Robert Britt

            Author, Columnist

Drunk Driving

      I have a couple stories to tell on this score. Before anyone from MADD tries to beat me up, I am not making jokes here. I am telling it like it was, and I hope that someone might learn something, so that will make this worth writing. This is not school, so don't think it will be boring; this maybe learning something stuff.

       I was in Germany for a couple years. Stationed in Darmstadt. (There should be an umlaut in there over the second a.) (There is also an umlaut over the a in umlaut, but that's enough already.) I was one of the older troops, at the ripe old age of 23. This guy Kevin, who was my best friend, and I were out drinking at the Smugglers. That was the almost off-limits night club/disco that was our dive. We were both toasty and he wanted to head home, but he was too drunk to drive. So what does he do, gets me to drive. Mostly that's because I am able to stand without help. He throws me the keys to his BMW and I am driving back to the base (ELK for any Darmstadt fans) Kev is passed out, but at one point wakes up and says, "aren't we on the wrong side of the road." We were. We were also lucky we weren't killed that night. That made me a little more responsible about drinking but not really enough. I would only drink and drive when I was only a little drunk.

Still not a good idea, at all.

        Flash forward a few years. I have a system. I stay at the one beer an hour rule, only drink beer and that will keep me "cool." It doesn't. You can't keep track of how many you drink, or the time, or some other excuse. It just doesn't work past maybe a beer or two. Even that can be over the legal limit.

I was out with Deb on her birthday and I was feeling pretty much no effect from the beer. We had been at a party and then went to karaoke. Over the course of eight hours, I think I had about 10 beers. I felt fine to drive and Deb thought I was unaffected by the beer. I got pulled over for not using my turn signal when I switched lanes on an freeway. The officer smelled beer on my breath, and I was hauled away in hand cuffs. My BAC was .13.  I ended up with 40 hours of community service, lost my drivers license for 30 days and was on parole for a year. The fines were almost nothing. The court costs and parole fees and lawyer fees added up to about $3500. My fine for drunk driving was $250.

       So I weigh about 190 pounds. The one beer an hour rule should work. I wasn't driving badly. The whole experience sucked. I was a T-totaler for 6 months, court rule. That was ok. I'm not an alcoholic. Some people say that's the first sign of being an alcoholic, saying you aren't one. I know what I know. I like to drink. I know when to put it down. I know more now than before.

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