Here at the Fort Lauderdale DUI Attorney  Blog, we want to give you some real life information about the problem of drunk driving. So we found a very courageous lady who was willing to share her experience with our audience about driving under the influence.

Every word of this amazing story is true. We’re going to call her “Sally” to protect her identity. Sally has agreed to give us a detailed account of her arrest for DUI here in Fort Lauderdale. This is a very comprehensive story that is broken up into two separate stories. This is Part 1.

It is our hope that those who are feeling troubled or who think that being arrested for driving drunk can’t happen to them, may find something in Sally’s story to help them avoid driving while intoxicated.

MY DUI EXPERIENCE

Let me first start off by introducing who I am. I am a 47 year-old woman, married for over 16 years, and living comfortably with a good business that I own. I have loads of friends, and I do like to go out and have a nice dinner, have a few drinks, and enjoy myself. I never drive drunk, there is a pal of mine who doesn’t drink, and he always drives. Also, my hubby does not drink, so he will drive if we go out. 

Well there came a time in our marriage when I got angry, stomped out of the house, and proclaimed, “I’m going OUT! Do not ask where, or when I’ll be back. I don’t want to hear you calling me on my cell…just leave me be. I’ll be home when I get home!” I was obviously having a bit of an independence issue with him. I just felt like being alone, and angry.

I guess you could say it was because of a specific argument that happened that day, we were going back and forth about the fact that I hate being questioned about my whereabouts, and such. It just got ridiculous to me and I chose to leave, and be alone. 

I did call my buddies, and went over to their house, it’s not far from where I live, so I went over and had a few beers, listened to some music, and hung out, talked. I don’t tell them everything, so they were not aware of my state of mind. Just chilling out, and that was nice for me. There was no bothersome husband to annoy me, and good friends to listen to their silliness was just what I needed. Laughter is so great for the soul, so this was a good place for me to go. 

I have been out and about for years, and yes, I admit that I have had drinks and driven myself home numerous times. I happen to be of Scottish descent, and can really hold my own. No stumbling about, no slurring, and can honestly say that I am not impaired when I do this.

I’ve never been in so much as a fender-bender in my life. Safe Driver is what is on my driver’s license. Truly, I am aware of my surroundings, and have never felt like I should not be behind the wheel.  And I definitely never thought that I was one of those people who would be driving under the influence.

Of course, every scientific analysis will say that when you drink a certain amount, you will be legally drunk. I will say this about that. I know when I’ve had too much. I grew out of doing shots, and trying to get drunk many years ago. I do like to drink, but never to excess, like I said, I’ve experienced that as a younger person, and hangovers, and throwing up is just not my cup of tea. 

So here we are, at the beginning of the worst night of my life. I’m in the city of Fort Lauderdale, beautiful night and at the home of my friends. The term drunk driving, and DUI are just not on my radar. Laughing and singing along to Celine Dion was what I was up to, having a few beers, and just relaxing.

It became late, and I didn’t feel like going home to start up yet another argument with hubby. So, I tell myself, just get in the car and start driving. You’ll think of somewhere to go. I sat in the driveway, after saying my farewells to the gang, and I remembered that there was a bar that stayed open until 3am. That’s for me, I said to myself. I’m in the mood to be around other people, and just get home when I’m good and darn ready! 

So began my odyssey. As I pulled out of the driveway, I told my friend that if hubby called, just tell him you don’t know where I went, I was still very angry. I know that I placed him in an uncomfortable position, but I was still seething, and that was my first mistake.

As I look back, I could have saved my friend and myself a lot of grief. But that’s not my nature, to realize that I should have left some information as to where I would be, but I told no-one. OK, so now I’m heading down the road, feeling rather good, because I was alone, with no one to tell me what to do, or how to do it. I felt free, and it felt good. There are just times when you want to be alone, but I didn’t realize that this would be one of the times when I really shouldn’t have.

Looking back, of course I can Monday-Night quarterback, but I know I should have gone home and hashed it out. We usually do this, and resolve things. But it wasn’t to be that night. Nope, I was a free, independent woman, and nobody, I mean nobody had the right to tell me what I can and can’t do! I was adamant about this, and felt that I needed to drive this point home. 

Well, I began to drive, it’s about a 20 minute stretch to get there, and I don’t even know anyone there. I am a gregarious person, so it’s not hard to talk to anyone for me. Let me get this out there. I am not looking for another person to sleep with, that’s just not who I am, I just enjoy other people’s company.

While I was having said drive, I was thinking and stewing. How dare he talk to me like that, who does he think he is, I’m a fully grown woman, and I do not need anyone to tell me what I can and cannot do! And so forth and so on. Loads of righteous indignation, fully sure of my rights as a person who is capable of doing for herself, thank you very much. 

I finally got to the bar, and just sat on a small table, like a lump. It was a let-down, to say the least. I don’t know anyone there, who was I kidding. So I just sat, smoked and had a couple of drinks. I didn’t speak to anyone, at this point I was pretty morose, and honestly didn’t feel like talking.

I started to re-think this whole thing and pretty soon came to the brutally honest answer. I wanted to get back home. I have had my tantrum, I’m sure that he has learned his lesson, and things will be better with him knowing what I demand out of this relationship. 

