Post your closest DUI scare (1 Viewer)

[Judge Smails]

Offshoot of IC FBGCAV’s thread. This is not to glamorize anything. I’ll uber anytime I have something to drink. One margarita - wife drives home. I just don’t mess with it and it’s stupid with the options we have today. But many of us grew up in a different time.

Mine was when I was in my late 20’s. Showtime era for the Lakers. Had partial season tickets with a guy who is now a big wig in professional sports. CEO type. Will go unnamed.

The party started before the game and we had drinks near the Forum. The drinks continued as we watched Magic and company notch another win. Then we went across the street post game and Bill Bertka, Lakers guru asst coach, engaged us knuckleheads. More drinks and fascinating basketball X’s and O’s discussion. Then **** got weird. My buddy knew a guy who was a Getty trust fund baby. Invited us over to play poker. He lived outside of Pasadena. Long drive from Inglewood. I drove (not smart). Made it there though. Poker turned out to be more about tequila shots than cash. No bueno. It got ugly. Friend decided to crash there. I decided to drive. The ultimate in stupidity.

I don’t know what I would have blown on a breathalyzer but it was bad. Literally made it 5 blocks before the blue lights hit me on Colorado Blvd. Before I could get to the freeway. Must have been 2:30am. Granted - my stupid self thought I could drive an hour home in that state. Cop pulled me over into a gas station. I tried to act as sober as I could. Handed him my license and registration and he walked back. Thought I was done. What am I gonna tell my wife? My work? Head was spinning as I braced for the inevitable and what I deserved.

All of a sudden I hear a radio from the officer’s car. He raced up to my car, threw my stuff through the window, ran back to his and took off with sirens blaring. I sat there stunned. Basically went to a back lot in a hidden area and slept in the back seat until I felt sober. I got so lucky. Not only did I not get a DUI, get locked up, have license suspended, have to pay the typical $10K cost etc but more importantly I didn’t kill others nor myself. It was a life lesson I’ll never forget. And thinking back to high school days this could have happened umpteen times. Everyone in my group basically had coolers in the back seat going to a different party every weekend. Again - different times and I’m grateful to have survived it.

 

[rockaction]

/

not so much sharing as oversharing. Hmmm...

 

[johnnycakes]

Two scares. First, I was like 19 years old. This was when the legal drinking age was 18. This was like 1978-1979 timeframe. Anyhow, returning home from the infamous Joey's Depot. I wrapped my '69 Nova around a telephone pole. The cop had me sit in his car and he asked me if I had been drinking. i answered in the negative and he didn't ask anything more. Just gave me a ride home.

The next time, a couple years later, I was again returning home from the infamous Joey's Depot. Where they would not cut you off, btw, so long as you could utter "Bud" and didn't put your head down on the bar. Anyhow, I was driving home, ran a yellow light. A cop was at the perpendicular intersection and saw me press my luck with the yellow light. He followed me for 2-3 miles. Finally, I pulled into a neighborhood and made like I was driving home. He quit following me. But I swear, this guy was looking for a DWI bust before I turned into the neighborhood.

Make that two very close calls within a few year's timespan. Joey's Depot has, btw, closed doors. It was a great blues bar that had a great blues band every Friday and Saturday night. But, man, did they spew the drunks out onto the street at that place. I was no exception.

 

[rockaction]

For those that read mine, I had also retained counsel and he said, years later, that the statute of limitations had run on my transgression, but the whole thing was so weird and so serious that I'm deleting it. The lawyer was stunned, too.

 

[Courtjester]

I have had a few scares when I was young and dumb.

One time in my 69 Mustang, it was really cold outside. I am driving home and had more than I should of, when all of a sudden my heater goes out. My windows completely fog up inside. I can't see a thing. So I furiously try to use my sleeve to clear a hole as I am sitting at a light. I know there is a car behind me and I immediately get in the right lane as I start going. As I clear a small patch on my driver's side window, I see the car that was behind me, is now next to me and it is a cop. I roll the window down and I see both cops are just laughing at me and they sped ahead.

