Thursday 31st January 2008

Woman Reports Herself For Drink Driving

US driver calls police from behind the wheel

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A US woman has been convicted of drink driving after she called the police from behind the wheel.

Pat Dykstra decided to rat on herself after she noticed her erratic driving following a drinking session in a local bar.

Her husband had apparently pointed out she may be rather well oiled so she pulled out her mobile and dialled 911.

This is a transcript of the call:

Caller: I just want to know if somebody can follow me home because somebody seems to think I can't drive home straight.

911: OK, why is that?

Caller: He seems to think I am too intoxicated to drive.

911: OK, and so you called 9-1-1 or he called 9-1-1?

Caller: Well, he wanted me to call 9-1-1 'cause he thinks I'm too drunk to drive.

When Ms Dykstra, from Wisconsin, asked what she though would happen when she called 911, she said: ‘I'm not really sure. I don't really think I was thinking that much at the time.’

She gave such a good description to police they found her at home and breathalysed her.

Now she questions whether the ticket was fair as her car was in the garage by the time she got the ticket.

‘I was home already in my pyjamas going to bed,’ she added.

[Neomagic]

Shouldn't have been able to convict her if the car was in the drive at the time.

Stupid!

[Alfanatic]

"It's not fair because I was home already in my pyjamas"

If that defence works then defence lawyers and hardened criminals throughout the USA are going to throw the party of the century.

[hackett]

Neomagic said:

Shouldn't have been able to convict her if the car was in the drive at the time.

Stupid!

A bloke at work was reported to the police for driving eraticaly and they came to his room 4 hours later, breathalysed him and did him for DD, he went to court and sure enough has been banned. This was 4 hours later, they examined the alcohol in his blood and it showed the alcohol in his blood must have been there at the time he had driven.

So yes she can be done for it.

[andyturner]

Can't she just deny that she was driving? Sure she might get done for wasting police time, but that's about it.

[Neomagic]

hackett said:

Neomagic said:

Shouldn't have been able to convict her if the car was in the drive at the time.

Stupid!

A bloke at work was reported to the police for driving eraticaly and they came to his room 4 hours later, breathalysed him and did him for DD, he went to court and sure enough has been banned. This was 4 hours later, they examined the alcohol in his blood and it showed the alcohol in his blood must have been there at the time he had driven.

So yes she can be done for it.

I would love to know how they proved he was actually driving the car!

[belleair302]

I wish the woman who wrote my car off when it was parked in a hotel car park a few years ago had done the same. Imagine getting called a 02.00 and being told that you car which was parked outside was now wrapped around a lamp post after a 'woman' who had consumer around 11 pints of beer in alcohol volume had just used your car as a battering ram!!

She went to prison and was fined and banned for 18 months...didn't help me much though!

[Mattt]

'Stupid Americans' etc etc

Jim - where are you?

[nrayner]

Too stupid to drive ?

[splitter / judas]

nrayner said:

Too stupid to drive ?

She is now!

[SpunkyM]

"But m'lud, as soon as I got in, I decked 4 double vodkas!" How the hell can they prove how old the alcohol is in your blood?

[Huggybearuk]

SpunkyM said:

"But m'lud, as soon as I got in, I decked 4 double vodkas!" How the hell can they prove how old the alcohol is in your blood?

By breathalising you again to see the diffrence, they can then tell how much you had to drink/when you drank it

[HeavyRightFoot]

nrayner said:

Too stupid to drive ?

Stupid is as stupid does!!!!!!!!!

[johnnyv6]

only a woman would see any logic in this ....just because that remark was sexist doesnt mean it isnt true lol

[Aclucas]

So remember, always have a whiskey in hand when you drive home after a night on the booze, much harder to prove when you went over

[IAmATeaf]

So the stuff I've seen on the telly where the person answer the door with a glass of whiskey in their hand won't/doesn't actually work then?

[Deva Link]

Neomagic said:

hackett said:

Neomagic said:

Shouldn't have been able to convict her if the car was in the drive at the time.

Stupid!

A bloke at work was reported to the police for driving eraticaly and they came to his room 4 hours later, breathalysed him and did him for DD, he went to court and sure enough has been banned. This was 4 hours later, they examined the alcohol in his blood and it showed the alcohol in his blood must have been there at the time he had driven.

So yes she can be done for it.

I would love to know how they proved he was actually driving the car!

The Police probably cleverly asked: "where you driving your car 4hrs ago"? To which he probably replied: "yes".

It's easy to think of a clever answer in hindsight.

Someone we know got done like this. They were a local bigwig and it went to appeal with a top QC but his conviction was upheld. He claimed ("on his honour&quot he'd had a drink as soon as he got home but because he didn't mention it at the time, the courts didn't accept it.

[DE1boy]

DRINK DRIVING IS THE MOST DANGEROUS IRRISPONSIBLE THING YOU CAN DO IN A CAR, & IF YOU GRASS ON YOURSELF SHOWS JUST HOW CLOUDED YOUR JUDGEMENT IS. MORE LUCK THAN JUDGEMENT THAT DIDNT CAUSE AN ACCIDENT, LOCK HER UP THROW AWAY THE KEY.

[bodhi]

I'd wager snorting cocaine from a cheerleader's bottom was more irresponsible TO BE HONEST WITH YOU. Darn sight more fun too....


Not speaking from experience obviously.

[gary_tholl]

A friend back in high school got pulled over in his jeep after a few too many drinks. As the police started their spiel it began to rain. As he didn't have the top on his jeep, he asked if they could continue this at his house just around the corner so he could put the top on. They agreed, followed him home, he ran inside to get the top, and came out with a beer, which he chugged back in front of them before putting the top on. Didn't go over very well to say the least. The police practically stripped his jeep looking for ANYTHING they could ticket him on, I think he may have ended up with a pretty flimsy 'open alcohol in a public space' ticket or somesuch. It did stop them from issuing a drunk driving ticket though.

YMMV, I doubt this is a good idea!

Gary

[cocopop]

DE1boy said:

DRINK DRIVING IS THE MOST DANGEROUS IRRISPONSIBLE THING YOU CAN DO IN A CAR, & IF YOU GRASS ON YOURSELF SHOWS JUST HOW CLOUDED YOUR JUDGEMENT IS. MORE LUCK THAN JUDGEMENT THAT DIDNT CAUSE AN ACCIDENT, LOCK HER UP THROW AWAY THE KEY.

I THINK FLYING A FULL 747 WHILE HIGH ON CRACK IS SLIGHTLY MORE IRRESPONSIBLE.

IMHO of course.