Ok heres the story, i'm hoping you guys will be able to help me but i'm sure the laws are different in every state but maybe someone can enlighten me?
Ok I'm at my friends house last night and were having fun just hanging out with a few people, i have a few beer bongs. Well 7, and then 3 beers seperately, i have to work at 10 am so i leave his house at 9 am and i notice this cop starts trailing me and i'm like ****. Mind you all i'm not speeding or anything..but my inspection sticker isn't in my window because i didn't pass due to an electrical issure in my right turn signal. I got it fixed though, but just never had the chance to take it back to get it inspected, as soon as that happened i knew what was going to happen. He explained why he pulled me over and then asked me to step out of the car and they did that pen test and he asked me to follow it with my eyes blah blah blah. I wasn't even drunk and i could'nt do that thing accurately, i kept moving my head because he was moving out of my vision, plus i just woke up! So basically he makes me take a breathalizer? Don't know if my spelling is correct. I blow a .0397 which is like nothing, i really should have said i had listerine but oh well its too late, i had to tell him i had been drinking the night before and everything he gave me a possesion charge ABC. I live in Fairfax, Virginia and i'm wondering whats going to happen to me, i'm only 17 so i don't know what i can do about this. I'm so mad it happened this way i would have rather been **** drunk when he stopped me instead of sober which pisses me off. Thanks for the future replies guys.

 

do your parents know about it yet?

i'd consult with them, since this will affect insurance...and STOP DRINKING AND DRIVING AT YOUR AGE!! for the love of all that is good...you should know better.

 

Legal limit for minors is 0.02. You were almost double the limit.

You = fucked. Sorry to say.

 

i wasn't anywhere close to being drunk, .36 is what it was actually i just misread it earlier, thats the equivalent of less than a beer man.

 

yea my mom knows she picked me up.

 

glad to hear it. talk to your parents about this, and figure it out with them. your BEST bet is to take it to court(if you have the option).

 

I do have the option, but i think i can pay it which is better to do?

 

law wise they can deffinatly screw you
parents wise, you did the right thing. I dont know the policy on drinking within your family but mine is that if you have been drinking and are smart enough to stay the night at your friends place then you are a-ok with me. If they do take you to court then just be honest and tell the judge why he should be lenient. Stress the fact that you are 17 and are already mature enough to know to sleep it off rather than drive drunk.

 

Actually i called it in, and i do not have the option to pay it off. But i'd rather go to court and speak my mind we have a lawyer too. According to the law the judge has the right to suspend my liscense if he or she decides too, also i can get a restricted liscense to go to school and work. Also there is a mandatory $500 fine, but you can get 50 hours of community service so community service here i comeee! Yeah, i really don't see the big deal why the cop had to be an ******* and give me the ticket, i blew a .036 for someone my size thats 3/4 a beer. I mean i know there is a no tolerance law but c'mon. I was smart enough not to drive home like crunk juiced out of my mind.

 

Get an attorney.

 

Which part of zero tolerance did you not understand? You obviously want to act like an adult by consuming alcohol. Accept the consequences of your actions and move on.

 

Alright dude, you don't have to be a dick about it. This was really a help section if you want to be an difficult about it don't post, that was really aimed towards su maverick anyways not you. So next time i have something to say to you i'll say your name alright? Also i was smarter about it than most adults would be, some adults would even go driving that same night after drinking. I'm not stupid i didn't go driving the same day so i really don't even care about the charge anymore, or your opinion for that matter. For all the officer knows it could have been listerine, but i was responsible and admitted it.

 

Absolutely. But no offense, if I were your parents, I'd whoop your a$$ for drinking in the first place Being responsible not to make 2 wrongs is good...but it's still irresponsible enough to do one wrong...

I'm sure she means well, but this is BAD advice. I was really hoping this was prepayable, because you'd get off w/ just a fine, and that's it. Going to court in Fairfax County means that you WILL need someone to drive you home. That, I PROMISE. They WILL suspend your license (assuming you don't have a damn good lawyer and a spotless driving record). In fact, pray they suspend it for only not a few months, vs. until you're 21, which is what the Fairfax County judges do (ahem*Horan*ahem) if they think you're a "punk" or "delinquent." In Fairfax County, the RULE of thumb is avoid court at ALL costs, as you'll ALWAYS end up worse than you began unless you have a lawyer, excellent record, and/or a damn good excuse.

Keep in mind that ish is real. Driving on a restricted license at times you're not allowed = driving on a suspended license = LEGALLY canNOT get your license back - it MUST be suspended. And for a longer period of time. Don't mess w/ Fairfax po-po.