One other time I was in my later twenties, now driving a 94 Mustang. It is a snow day for me and I am out of beer. I was knee deep in a six pack already and it is like 2:00 pm, so I drive to the liquor store. It was like a 3-5 minute drive, but the roads were messy. I am just about to pull in the parking lot of the liquor store and this guy slides through the red light and hits me luckily in my front tire. I motion for him to take the accident into the parking lot. No problem. We get out and look at the cars and even though it cracked the rim on my car, I was like no problem, let's call it a day. We are just about to leave, when this good Samaritan comes out of nowhere and is like, "I saw it all. This guy ran the red light. Let's call the cops!!" I am no, it's all good. We are going to leave. But this guy just kept going on and on about how this other guy is at fault. I finally just got in my car and left and I could see in my rear view mirror Ned Flanders just throwing his hands in the air.

Now, I have one beer, I don't drive. There just is too much to lose.

 

[The Z Machine]

Only in HS, driving me and my gf home after some surreptitious drinking at a buddy's place. I knew that I shouldn't have been driving but felt like I didn't have any options (of course I did. I just didn't take them)

Other than that, I've done some highly intoxicated bike rides through many cities in my time. Never had any fear of getting arrested for that.

 

[MAC_32]

First date. 'Met' online. After a couple weeks exchanging messages we decided to meet at a bar. It was about 8 pm on a sunny July evening - one of those restaurants at an outdoor mall that pretends to be a bar but isn't. Knowing she was an irish lady I got there 5 minutes early and ordered a couple Smithwick's. Before us early-mid 20somethings realized it they were shutting things down, but we weren't ready to call it quits.

She had apparently sworn to her friends beforehand she wouldn't take me to her brother's bar 2 miles away. So of course we went there. She also swore she'd keep her tongue in her mouth. But we went out front for a smoke and it happened anyway. I returned expecting a name that tune battle with her brother (topic of discussion pre smoke) but upon returning inside we were invited to a different friend of hers who was having a bon fire 2-3 miles away. She also swore I wouldn't meet any of them that night either. So of course we closed our tab, postponed name that tune for another day, and were on our way.

The night began getting foggy once we were there, but they were great hosts. Great bourbon selection, middle of the night cannonballs, stogies in a hot tub...this chick was aaalright. But the crowd thinned out and we decided to call it quits.

She swore she wouldn't invite me back to her place too, which she also failed. As I followed her I saw a car whip around behind me and I said curse words. Cause I knew I was Jacob Dylan'ing with One Headlight. I may have enough coverage of the alcohol with the bon fire and stoggie...it's almost 5 am...after the obvious drunk driving hours...your only hope is driving home from the girlfriends house to go to work. He bought it! Or he just didn't want to do any paper work. Whatever. And thankfully this woman gave me her address, so I could make it there about 8 minutes after her instead of directly behind her as intended. The date ended about 28 hours later.

My wife still makes fun of me for this to this day.

 

[facook]

About 10 years ago, too many IPA's over "business" talk with colleagues and local politicians. Every time I begged off, another IPA showed up in front of me. 40 minute drive home, not really any near miss, but I was white knuckling, gasping for air, and clenching cheeks the whole way. Couldn't sleep a wink that night between the stomach issues and the anxiety. Never again.

DUI would cost me my career in addition to the usual. Talked to the wife the next day. Our rule is if I have one drink, I don't drive. But if I drive and then DO have one drink, I don't drive. I call her, a parent, an in-law, an Uber, whatever. I DON'T DRIVE. Freeing to have those boundaries, frankly.

 

[facook]

For those that read mine, I had also retained counsel and he said, years later, that the statute of limitations had run on my transgression, but the whole thing was so weird and so serious that I'm deleting it. The lawyer was stunned, too.

Would take a pm if you trust me enough. Cross my heart, etc. If not, that's cool too.

 

[rockaction]

Would take a pm if you trust me enough. Cross my heart, etc. If not, that's cool too.

Sure. It's something I just didn't want to leave up if somehow a statute of limitations didn't apply.

 

[Doug B]

About 10 years ago, too many IPA's over "business" talk with colleagues and local politicians. Every time I begged off, another IPA showed up in front of me. 40 minute drive home, not really any near miss, but I was white knuckling, gasping for air, and clenching cheeks the whole way. Couldn't sleep a wink that night between the stomach issues and the anxiety. Never again.

