Sikkisirus

Im behind ya. If ya wanna talk PM me mate.

AcceptingChange

I agree with WolfChild. Yeah, this is really tough, no doubt. But the past is the past, and you can begin to take the steps out of alcohol hell. hb3 lists a lot of hassles that come with drunk driving on only the 1st offense. And Neomarxist discusses the harsher penalties in England. The penalties in the US are harsher for each subsequent DUI.
There is a father of four in our neighborhood who's going to court for his 5th(!) DUI in the next two weeks. It's a felony, and he may go to jail for a year, maybe more.

Many people have used their 1st DUI as a way to recognize their growing alcoholism, and turn to complete sobriety. I hope you can do that. You'll be really happy you did in 6 months, 12 months and more. Avoiding DUIs is the least of the benefits. Removing the drug from your system and the compulsion to drink from your life are the greater reward.
Best of luck to you.

bohemianzen

i am going to have to do whatever i have to, to quit drinking. before this weekend i had 27 days sober - the longest in years and wasn't really missing it. i had a rough week at work and was pretty much facing up to a lot of things i've tried to act like didn't bother me but really do. getting out of denial about my life and how it is really not what i imagined or want it to be. so i turned to beer. that cop may have saved my life. and i think this is a thump on the back of the head from God. maybe i won't have another time to get the message not to drink.

tommyk

Keep coming back, Bo.

No denial, no excuses... just progress in a forward direction.

You CAN do it.

Jeb18

Same here. Like I literally beat my self up from being drunk. I kept punching my face woke up with dry blood on my hands and a black eye. Lol.

joedris

You don't indicate where you're from, but I don't think a DUI from 12 years ago is going to show on your record. It's more than likely that one of the things the court will mandate is attendance is ASAP and at AA meetings for a while. I suggest that you get a good lawyer, and when you go to the meetings that you listen carefully. As a few folks have mentioned, a DUI may end up as a blessing in disguise.

bohemianzen

this is definitely a wake up call for me. it's hard to be grateful right now until i know exactly what is going to happen. but i should be grateful.
i can say i am grateful for my mom....even tho she had some harsh things to say...she's told me over and over to not worry and this would pass. my best friend has shown her true colors yet again. i'm so lucky to have her in my life. she says she's going to make me get out of the house. my mom has volunteered to help me clean my house.
i have to somehow change my life. i cannot go on living the way i am. not just the drinking but the isolation and sitting on the couch night after night.
i'm also grateful for sr....how would i made it thru this day without this site and all of you wonderful people. there were people that pm'ed me today that i can't express in words how much that meant to me.
i hope someday that i can return that favor by being there for you or someone else that feels the way i do right now. dear God i feel bad praying to you to help me yet again, i need your help. and please let me somehow become a light instead of the tiny flame that keeps burning itself out over and over.

ClayTheScribe

Well it seems you're getting the right idea. I drove really drunk home several months ago and when I woke up the next morning I felt so stupid and lucky I didn't get pulled over or I'd be screwed. Have you considered seeing an addictions specialist therapist? They could help you with your drinking and your underlying issues behind drinking. Check your insurance company's (assuming you have insurance) website and look for one. I would also strongly recommend going to AA, since you believe in God, and do 90 meetings in 90 days. Apparently it's 90 because it takes that long to form or break a habit. You're going to be alright though, you may have higher fines to pay since this is your second offense but if they didn't put you in jail last night, it's unlikely you'll spend time in jail. In a year or two when you're sober and happy this will seem like a distant mistake.

Zencat

DUI laws across the states are pretty much standard there days. Long gone are the times when a good lawyer could get one off the hook. Some 30 years ago I beat 3 separate DUI cases down to a reckless driving offense each. But I have had other drug charges where I just "manned up" and took my lumps. It was not easy deal to accept the consequences of my actions, yet on the other hand it was a big relief. I did what I had to do...I owned my actions...faced their reality...and gathered up as much of a life lesson I could from what I did.

It may seem like the end of your world now...its not...you'll be surprised how much strength and determination can come from a difficult challenge like this. Keep in close touch with those that want to see you through this and trust in your innate ability to rise above your fears. Acceptance is the key. And just one more thing...good going by working through you emotions here at SC...that sez a lot about you as a person...an admirable person with the courage to do whats necessary as to come to some kind of terms with your emotional state...kudos bro.

tyler

The fact that I don't have a DUI or any drug charges on my record are enough to make this "devout agnostic" believe in a higher power. I can't count the number of times I've driven crazy drunk, and stoned was just the way I always drove for 20 years. At the same time it's a mixed blessing. If I were to have had something like a DUI happen, maybe I would have woken up to the damage I was doing to myself and others around me. That God I "don't belive in" works in mysterious ways. Take care.

bohemianzen

:praying

please God help me accept whatever it is that happens today. i'm hoping for the best yet terrified of the worst. thank God for my mom standing beside me. i'm shaking like a leaf right now. i couldn't get anything down yesterday besides some water and some pop. i am going to try to eat a bagel but i don't know if i can do it or not. i didn't get very many hours of sleep...i think i was having a prolonged anxiety attack.... i felt my chest racing and my mind wouldn't stop. i slept an hour and a half when i first went to bed because i think i was just worn out and then tossed and turned (my legs were jerking and felt like they were spasming at times) until about an hr before i had to get up and then fell asleep. this has just been h3ll emotionally. there are so many things i keep thinking of what i can't do because of not being able to drive. i feel like such a stupid girl. i'm hoping since the judge is a woman maybe there will be some compassion a little bit. the officer did say she was nice. i'm so numb right now. i called in sick to work. i'm afraid of what's going to happen and no matter what happens i don't feel like i could act normal after going to court. i really don't have the time to call in sick....what have i done? why oh why did i have to do this? i should have known better, everytime i go out when i'm drinking something bad happens.
sorry about the long post...i'm just scared to death and don't know what else to do but come here and let things out.
love to all of you who have given their time to me about this. i hope i may return the favor sometime in someway.

