Personal Impacted Story
This issue began to hold heavy over my heart just a semester ago, while I've had many friends be affected by drinking and driving, its never really hit home until recently. Last October I was driving in the Lubbock community around 9 o'clock on a Saturday night. I was stopped by a State Trooper for allegedly not stopping at a stop sign. Upon further detection I was asked to step out of my vehicle because the officer detected a strong odor from myself and my vehicle. I was asked to partake in the field sobriety test; walking a straight line, turning around and walking back, holding one foot out and counting to fifteen, following the officers finger with my eyes. I did well on the field test but upon further suspicion I was asked to take a breathalyzer, after blowing into the device, my blood alcohol content (BAC) was that of .189, which obviously is above the state legal limit of .08. I was arrested and taken to Lubbock County Jail where i spent the night, I was forced to wear the jail clothes, sleep in a cell and awaken at 5 a.m. After seeing the Judge I was released on a $1500 bail. Since my BAC was above .15 I was charged with a Class A misdemeanor, which holds more punishment than that of a Class B. The way things are looking now, I will be sentenced to 15 months probation, reporting every week to my probation officer, mandated to take alcohol awareness classes, pay fines, have a breathalyzer installed in my vehicle for the next 8 months and complete 30 hours of community service. I was thankful that my lawyer was able to bring down some of the charges that were bestowed upon me at first, but, its going to be a long time before I get my total freedom back. I was lucky enough where this incident was that only I harmed myself, I am very thankful no one else was harmed at my wrong doing. It's never okay to put other people in harms risk when it comes to drinking and driving. At the end of the day its never worth it, you're not "fine" to drive, or its not "just a short drive away". Call a cab or a friend, all of this could have been easily avoided if I did so.