I've had two close DUI calls, and my second one was much like you story. Early in my marriage, over 20 years ago. My wife was in the car with me, returning from a night out. About a 20-minute drive home on mostly interstate. No near misses on that drive, either. Weirdly, my recall of that drive is fairly vivid in the sense that I recall struggling like mad to concentrate on the road and on controlling the car. All I wanted to do is roll over and sleep, except that I had to get us home. I often say to myself that I basically used The Force to get home that night, because I definitely wasn't in control of my normal faculties. Somehow never ran across any cops. Scared the eff out of us when we got home and then thinking on it the next day.

My first close-call DUI also didn't involve any cops -- but that was a true miracle. Less than a year out of college. Returning from a New Years Eve party. Cops patrolling all over the place ready to pick off drunk drivers coming from the bars and house parties. Had a friend riding shotgun. Not on an interstate, but on one of the main drags in suburban New Orleans -- plenty of patrolmen making their rounds. I hit a patch of ice (yes, the road used to occasionally ice in New Orleans). Lost control of the wheel and the car spun out 180 degrees. When I came to a stop I was facing oncoming cars, who all had the presence of mind to stop somehow. The other drivers gave me the time to complete a Y-turn and continue on my merry way. Might have been more the ice than the alcohol as far as causing the spinout ... BUT: had a cop seen that happen, I'd have been caught dead to rights and gotten a DUI on the spot.

 

[Zegras11]

Drinking with Cav in Vegas.

 

[Galileo]

Was at a house party about 20 miles from where I lived. I don't remember exactly how much I had to drink that night, and although I wasn't fall down drunk, I certainly shouldn't have been driving. Was heading home around 2 AM and made it about 18 of the 20 miles before I fell asleep at the wheel while on the freeway. I was literally one exit away from where I needed to get to. It was a fairly rural area and that region of the highway was a location where the rock had been cut through to build the roadway. My car veered off the road and struck the rock wall. Being the invincible idiot I was in my early twenties, I was not wearing a seatbelt. The car stopped pretty suddenly as cars tend to do when they hit rock walls. I, however, got first hand experience with inertia as my body didn't stop until my head hit the windshield. I do not remember the moment of impact, but I came to and got out of my car. I quickly realized that I had a lot of blood all over me, so I went to the trunk and got some towels out of my golf bag and tried as best I could to limit blood flow. Fortunately, a passing motorist stopped right about then to help. I say fortunate because there weren't many cars out at that hour in that area, and this was before cell phone days. The guy who stopped drove ahead to the next exit where there was a gas station and called in the report. Anyway, I was taken to the hospital, and as I was being tended to (ended up with 212 stitches in my head that night) I heard the cops talking to the medical staff. It was pretty clear that alcohol played a role in all of this. I told the cops I swerved to avoid a deer and lost control of the vehicle when it went off road, but they knew that wasn't the case as they could easily see the tracks my car made...a gradual straight line path off the road into the wall. But after looking at the sad shape I was in and knowing my car was totaled, I remember them telling the medical personnel that they were not going to push the DUI issue. They made some comment about learning enough of a lesson without the charges. So, I was never tested for alcohol levels. I guess this qualifies as a DUI and a life scare.

 

[Major]

I have to thank NYC and their taxis for taking care of me during my formative partying years. No real close calls here and hope to keep it that way. Very grateful for rideshare services today. Before Uber, it was a nightmare getting a cab in most cities outside of NYC and without them I'd probably have more stories to share.

 

[moleculo]

It was 1993, my senior year of HS. My parents were supposed to be out of town the same day as a high school dance and I lived a block from the school so my house was to be the after-party.

Well, my folks canceled at the last minute. We already had the booze in my basement so we decided to just low-key hang out & play video games (and, of course, drink too much). My friend Don, who was more of a periphery friend and not one of our core group, wasn't feeling well. I was the soberest of my friends, so I drove him home. My friend George came along for the ride.

After I dropped Don home, George & I thought we'd do a quick pass around the strip downtown. Well, I don't go down there often and am not super familiar with that part of town - I took a wrong way down a one-way. No cars on the street except for a police car coming in the other direction. Busted.

The cop made us walk two blocks to the police station & called my parents instead of booking me. Thankful for that. I was grounded for most of the rest of my senior year afterward.

 

[stbugs]

I’ve only had three scares when I drove but a couple others as a passenger. Like others have posted, different era and no options to get home unless you had a DD.

