Not many people would disagree with the sentiment that driving a car while under the influence of alcohol is a good idea.

It’s selfish and poses a great risk to other drivers, among a million other reasons why people shouldn’t do it. That said, something about MADD has always gotten on my nerves- perhaps it’s the near thirty minutes I spent detained at a routine alcohol checkpoint Thanksgiving Eve last year, delayed on my late-night journey along with over a dozen other vehicles, all of us interrupted because hey, people drink the night before Thanksgiving. In addition to the dozens of cops and cruisers costing the county God knows what, a big police trailer and several floodlights, each driver was subject to an additional stop at the end of the checkpoint to receive a packet reminding us not to drive drunk and a sticker, courtesy of MADD. State sanctioned proselytizing by private groups seems a bit busybody-ish.

None of these opinions are meant to minimize the fact that drunk driving is a terrible crime, to be sure, and people of all walks of life are arrested for it. Like Debra Oberlin, 48, the former president of a former MADD chapter in Gainesville, Florida. Oberlin didn’t have a change of heart- the chapter ran out of dough back in the 90s and fizzled out. Or maybe she did- it was reported that Oberlin’s BAC was measured at .234 and .239 on Breathalyzer tests, well, well above the legal limit in Florida of .08.

Oberlin, who was a MADD president for four years, told the officer she’d consumed four beers prior to her February 18th arrest. She declined comment on the incident.

Former MADD chapter president arrested for DUI in Florida is a post from: The Inquisitr

Be careful when drinking while modding.

A 40-year-old British man was arrested for driving a tinkered with old Barbie Jeep while intoxicated, even though the toy vehicle tops out at 4 miles an hour. Paul Hutton, who is six feet tall, was squished into the tiny car driving the short distance to a neighbor’s house when police pulled him over at 9pm on April 4th. Hutton says:

The police car came up alongside me and the officer said “Are you all right there, mate?”‘ he said.

‘When I tried to talk I realised how drunk I was. A lot of burble came out.

‘There was a dispute at first between the officers on the phone as to what the legalities of it were. Then they decided I was to be done for drink driving.

‘I was taken to Clacton police station and breathalysed. Then I was taken to the cells. I was released at about 5.30am.

‘I really didn’t realise I should be doing it. I knew it was daft but I didn’t realise it was a criminal thing to do.’

Hutton was in court today for the offense. Due to a previous conviction of driving while intoxicated in the past ten years, he was banned from driving for three years and given a 12 month conditional release.

British man arrested for drunk driving Barbie jeep is a post from: The Inquisitr

Yesterday morning, Rocky Anderson surrendered himself for a nine-day stay in a Dallas County jail.

It’s the fifth year in a row that Anderson has been incarcerated over Christmas week, an unorthodox sentence handed down by a judge wanting the impress upon Anderson the sense of loss experienced spending the holidays without family and friends. Anderson is serving the sentence of 180 days over ten years for the alcohol-influenced accident in 2003 that killed ten-year-old Braden Hopkins, Jr.

The strange sentence is cold comfort for Hopkins’ parents, Debra Allen and Brady Hopkins, Sr. Allen told a local news station that her family “didn’t get the right justice,” and the elder Hopkins cried while describing his pain to a reporter:

“I see little kids playing football, and my son’s not out there,” sobbed Brady Hopkins, Sr., Braden’s father. ” It hurts.”

A jury sentenced Anderson to probation, and Judge Vickers Cunningham was only able to tack on an additional 180 days to the original sentence. He ordered that Anderson be jailed for eighteen days a year- once annually for nine days at Christmas and once for nine days at the around the boy’s birthday. Still, Judge Cunningham hopes the ruling is of some relief to Brady Hopkins’ still grieving family:

“That’s pretty tough when you know you have to do that every six months,” Cunningham said. “You’re going to go to jail for nine days. Everybody else is going to have Christmas, watch football and family, he gets a round steak sandwich.

“He has to prepare for it. He has to anticipate it. He has to worry about it. Maybe when he has children and he has to say ‘Well, Daddy’s got to go to jail for Christmas,’ it hopefully will mean something. That was intended to mean something,” he said.

Strange sentence lands man in jail every Christmas for a decade is a post from: The Inquisitr

They don’t do anything by halves in Russia, including drink driving. This driver is case in point:

In Russia, Even The Drink Driving Is Taken To Extremes is a post from: The Inquisitr

A New Mexico man pulled over by police for erratic driving apologized by telling officers that he had spilled his beer, and that’s why he was driving the way he was.

The man, who has four previous drink driving convictions was arrested on aggravated drunken driving charges after failing a sobriety test. Officers found four opened bottles of beer in the car.

At least he was honest.

(via)

Man blames bad driving on spilled beer is a post from: The Inquisitr