Posted: 7/18/2006 11:23:48 PM EDT
| I was thinking about this last week. I had two weak mixed drinks about an hour before i left the club last week and although i know that i was completely within my abilities and totally fine to drive, if i took a breathalyzer at that very moment, it would have probably been around .02. Out of curiosity today i looked at the penal code and i cant find anything that talks about DUI. There's only an offense called DWI. Does this mean that as long as you can drive your car well and you're under .08 that they cant mess with you or did i miss another relevant statute? |
Texas only has DWI. To be Intoxicated, means (1) not have normal use of mental or physical faculties by reason of intoxication OR (2) having an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more. You can be DWI at any alcohol level as long as you show impairment. Most people don't show impairment at a low level like 0.02 that you mentioned. I would think that a teenager who has never been drinking and he downs a couple of beers in fairly short order would show impairment. Most of the time, our DA won't take a case unless you are over 0.08 or refuse and show definite signs of intoxication. If you can do all the tests correctly, it would be a hard case to prosecute without the alcohol concentration known. To be intoxicated means to be imaired on any substance be it alcohol or drugs. A few years ago (maybe 20-ish) Texas had DWI and DUI. DUI was for driving under the influence of drugs. The DWI was for alcohol only. They have since combined the two so if you are intoxicated, it doesn't matter what you took as long as you are impaired or show an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more. TEXAS PENAL CODE § 49.04. DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED. (a) A person commits an offense if the person is intoxicated while operating a motor vehicle in a public place. (b) Except as provided by Subsection (c) and Section 49.09, an offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor, with a minimum term of confinement of 72 hours. (c) If it is shown on the trial of an offense under this section that at the time of the offense the person operating the motor vehicle had an open container of alcohol in the person's immediate possession, the offense is a Class B misdemeanor, with a minimum term of confinement of six days. § 49.01. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: (2) "Intoxicated" means: ____(A) not having the normal use of mental or physical faculties by reason of the introduction of alcohol, a controlled substance, a drug, a dangerous drug, a combination of two or more of those substances, or any other substance into the body; or ____(B) having an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more. |
This is the 100% correct answer. |
Actually it's not. DUI by minor is someone, under, 21, having any detectable amount of alcohol in his system. But regardless of age if you meet the elements of the offense for DWi than you can be charged for DWI. |
yep, true it is |
Yup, especially with the career path you say you want to choose......... |
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yeah yall have some good points, i just havent read my penal code back to back in a while and i was wondering if there was a statute in there i might have missed. And im aware of my past situation and the necessity for me to stay out of trouble in the future. When i talk here about having a drink or two and driving im not talking about heavy amounts, just barely detectible amounts like going out to a steak dinner and having a smirnoff, or going out to dance at a club for 4 hours and having 2 or three drinks in the first hour and working them off over the period of the night with dancing and drinking water. Im sure that even after you feel completely sober there are still residual traces of alcohol in the bloodstream that might be detected with a brethalyzer and i was wondering if you got pulled over and volunteered for a breathalyzer and blew a .01 or .02 if they would ticket you. Im not dumb enough to drive after ive had any level of impairment, I stopped to help at two car wrecks last year that involved drunk drivers who caused causalitys on other cars. I would have never DWI'ed before that, but after seeing it, you become that much more aware of your mortality and how easy it is to kill yourself and destroy the lives of others and their families. |
These threads are getting soooo old
that's the 100% correct answer |
you can be charged with DUI if you are over 21, not operating a vehicle, are not in a public place, and have never had a drink in your life. whether or not you have committed the offense is another matter....... |
Ok so basically what you're saying is that if you show any sign of impairment in public, law enforcement can charge you with being intoxicated. I already know that the substance from which you became intoxicated doesnt matter, people get high a bunch of different ways which is why getting intoxicated is outlawed and not the act of drinking, smoking, shooting up, ect. But what im curious about now is that youre saying that a person can get charged with DUI when they're not even in a vechicle. Doesnt the D in DUI stand for Driving? |
Does your boyfriend put a Jolly Rancher in it for you first?   (sorry man, couldn't help it  )
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hkusp9, Can't read the sarcasm huh? Not drinking, not under 21, not in public, not operating a vehicle... but you "can be charged". Proving the offense however, is a different matter. |
Yeah i drink like a bitch and i know it. All of my buddies give me a hell of a time about being a light weight who likes girly drinks. When i go to the clubs now that im old enough to drink, sometimes i even slip the bartender a five to make me virgin rum and cokes or virgin cranberry and vodkas so i can look cool drinking and still be good to drive home. Ill wait till he picks up the bottle and then tell me friends "hey look over there, that girl's taking her shirt off!" then when they turn back around to the bar ill say "damn that bar keep really put alot of wiskey in my drink" and they will all be like, "that sucks cause ive been getting short poured all night". Jeeze, i think ive already said too much, i should give up me man card now. |
Look at you, what with the leading questions and all......... Let me remind my wife to never get cornered by you, lest you try to "sweat it out of her under the lights"? Seriously, it used to be all the rage when I was in college. Chicks would get the little Smirnoff bottles and drop a Jolly Rancher in them to flavor it a little more. I dunno how much, but I would imagine it'd taste kind of like a malt liquore Propel.
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Tee hee, i went for every other night 8 mile run through the neighborhood today and my 4 mile half way mark is the neighborhood bar, i go in there once a week and have one burbon and coke and socialize with all the older professional types, but on weekdays i always stop in and get a half a glass of tap water to down before running home. Well i jog in and there are three girls talking to each other at one end of the bar and a guy sitting alone on the other end. I walk in wearing small running shorts and a sweat drenched muscle shirt, ive got a G2 Nitrolon in my right hand and nothing else in my posession. I say hey Eric (bartender) and hold up my finger to signall one, while hes getting a glass the guy on the end of the bar walks over and asks to see my ID. I reply, who the hell are you? He shows me a badge and tells me that he's TABC and that im not allowed to get a drink without showing ID and the bartender should have checked it first. I told him that i dont need ID to get my nightly glass of water on the run home and turn around walk back to the end of the bar, drink my glass, turn back around, salute him with it, laugh in his face and walk out. I feel like an ass now for being so smart with him but he really deserved it for thinking that i was going to go out drinking at 10 pm on a sunday dressed like that! Ill have to buy him a big glass of milk next time i see him there and im drinking. |