First and third were no cop interaction just really stupid to drive. First time, I woke up in my parent’s garage with a half eaten piece of pizza that I had no recollection of buying. Found out later there was a pizza place right next to the bar we all partied at. Never knew it existed. Third time was in Nashville at Tootsie’s with co-workers at a client site. President of my company throws his rental car keys at me and says (my name)’s driving. Well F, wasn’t planing to but like above, white knuckled the steering wheel passing multiple cops on the way back to hotel. It was a miserable day at the client. One guy threw up in the shower and I would have until the lunch they brought in saved us. We had to have looked terrible.

Second time, I had to drive through a checkpoint. Long story short, drinking game at a friend’s college in Los Angeles (gallon of beer in hour, no peeing or puking), hitting on a girl going well and then boyfriend came up. Mad enough that I punched my windshield from inside and splintered it like a spider web. Called the police to report (while drunk) it got insurance and they basically laughed at me. Anyway, drove home and out of nowhere a check point. It was late at night and all I had were my prescription shades, so I immediately throw them on my passenger seat and try to look ok. They stopped the guy in front of me and waved me through without stopping. So lucky.

Once I got out of being stupid in college and a few years after, I realized how dumb that was. I didn’t even drive drunk a lot just seemed too close and you get married, have a house, have kids and you’ve got real stuff to lose.

The few times as a passenger were interesting. HS, cop pulled us over and asked if we were close to home. At a VT ski resort for NYE, my friend was driving back to hotel and stopped to puke at the side of the road with us and some girls packed in the car. Mountain cop told us to pick someone else to drive and said he’d talk to VT state trooper behind him. Last time was home from college being really stupid. My buddy and I left a bar and we saw a ton of cops as we walked back to parking lot and decided to hop the curb to avoid the long drive back to gate on other side and heck all the cops seemed to be at the bars. Instant we hop, sirens come on and cops come up with hands on guns. Asked my friend what was below the center cushion (old car with bench type seats) and he goes it’s my asthma inhaler and quickly reaches. Cop yells to stop and open slowly. Scary but cop made us go back and pay. Parking lot attendant wasn’t following cop’s speech and couldn’t have cared less. Found out the next day that someone shot and killed a guy at a pizza place next to the bar we went to, so stupid of us.

 

[leftcoastguy7]

I had a friend who was NOT lucky and got busted for DUI one night after leaving a house party.
The cop didn't pull him over because he was swerving or anything, no he gets stopped because someone had tied a balloon to his car antenna.

 

[-OZ-]

Not a scare at the time but in hindsight I was really stupid. We lived near Detroit and from age 19-21 spent many weekend nights in Windsor. Got our drink on in the clubs, and I was usually the driver. Back then we didn’t need anything other than a license to cross the border. One summer I was using my parents mini van for most of these trips with a few friends in the back. One night, I’m driving south on 75 and see one of the guys brought a fifth of vodka and they’re passing it around. I thought about stopping and making them either finish it or toss it, instead I let them keep it and they passed it up to me while we’re in the tunnel (they did hide it at the borders). I drank and passed it back. I didn’t get stopped or even questioned. Half the fifth remained in the van while we were club hopping, I definitely drank too much to drive. But there we were.

Fate intervened, my van got towed a few miles down past the bridge. We decided to walk to get it, stopped for a bit to eat and the guy who suggested we park at McDonald’s paid to get it out. By then I had sobered up and it was like 6am Sunday morning. We got back, I dropped everyone off, then I got home to my mom and dad having breakfast. Dad was surprisingly chill about it, mom was not.

 

[Ilov80s]

I was maybe 28-29. Was watching football at the bar the with some friends and left before the late game to head home. Was stupidly speeding a bit. Got pulled over by a county sheriff. Younger Black woman. She asked me the usual where were you and where are you headed, etc. She said I was going fast. I was honest, said I was at a bar and had a couple beers. She asked what I did for a living and told her I was high school special ed. teacher. She left with my ID, came back and said she smelled alcohol but didn't think I seemed intoxicated. She also mentioned how important my job was for the community. She then told me sternly to go directly home. I have no excuses for my behavior then but looking back, I don't think I would have passed a breathalyzer. It was 100% my job that saved me.

