Prevention of DUI ( Driving Under the Influence)



In the state of Vermont, if you drive drunk, and are caught, here are some of the unpleasant facts to consider.

  • It will cost you between $1500 and $5,000.
  • You could end up doing some time in the local slammer.
  • You will no longer be admitted into Canada.
  • You will need someone to drive you to work for at least the next three months.
  • If your job had anything to do with driving a vehicle you will probably be fired.
  • If you had a CDL(Commercial Driver's License) you will lose it. Maybe for good- it depends.
  • You get to see your name in the paper. So does your mother, kids, and boss, among others.
  • Your auto insurance will go up X3 for three years.
  • You will have a misdemeanor criminal record
  • You will need to complete theAlcohol/vehicle education program CRASH ( four weeks, and $400)
  • You may need to attend at least six sessions of counseling. Emphasis on AT LEAST- it could be more.
  • You get to tell complete strangers- your attorney, a counselor, and all the people at CRASH- often intimate, personal details of your life.


    Penalties for a second or third DUI (Driving Under the Influence) conviction, which occur within the ten-year statutue of limitations, will be more severe. Penalties also vary from state to state, or from one province to another.


  • For a 2nd DUI within a 10 year period, you will be looking at an 18 month suspension of your license, CRASH, and a minimum of 20 sessions of counseling over not less than six months.
  • You may end up doing some jail time.
  • Plus all the consequences listed above.


    If you get a third DUI within a ten year period:
  • You will get a felony charge.
  • You will almost certainly do some jail time. Personally, the best deal I have ever seen anyone get with a third DUI was a weekend in jail and a year on House Arrest. This was with about the best private attorney money could buy.
  • You will have your license revoked, and will have to go through an ardous three year process in an effort to get it back. This consists of CRASH, 20 sessions of counseling in not less than six months, regular contact with a counselor for the next two and a half years, affidavits from four people who have had weekly contact with you throughout the three year period, and who can make a sworn statement that you are sober to the best of their knowledge. You will be most likely subject to random Alcosensoring and urine testing this entire time. To top this off, at the conclusion of the process, an investigator from DMV ( Dept. of Motor Vehicles) will need a 3x5 photo of you. In a process that can take about a year, they will go to every place that sells or serves ETOH within a 25 mile radius of your address, and inquire if you have ever been in there purchasing ETOH.
  • Remember, you will not have a driver's license this whole time. You will need to depend on other's for rides.
  • If you operate a motor vehicle on a public road during this time, it is a new criminal charge called a DLS ( Driving with License Suspended) and this is typically punishable by 30 days in jail. If you are still on House Arrest, or Parole for the DUI, this will typically be grounds for a Sanction, or punishment which could include revocation of your House arrest and longer return to jail.
  • All of the above is based on a DUI without property damage, injury, or fatality resulting. Count on more penalties if property damage, injury, or death occurs.

    THINK HARD BEFORE YOU HAVE A SINGLE DROP

    Call a cab or take a bus. Unless your are travelling cross-country, it will be cheaper than the expenses associated with a DUI.

    Stay put- rent a hotel room near within a short walk of wherever you are going, have the party at the hotel, or have friends over and let them stay for the night.

    Have a Designated Driver ( This is someone who has actually not drank all evening or all day- NOT just the one who has stopped puking)


    Don't bother:

  • Drinking coffee to sober up. You will be wide awake and drunk
  • Rolling the windows of your car down to sober up. You will be cold and drunk. If raining, wet and drunk.
  • Playing your car stereo loud. You won't be able to hear, and you will still be drunk
  • Chewing gum or mints when you are pulled over by the cops. You will still blow numbers in the AlcoSensor, and the stench of digested and processed alcohol will be exhaled right out of your lungs and through the minty clean smell of your gum. By the way- if you are chewing sugarless gum containing sugar alcohols, such as mannitol, xylitol, or sorbitol, or pretty much anything else ending in -ol, you may actually blow higher numbers. Sugar alcohols, which are sweet tasting and used to flavor sugarless gums, register on an AlcoSensor. I tried it. I chewed up a couple pieces of gum, spat it out, and blew in an AlcoSensor, registering a .016- 2x the legal limit in the state of VT.
  • Telling the officer you " only had two beers". Please. He/she has heard it before.
  • Driving on a back road instead of a highway. Do you think cops don't know that and patrol the back roads?
  • Driving home because you only have a mile or two to go. A lot can happen in a mile- like an accident, running someone over, or getting pulled over.
  • If you are driving on a back road, after 11PM, on a Friday or Saturday night, with the windows rolled down in innapropriate weather, and a big cup of coffee and a mouthful of gum or mints when the cop comes up to your window- You have just fit the profile of a drunk driver.

    The only way to get sober is time.
    You will need about one hour per drink if you are a man, and about one and one half hours if you are a woman.


    Differences between men and women and how our bodies process ETOH ( alcohol).
    Women do not produce as much of the enzyme which breaks down ETOH. Women also tend to have more body fat vs. lean tissue than men, yet less body mass. All of these factors combine in a way that the average woman will get drunk faster and stay drunk longer than an average man.

    What exactly is one drink?
    Generally, one 12 oz beer, one six oz glass of wine, or one 1.5 oz shot of distilled spirits will contain roughly the same amount of ETOH. A man will register a BAC ( Blood Alcohol Content) of .02 for each drink consumed in the last hour, and a woman .03. There are many exceptions- Beer can range from 2.5 % ETOH to 13% ETOH. Wine varies from about 9% to 18 %, and is not always served in six oz. servings. Spirits are not always measured, but poured freehand, and vary in ETOH content- 40% to 85%. Cold drinks will sit in your stomach longer than warm drinks, and carbonated beverages will be absorbed faster than flat ones. An empty vs. full stomach will also effect how quickly ETOH is absorbed.

    References: (coming soon)


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