You hear a police siren blare behind you and pull over a bit to the right, expecting it to pass. Instead the blinding lights of a patrol car fill your rear view mirror and an amplified and threatening voice instructs you to pull over. Unsure of what you've done wrong you reach for your wallet as an officer approaches your vehicle, hand on undrawn weapon. "License and registration, please." In honest disbelief, you ask if you did anything wrong. His response: "Sir, have you been drinking?"
The officer returns to his vehicle and runs a computerized background check as you try to recall how many drinks you had over the course of the three hour retirement party you just left. He returns a few moments later, asks you to exit your car and leads you through a series of field sobriety tests which include: counting backwards from 100, walking a straight line one foot directly in front of the next, and touching alternate fingers to the tip of your nose with your eyes closed and your head tilted backward. He has done this many times before, and no matter what the outcome, has stock statements ready at hand that will automatically appear on his report as if they were pre-printed: when I approached the suspect's vehicle I could detect a strong odor of alcohol on his breath; the suspect's eyes were bloodshot; his speech was slurred; he was driving erratically.
He next informs you that he has sufficient cause to require you to take a breathalizer test. You can refuse to take it and automatically have your license revoked for six months, or you can agree and possibly incriminate yourself. Thinking you do not in the least bit feel intoxicated, you agree to take the test. You 'blow' a .08 alcohol/blood content (legally intoxicated) and are handcuffed and arrested on the spot. After decades of living within the law, paying taxes, raising a family, meeting all your obligations, moral and legal, you are now entering the justice system - not as a concerned citizen spectator or dedicated juror, but as a suspected criminal. And life as you know it is about to change drastically for the worst.
Driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or while your ability to operate that vehile is impaired, is a serious crime in every state of the union. Police no longer, as in the past, turn a blind eye or let you off, since they may be held accountable should something happen afterwards. Sometimes the repercussions are warranted and called for. Sometimes they seem draconian in their consequences and their reach.
Still, society has a right to protect itself from the careless and irresponsible behavior of its citizens. As our population has grown larger and more dense, drunk or impaired driving has resulted in more deaths, injuries and property damage than perhaps any other risky behavior. And the results are sometimes tragic. Well meaning victims' groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving have lobbied our representatives hard and long to adopt a zero tolerance attitude toward such behaviours, and to enact much stricter laws. And when lawmakers agree to criminalize a greater segment of our population they find to their delight that this is an excellent revenue enhancement scheme that can contribute millions to county coffers.
Given the current climate, I would counsel anyone and everyone against operating a motor vehicle after consuming any amount of alcohol, period. It's just not a wise thing to do. You can try counting and spacing your drinks, one drink per hour (a drink being the equivalent of one shot of liquor, four ounces of wine or twelve ounces of beer) - but why bother? A $10 cab fare is nothing compared to $10,000 spent on fines, penalties and legal fees. For if you are in fact arrested for DUI/DWI, you will certainly need a laywer. And if you are convicted, you will definitely be fined, and possibly imprissoned.
Don't let this happen to you.
Don't drink and drive.