 

[NorvilleBarnes]

I was very young - before I had my own car, maybe 17 - I was driving my mom's pink Mary Kay Cadillac home from a date. Two drunk drivers were racing each other on a road perpendicular to the one I was driving. The first one passed in front of me missing by inches and the 2nd one plowed into me, knocking me, spinning, into the oncoming lanes of traffic. It seemed like slow motion and I was amazed I didn't get hit by any other cars. When I stopped spinning I looked over and saw that car had a smashed windshield with blood and I thought "Damn, they're dead" (they weren't) and then very slowly shifted to Park. When I looked up there were police cars and fire trucks everywhere so I had blacked out or lost consciousness but It didn't seem like it to me. They loaded the other driver into an ambulance while she was drunkenly shouting "Who the he## hit me?". I walked across the street to a Mexican restaurant to call my mom (this was back before cell phones) and she answered the phone "Tell me me you didn't wreck my Cadillac".

 

[FairWarning]

Too many back in the day :(.

 

[jm192]

Got the Full blown DUI.

Had broken up with a girlfriend that was pretty serious.
Had a female college friend who had broken up with a pretty serious boyfriend.
A Saturday night of drinking seemed like what the doctor ordered.

Unfortunately her now ex-boyfriend shows up at the bar we're at with another girl. She's hammered and gets belligerent. She's making a huge scene. I decide I need to get her out of there. We came in her car. At 35, I can't begin to tell you why we even went to her car. At 28 or 29, it seemed like it was time for everyone to go home.

I felt fine. I got behind the wheel. I had never been in her car before. Apparently the headlights don't just come on. Cop got behind me and pulled me over for not having the headlights on. Said he smelled alcohol from the car. My friend couldn't form sentences or even tell me where the insurance and registration were. I pointed out of course you smell alcohol, she's hammered.

They wanted me to take the test. I said no. Got handcuffs. Got to jail. Called a lawyer buddy. He told me to blow at the jail. I blew over. Spent the night in jail.
Paid over 1,000$ to the jail/court. Paid 1,000$ to an attorney looking for any way to get out of it. Didn't get out of it.

I'm a doctor. I was a resident at the time. Absolute disaster to have this happen as a physician at any level, but the earlier the worse. All of my job applications asked if you'd been arrested and what for. I actually BEGGED a recruiter to tell the medical director where I was interviewing about it. She assured me it was handled and no one had any concerns. He later found out from my residency director because the nice lady had decided it was better to leave it out. When I interviewed, I figured if they weren't going to bring it up, neither was I. Wrong move.

I had to go see an addiction specialist in Louisville to decide if I had a problem. I had to piss in a cup while another man stood in the bathroom and watched. He decided I didn't have a problem. But the State Board of Medical Licensure knows about it. Even when it falls off my "record,"every medical facility in Kentucky will have a way to find it. So I always answer yes. And I hope that as more time passes, people consider it a 1 time mistake and not a defining scarlet letter.

It's a black cloud that will always hang over my head.

Use Uber and Lyft kids.

 

[Northern Voice]

A bunch of us were out drinking as we do as younger adults, 5 or 6 of us. One of us doesn't drink, but smokes all the weed, big time problem. In our infinite wisdom, we decide she is the DD.

She drives... terribly, as she shouldn't have been driving. We're aware but it's terrible in a too slow, very stoned sort of way so we don't feel any imminent danger or issue (dumb, dumb).

She gets pulled over, because of course. We're all visibly drunk, it has to be apparent she's baked out of her mind. We're pretty close to our destination, a friends house where we're finishing the evening, the cop that pulled us over is a guy I went to high school with. We weren't super friendly but we were acquaintances. He waves us along and tails us back to where we're going.

Stupid situation to be in but thankfully no one hurt.

My opinion now is if you can't afford the $20 cab home, don't ****ing drink away from your house.

 

[Manster]

I am not proud to say when I was young, my buddies and I did a lot of drinking and driving......hell, we used to drive around the back roads with a case of Old Milwaukee and toss the empties out the window.

As you can imagine, I've had my share of close calls.

In high school we would get someone to buy us beer and we'd go down to the river "catfishin"......big bon fire, etc......one night/early AM I was heading home, and got pulled over. I think I had a tail light out or something. I kinda knew the cop, and I'm sure he knew my parents......he made me lock up my truck and gave me a ride home! Sometimes growing up in a small town came in handy.