Memorial day weekend...3-day weekend equates to good times with your friends/family. So yesterday, I accordingly whip out the nice car and head over to a friends house for a bit of partying. Nothing out of the ordinary at the party, same old story of dodging the puke and avoiding the rooms with "funny sounds" coming from them. In the spirit of partying, I of course join in the ritual of mass-drinking. All-in-all, a normal party night.

But then I make the same mistake as many a dumb-ass before me in thinking that I was sober enough to drive myself home. No, no, I didn't wreck my baby or anything. But I did get rolled by some cops...crap! So I figure, 2 points on my license and now I'm going to get a DUI. They're gonna tow my car away, I'm going to spend another familiar night in jail, my insurance is now going to go through the roof, it's going to cost a fortune to get my baby out of impound, and they're going to suspend my license.

But to my surprise, after going through all those very annoying sobriety tests that they make you do, the officer offered me a "deal". He offered to let me off the hook, actually drive me home while his partner escorted us, and forget the whole thing happened if....

...if I did 30 jumping jacks right there and I let his son borrow my car to take to the prom. Not much choice, so I agreed. Now that I'm sober....crap. All because I decided to drive while intoxicated. Don't drink and drive. Even if you only had a little, just don't do it. And 30 jumping jacks? What the hell? Am I the only one this happens to?

IF you've had even one drink, you shouldn't drive. That was very stupid of you.

Odd request...but at least you weren't arrested. All in all, that's not a bad deal. But yeah, if it helps you keep sober next time, then really, the cop's done his job, and saved himself some paperwork.

That was definnately odd. At least the cop did his job well, even if the method was...unique.

Hmm... Something doesn't add up here. If the CA Vehicle Code is anything like mine, there's a section detailing "Officer's Duty to Enforce" in the DUI law. IOW, no discretion - if you've got probable cause, you have to arrest. Add in what smells like a quid pro quo in the prom rental; if it doesn't make solicitation of bribery, it comes damned close to it. Very few of the cops I know would put themselves into a liability jackpot like that...

Anyway, without intending offense, you're right about one thing. Drinking, then getting behind the wheel was an... exceptional lapse of judgement.

never gonna happen to me. i don't drink. part of the shit in my head.

They have blood alcohol limits for a reason. Having a beer at a party 3 hours ago does not mean you're unfit for driving. I know 'Drunk Driving = Bad BAD!' and all, but keep in mind the other things driving doesn't mix with. Cold medicine will knock your driving ability away faster than a drink or two. I've lost uncles to sleeping at the wheel.

The key is knowing your limit, knowing the drink, and knowing how much time you have before you're expected to drive. The problem is that judgement is impared at a certain point, so it's easier to say "Yeah, I'm still cool...." and jump into the driver's seat.

If you got past the legal limit, I'm surprised the cop didn't bust your ass in, and I agree that you suffered a VERY serious lapse of common sense. If you were under and showing your sobriety to an acceptable level, then chances are he was using the situation to scare you / get something out of it.

"Casual Drinking" as in a few beers over a 2-3 hour long dinner and relaxation is fine so long as you aren't hyper-sensitive and your body somehow takes the booze and shoves it right into your brain just before you leave the pub.

"Mass Drinking" doesn't bode well with driving...no matter how much time you have to sober up.