleep over at some rando's apartment if stuff gets out of hand and there is no way back. We chill at the party for an hour or so and then decide to head out because it's not exactly raging. So back to my friend's frat house we go...
Four of us in the car, I have a four-loko in the cupholder up front, handle of whiskey in the back, open beer bottles from a weekend ago in the holders behind the seats. Basically the car is loaded and we are f**ked. All the passengers have been drinking heavily and the aroma has permeated the small interior of the range rover. Absolutely stupid I guess, but you assume you'll never run into any trouble on the way during a short drive and just go with the flow. The radio is blaring and then we start up a chorus of "Night Man" from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I'm in the passenger seat (buckled up!) and the driver blows by a bus that stops in the right lane, getting back in front of it, going 30 in a 20. This is about 1:20AM. I don't notice it but blue lights go on and I guess he was waiting in a parking lot or side street. We are downtown of a small ~50,000 resident college town and the driver is like "oh shit cop behind us" and pulls over in the parking lot in front of a car garage at an intersection.
Cop gets out after 3 or 4 minutes, goes to driver window, usual license & registration, he gets his license out and I dig through the glove box for the registration.. it's nowhere to be found. I pull out 4 or 5 random pieces of paper, a zip-up with more papers, and that's all and it is nowhere to be found. The cop asks if anyone in the car has been drinking because the odor of alcohol is present. I am silent, driver says "i have not been drinking", cop replies "i asked if anyone in the car has been drinking". Awkward silence for 5 seconds, someone in the back says "I'm underage but haven't had anything". I figure at this point its a DUI + drinking tickets because everyone is underage. He asks again "has anyone in the car been drinking? are you guys of age?". At that point driver says "I'm driving these guys back from a party...". I really don't know what would have happened if he had asked the passengers to get out. I see the flashlight shining into the floorboard of my seat where the drink is in between my legs nestled slightly under the seat and wonder if he can see it or not.
The officer asks the driver to get out. I can't really see well but he gives him the eyesight test following a moving target and he passes it after about 5 minutes. He then proceeds to breathalyze him. He blows a .01 because he had a beer an hour or two ago and water after that. He blows a second time and gets 0.00. A second cop has rolled in and is just chilling talking to the other.
He asks if anyone sober can come to get the car because if the driver gets pulled again with a .01 he will get a DUI. People called, no one is sober, he asks if we can walk. End up going 3+ miles dressed as scooby doo in the cold to get back. We leave the four-loko, whiskey, everything in there. He gets a warning for dangerous movement, usually a 200+ ticket, but no fine or insurance points this time. He leaves with a warning "it's a crowded town with bikers and pedestrians. it only takes a second to change your life permanently for the worse. stay stafe". I figure he knew all the passengers were underage college students and trashed. He let us off pretty easily and I can't imagine many others being that forgiving.
19 million-billion bullets dodged. Wow. I'm 20 and have applied to grad school... Don't want something like that fu**ing up my life. I think I've learned my lesson now after being stupid. Stay smart guys!
 
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On October 30 2010 16:28 Inori wrote:
Probably a stupid question, but 20 is underage in US? wtf?
21 is the legal drinking age in the US.
Yeah, its very stupid.
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How is .01 a DUI? In Sweden it's .10. Pretty unbelievable that the US DUI ceiling is that low.
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On October 30 2010 16:28 Inori wrote:
Probably a stupid question, but 20 is underage in US? wtf?
Yeah crazy huh...
I can't beleive he let you off with a warning... I always thought American cops were hard-asses? You're friggin lucky in any case... count your stars man
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On October 30 2010 16:37 SolHeiM wrote:
How is .01 a DUI? In Sweden it's .10. Pretty unbelievable that the US DUI ceiling is that low.
