at least you owned up to your mistake, a lot of us cant even do that, and remember it could have been a lot worse dude. Everybody makes mistakes, and if we didnt we wouldnt be able to grow and learn.

As for people ragging on you, no one is perfect ad im sure they have sometime in their life drank and drove. so just take it for what it is.

 

NEVER. For multiple reasons.

 

So is that how Navy men learn to DRINK?

My input will be this, I live in Holland where there isn't really a drinking age.... if you can look over the counter you're straight. Everyone knew how to drink responsibly. And on a Friday night you would see hundreds of bicycles outside the pubs, only a moron would try to drive home.

I prefer to pass out in the vicinity of where I have been drinking, and park my car for the night before I start drinking. I never drive early in the morning when I'm still drunk, and wouldn't hesitate to call someone. Insurance on the S is expensive enough, add a DUI, and I couldn't afford it, but that's after what my father would do to me, what the law would do to me, how my future would be affected, and what could happen to the car, myself or others.

Don't drink and drive!

 

I am drawing the comparison between chew/meds & alcohol, they can be very similar in their effect on people. I'm not taking anything away from DUI's, just making a point there are other things with just as much cause for alarm.

 

DUI means driving under the influence, it pertains to drugs as well, including prescriptions which clearly state "DO NOT OPERATE MOTOR VEHICLES"

In part of Europe it's illegal to drive while you have a cold at all.

 

Some of you need to lay off on the OP. Truthfully, alot of you guys have probably drank over the limit and never realized this. As you all know, 0.08 is the limit. With that said, that equals to only about 2-3 maybe 4 beers at most. I know alot of us feel perfectly fine with that amount without a hint of being buzz. "We" just got lucky for not getting caught. This isn't even counting if you took shots of liquor.

Now, if your telling me you never drank at least 3-4 beers while out at a bar/club and drove, you either don't drink or your lying. Alot of people don't realize it doesn't take much to be over the drinking limit. The thought process of most people think that if their buzzed than they have reached the "limit". Trust me, if you start driving feeling even the slightest buzzed, your over the limit. I am pretty sure you have done this at least once in your lifetime. Consider yourself just as guilty as the OP. Just consider yourself lucky for not getting caught. As for the OP, just got unlucky.

Ok, with that said, I am not condoning his actions. I'm glad he got caught and will be punished...BUT, I give him alot of credit for owning up to his mistake. This will be a great experience for him to learn from as well as the affect it can have on whoever reads his post. Civilian or military, "don't drink and drive" is pretty universal. It sounds like that the military gets a bigger punishment for this offense and civilians have it a little easier. IMHO, Civilians should have it just as bad or whatever equal punishment is justified. Every person on this planet knows you should not drink and drive regardless of how many times they have been told, so I should not see the difference in punishment for being a civilian. I believe there are enough ads or warnings posted everywhere for there to be a different punishment for a certain individual.

Just my .02.

 

A buddy of mine with a clean record also got a DUI a while back. He learned his lesson as he absolutely will not drive if he has even one beer. This was 3 years ago.

Insurance on his 2001 Prelude went from $900/yr to $3,000+/yr.
His motorcycle insurance went from $400/yr to $5,000/yr (yes, $5,000/yr)

If I were you, I would check with your insurance company to see what cars have cheap rates and just suffer for a few years. When the rates adjust back down, you'll be flush with cash to buy something nice again.

Kudos for owning up to it by the way.

 

make sure the DUI is not the result of a much larger problem. Pay attention to what they talk about in your 16 hours. Then make a decision for yourself.

 

A soldier in my platoon is currently in your situation. And, according to my BN legal NCO, you can't get an ART 15 if you've been punished by civilian OR military courts. The double punishment thing.

But I'm in the Army. Maybe we do things different.

 

I've seen it happen probably more than 5x last year alone in the Air Force.