With this in my mind, I realized that I was also bushed, it was late when I left the house to begin with, about 11pm, and now it was rounding the 3am mark. Time to hit the road, and head on home. Now I’ll tell you, I’ve got a little Porsche Boxster, and I do love driving it. A lot. So I’ve paid the tab, and off to my car I go.

I’ve got the top down, and like I’ve said, it was a beautiful night. Rather, it was a beautiful morning. At any rate, I started off home-ward bound. I, for some reason, thought how great I feel, with the wind in my hair, knowing I had nothing to worry about at home, because I felt that he finally gets me, so I picked up some speed. I did it because I just wanted to get home, I was ready to hit the hay, and felt vindicated in some vague way. 

When I saw the blue lights behind me, was when the nightmare began. I knew I was speeding, and I have been lucky with not getting caught thus far. There was not a car on the 4-lane road, not one in sight, and I was feeling, well, there is no-one on the road, let me just hit it on this stretch of road, why not?

Of course, that was stupid, and of course, the police stopped me. I pulled over right away and when the officer came to my door, I just said, “You got me!” He was very polite, and told me how fast I was going, and that I had ran a red light. I was quite sure the latter was not true, but I also knew that I was not about to start arguing with a police officer, either.

As I stated, he was very polite, and that was ok with me. I knew the light was yellow, and beginning to turn, so I shot forward through it. I told myself, well, yeah, you probably did do that. I’ve never done that before, either. It was the first time for a few things, that night. 

Well, after he asked me for my identification, registration and insurance information, he asked me to step out of the car. My thought was, why on earth is he asking me to get out of my damn car? I didn’t understand this at all, and was indignant. I internalized this, of course.

There were fleeting thoughts in my mind, such as, does someone else have this type of car, and are the police looking for them..maybe mistaking me for them? I truly never thought I was being stopped for drunk driving. Me … driving under the influence ?? No way.

When the officer told me he smelled alcohol on my breath, my heart skipped a beat. My mind began racing, thinking well, ok, I haven’t had that much to drink, so this part should not be a problem, I’ll just do whatever they ask, and get my speeding ticket and be on my way. No sweat. Bring on the breathalyzer. I know I can beat it.

I got out of my car, and the officer, let’s call him Harry. I knew that if I had to do any kind of roadside sobriety test, I would pass them with flying colors. I mean, I really was not drunk, and I knew it. Harry began by asking me to step around the car and asked me if I had anything he should know about on my person, or in the car. I did not, and told him this.

He seemed to take my word for it, and didn’t search me or the car, which I wouldn’t have minded, there was nothing for me to hide, so I wasn’t upset by his asking. And pleased by the fact that he took my word for it. So, it seems that the next part of the sobriety test was to ask me questions, walk a straight line, and touch my nose with my finger, eyes closed.

I did have a problem with putting one foot directly in front of the other, toe touching the heel of my other foot. I did not fall or stagger, just tilted a bit, I felt like I was walking a tight-wire, and it was not easy. But I felt like this road-side sobriety test was not that difficult, and that I would be on my way home shortly. 

When Officer Harry told me we were done, I still felt that this would be it, because I answered all questions, no slurring, and didn’t make any dramatic mistakes. But it was not to be. He told me I was going to be arrested for DUI. He stated that he felt I was intoxicated and began to read me my Miranda Rights.

I was stunned. Here I was, getting arrested for drunk driving. I was more shocked than anything at this point. Really, I had never entertained the thought of drunk driving being an issue at all, just speeding. I have watched the reality police shows, and I’ve seen the videos of such things, and I knew that this was not how I was behaving. 

I just was trying to wrap my mind around this, I knew that this type of this was typical for the officers, stopping people and arresting them, but for me this was incredible. But it was happening, so I began to think ahead, and asked about my vehicle, was it going to be impounded, how would I be able to find out which towing company it would be held at, those questions I asked the officer.

He told me I would be informed when the time came. Ok, that was settled, and I gave my purse to the officer when he asked me for it. He looked inside for a bit, and took out my credit cards, money and drivers license. He then put my purse into the trunk. I thought to myself, oh great..I spent a lot of money on this particular bag, I bought it for a birthday present to myself, and indulged.

I just knew that it would not be there when I returned for my car. Of course there was quite a few things other than credit cards and ID in there, and I began worrying that I would have to deal with losing lots of personal things I kept in my purse. 

I did ask the officer if that would be the case, and he said it never happens, but that did not reassure me in the least, how would he know this for sure? I asked him where I would be getting my belongings back, and he told me just to wait and I will get them when this process ended.

Well, I didn’t have any choice but to take his word, and get on with the arrest. I was feeling a sense of unreality at this point, and was trying to take it all in.So what comes next? How do I tell my husband? When Will I be able to get a hold of him? What will he say? Does he know a good Fort Lauderdale DUI attorney.

All of these questions because I decided to get caught driving under the influence. Little did I know that my ordeal was just barely beginning. To be continued… see part 2 here.

DUI Foundation | Educate & Prevent  Educating America about the dangers of drinking and driving.

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Tags: arrested for drunk driving, Breathalyzer, Driving under the influence, drunk driving, dui, dui arrest, Fort Lauderdale DUI Attorney