I think if you're under a certain age you can't have any alcohol in the bloodstream. Normally it's 0.08 I think
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On October 30 2010 16:40 meeple wrote:Show nested quote +On October 30 2010 16:37 SolHeiM wrote:
How is .01 a DUI? In Sweden it's .10. Pretty unbelievable that the US DUI ceiling is that low. I think if you're under a certain age you can't have any alcohol in the bloodstream. Normally it's 0.08 I think
Yeah, forgot about the fact that the driver was underage as well. Still it's pretty ridiculous, since he wasn't actually driving under the influence. .01 and then a .00 isn't drunk. Not drunk should not be a DUI even if you're 18 or 21.
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On October 30 2010 16:37 Comeh wrote:Show nested quote +On October 30 2010 16:28 Inori wrote:
Probably a stupid question, but 20 is underage in US? wtf? 21 is the legal drinking age in the US. Yeah, its very stupid.
You used to not be able to vote until you're 21 in most states before the Vietnam war it's hardly stupid.
considering before you're 20 drinking causes alot more harm to the body and brain development then otherwise.
On October 30 2010 16:46 SolHeiM wrote:Show nested quote +On October 30 2010 16:40 meeple wrote:On October 30 2010 16:37 SolHeiM wrote:
How is .01 a DUI? In Sweden it's .10. Pretty unbelievable that the US DUI ceiling is that low. I think if you're under a certain age you can't have any alcohol in the bloodstream. Normally it's 0.08 I think Yeah, forgot about the fact that the driver was underage as well. Still it's pretty ridiculous, since he wasn't actually driving under the influence. .01 and then a .00 isn't drunk. Not drunk should not be a DUI even if you're 18 or 21.
0 tolerance laws vary at state it's usually around .07 for the US depending on state.
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Laws changed in Canada now, 0.05. So, in NA the ceiling is pretty low on DUI. Many people die because of it, and I guess it's about time they did so.
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Aside from being dumb about the alcohol and driving, you guys did everything right in your encounter.
Police can't actually pull passengers out of the car without good reason//reasonable suspicion of a crime committed. If you guys don't volunteer that you are underage then you are fine. And in most states cops can only demand ID from the driver, it isn't a law that people need to have ID on them at all times...
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lol i am from italy and in our country people can drink at the age of 15 years old...I suppose that 20 years are more than suitable for being able to drink..and moreover..in Italy no one will never been asked if anyone in car have drinked...Damn they are passenger..what can they do to society? -_-
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Police are generally more forgiving in college towns because no shit everyone is drinking and it's impossible to enforce. I've heard stories of completely plastered girls in cars only getting warnings and allowed to drive home... wtf?
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You having to walk back in a Scooby Doo costume really cracked me up. :D
I guess you got lucky considering the weird-ass law? But I'm not really sure how to feel about that. 
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Wow that's pretty harsh. In Australia, A full licensed Driver can have 2 standard drinks in the first hour and 1 standard drink every hour after and still drive ROFL.
The question is why is US so harsh on drinking and does it actually help decreasing road toll?
I remember reading some where that New York cops put a brief case of cash in Chinatown and nap anyone who picks it up.
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I don't think the briefcase story is true. It's illegal; see entrapment.
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Sounds like the cop was gay and just hitting on you ;]
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On October 30 2010 16:46 SolHeiM wrote:Show nested quote +On October 30 2010 16:40 meeple wrote:On October 30 2010 16:37 SolHeiM wrote:
How is .01 a DUI? In Sweden it's .10. Pretty unbelievable that the US DUI ceiling is that low. I think if you're under a certain age you can't have any alcohol in the bloodstream. Normally it's 0.08 I think Yeah, forgot about the fact that the driver was underage as well. Still it's pretty ridiculous, since he wasn't actually driving under the influence. .01 and then a .00 isn't drunk. Not drunk should not be a DUI even if you're 18 or 21.
lol
so if you CANNOT drink legally, you should be able to drink, illegally, and drive?
That really makes sense to you?
and @ op,
You are so incredibly lucky. I mean i drank like a fish in college and did lots of stupid things, but i never had open containers in a car. That is so needlessly risky :-p. Good for your friend though, the driver. That is scary as hell.
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EPT