Dee74

My thoughts go with you today Boh.

D

keithj

Here's my take on bottoms. I like to picture hitting bottom as a bouncy kind of thing. It's attractive for me to think of a bottom as something I hit, and then bounce up from.

My experience, on the other hand, shows that I can hit a bottom and just keep scraping along, digging a little lower as the days go on.

My point is, this can be an impetus for change, or it can be one more bump in the process of digging a deeper hole.

My own experience with DUI's were that they sobered me up for a while. I managed better. And when the sentencing was done, invariably I'd be just as drunk as ever in a short time. My experience is that dramatic events such as DUIs did very little for my recovery.

Case in point, there wer two newcomers at my home group meeting on Friday. One of them was walking with a cane and limp, had a plate in his shoulder, arm in a cast, all sorts of messed up from a drunklen motorcycle accident in November. He has failed to saty sober since then. The other had recently lost a finger in a drunken event. He too has failed to sober.

These two guys have physical consequences that are going to last a lifetime. Far worse consequences than a DUI. These consequences are fresh in their minds. And those negative consequences have failed to keep them sober.

So, again, negative consequences of my drunkenness can be an impetus for recovery, but they are not the recovery itself.

Today is the day, bohemianzen, to decide if you are willing to go to any lengths to quit drinking for good and all. I would urge you to find someone in the AA program who talks about a spiritual solution to your hopeless condition.

Wolfchild

i know that it may feel very strange, but precourt jitters is actually quite normal. The feelings about a judge holding us accountable for our actions is a very life changing experience. It can be very stressful & scary, but i kinda think it's supposed to be that way. If we've broken the law, there should be a sense of fear and guilt. i believe God put these feelings there to give us a heads up that we are about to suffer the consequences of being irresponsible. It's definatly a turning point that i hope you take full advantage of to go in a different direction then the one that lead you up to this. If it helps to change your perspective, think of the judge as being a trusted servant who is not there to govern your life but to help guide you within the structure of the law.

Praying that God's love be evident to you &
that He keep you safe from harming yourself.

bohemianzen

update--
i just got back from court. when we read the paper that was provided explaining the pleas... i didn't know what to do. my mom called a local attorney in wv who told her i shouldn't plead guilty no matter what and to see this attorney in oh. so i told the judge i wanted to talk to an attorney. we went to his office,he wasn't there so i have an appt next tuesday. im still really scared because of her explaining because of how high my bac was the days in jail are doubled to six. there was no mention of a program at all, but community service of 500 hrs was on the paper. she acted like it wouldn't be a problem to get a work permit to drive to work, dr appts and the grocery store-(once a wk). i can apply for one after 15 days so i'm going to ask the attorney about it. i don't know what the community service would be. i'm definitely going to get a fine and the suspension - i can deal with the suspension if i can drive to work. the money is going to be hard on me...and my mom. if the lawyer could somehow get it where i don't have to go to jail....if the bac was .17 or below the penalties wouldn't be doubled. i read on the internet yesterday somewhere that acid reflux/GERD can effect a bac and i do have that. i actually have a prescription from my first appt w/a new doc for medicine for it. has anyone ever heard of this. or any tips on what to say to the lawyer if he takes my case. i just feel like i'm really screwed because there were several cops around, it wasn't just one. and i failed all the sobriety tests. and now i have to wait til next wk about the lawyer and next month to go back to court.
also i've decided that i need to tell my boss about this. because she is going to find out eventually anyway. i'm going to have to take time off work and i can't keep lying about it. so tomorrow when i go to work, i guess i'll have a conversation with her.

edited to include: also when i go back to court i can do a pretrial thing where they talk about plea agreements.

Ready 2 Rock

I, too had a DUI a couple of years ago. I felt as you do now. It did eventually pass and gave me another reason to stay sober.

My only advice is to stay strong and sincere when dealing with the courts, and it sounds like you will be. They tend to be understanding if you don't try to shoot moves on them.

Say a prayer and put it in God's hands.

Best of luck.

hb3

Uh! 500 hours of community service!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry to hear.

nelco

I got done for drink driving and felt shame, guilt and remorse afterwards. I also felt hard done by and was full of self pity. It was in the paper and I felt disgraced. But Shortly after that I got back into the car and crashed it ....drunk again......the power of this disease.... I got sober at that point and stayed sober through the help of AA. I look back on the experience now very differently and I am grateful I hurt enough to get help. I am also very grateful I was put off the road for a period of time through the court because I could easily have killed someone innocent. I hate to see drunk drivers on the road ......I have a son just learning to drive and I worry he might meet someone like I was back then.

TTOSBT

what was your BAC?
I must have misunderstood.
I thought you had said it was .10?

bohemianzen

it was a .206 the highest limit in oh is .17 so i'm really in trouble for that. i've made an appt with a lawyer for next tuesday to see if he will take my case. and the next court date is sept 1.