Umm...no. Your lawyer is the best chance you got, cuz w/o him, YOU don't have the option - it's up the judge. And $20 says the judge (cough*Horan*cough) WILL prefer suspended license over community service, if not BOTH. So don't think it's a done deal yet.

Well usually we don't get brownie points for doing the right thing (not driving drunk), but I bet he was peeved that you (a kid, in his eyes), is drinking already, and teetering close to the legal limit. He's prob thinking "great, this kid's prob gonna keep drinking more as he gets older, and I'm gonna have to clean up the mess he creates when he DUI's and kills someone..." That's their viewpoint - just like how they get PISSED when you're speeding and making cuts - they remember the 5-car pileup and the family in a minivan that ended up in the hospital cuz some 17 year old thought he was cool in his APC ricer Civic. The po-po...I don't like 'em, but I understand them (to an extent)

~Ramy

 

Maybe there is a reason there is a law about 21 and older to consume alcohol. I think, now this is just a thought, that it MIGHT be because kids our age are irresponsible. Crazy me but thats me. Im 18 and i've never had any alcohol or smoked anything. I plan on being successful and aocohol won't help me get there. Won't help you either.

 

Did you take Driver's Ed?
A 0.36 BAC and you'd be either comatose or dead.

You must mean 0.036... In which case, I'll ask again:
Did you take Driver's Ed?

From Pg. 33 pf the driver's handbook:

In addition, from the DMV website:

http://www.dmv.state.va.us/webdoc/ge...ws.asp?id=4813

So, pop quiz man:

Yes or No: Was your BAC over 0.02%?
Yes or No: Are you under 21 years of age?
Yes or No: Did you get caught?

So how can you say:

Regardless, based on the wording of that last link, it looks like you're lightening your wallet by $500 AND getting the community service.

Not trying to kick you in the nuts or anything, but that's the rules of the game. I don't claim to be perfect, Hell... Drinking was old by the time I turned 21.

None the less, this is the reason I'm VERY paranoid the day after I've been drinking, and I always calculate hours and drinks and weight and ****... When I was under 21, I didn't go out the day after drinking. Although I was usually still drunk at the time, but that's besides the point. Got **** to do the following day? Don't drink.

**** happens, you can't go back and erase it or start over again... Best thing to do is make sure it doesn't happen again in the future.

I'm not saying don't drink because that'd be hypocritical... As stated before, I used to drink my *** off...Still do on occasion. Just don't get caught. Best bet is to gurantee that you'll be blowing a 0.00 if they do.

In Virginia, ALWAYS assume there's a cop behind you or around the next corner.

 

Ok we'll just have to see what happens with this, i thought there was a $500 fee or 50 hours of community service, so i guess i'm fucked there. My mom will be mad but theres nothing we can do about that, oh well i have a lawyer so we'll see where it goes from there.

 

That's such bullshit. You were responsible enough to actually sleep it off rather then drive intoxicated home. I would explain everything to the judge, I know fairfax judges are asshats, but explain that instead of driving drunk you slept it off and then left in the morning, most kids your age don't even have that much common sense. You'll definatly need a lawyer when you go to court.

 

Smart guy. I'm almost 24 and I'm still free and clear of all the body and life destroying toxins

Oh man you crack me up. Soooo true. I wonder if they did some surveying what the ratio of regulars to police would be on any given street in NoVa. On a Friday or Saturday evening, I think it can get as high was 1 to 5 lol.

It is. But what I'm telling you is, since you're dealing w/ Fairfax County aka the KING of corruption and bigotry courts, you're prob. gonna end up w/ a double whammy. "Discretion" in Fairfax County usually means "maximum penalty"

While you have a point (which I addressed in my earlier post), keep in mind (as mentioned in my earlier post) that the Judge will see him as being a delinquent in training. He's only 17 or 18, and drinking already (it IS against the law...so in the Judge's eyes, he's a hoodlum. A trouble maker from the start). "DUIs will surely be in this guy's future history" is what the Judge's thinking. So he's gonna throw the book, gavel, and anything else he can get his hands on at him to try and get him to sober up (permanently) before he becomes the next problem child.

Again, that's not what I believe; it's just their perspective, and really, when you think about it, their perspective is the ONLY one that really counts, since that's what they use when they're passing judgement...

 

I don't understand how a judge like that can retain an office after so many poor judgements.

 

Simple: no one has the guts and/or power to do something about it. I've toyed w/ the idea of starting a "Responsible VA Drivers Against Irresponsible Judge Horan" movement/organization, but I dunno how much actual serious committed support it would get...

 

yeah. This all suks.

 

thanks for all the support everyone.

 

Bottom line...When it comes to the police this state sucks...

 

I can tell you that you'd be harrassed 97343% more then you are right now.

 

Get... a... lawyer...