Drink, Drive, Go To Jail… Right? WRONG.
One of the most popular quotes/slogans/etc. is the "Drink,Drive, Go To Jail" slogan. The unfortunate thing is, it’s flat out incorrect.
It is not against the law to have a drink and drive a car, as long as you are not impaired. Depending on the state, each state will have a different law as to the amount of impairment before it is illegal to drive. However, no state has a zero tolerance police regarding drinking and driving (except for minors). In Texas, one can only be convicted of driving while intoxicated if they have lost the normal use of their mental or physical faculties by reason of the introduction of alcohol into the body, or by having an alcohol concentration of above .08 in their body.
This slogan is one of the most talked about fallacies in the blogsphere…
Recently, Austin DWI attorney Ken Gibson blogged about this issue in his post Drink, Drive, Go To Jail . . . That is not the law! In it, Ken talked about how the Gregg County Sheriff’s office has been preaching the slogan:
Gregg County Sheriff’s Department says; “We’d just like to remind people to drive responsibly. Don’t drink and drive. Enforcement will be out there and it’s not worth that chance and certainly not taking a chance of hurting yourself or others.”
Ken has not been alone in his postings. Apparently, the police in New York have bought into the slogan as well. Austin DWI attorney Jamie Spencer recently wrote about police in New York arresting people who have been drinking, but not going further to check and see if they are impaired. He has posed that the police said:
"Once the driver rolls down the window, (the officer) said, it’s easy to tell if he or she has been drinking.
"The first thing that hits you is the odor of alcohol -it’s so obvious," he said. "I’ve had a few drivers who know they’ve been drinking and try to play it down, but the odor on their breath gives them away."
All in all, it would seem that many are buying into this slogan. . . a slogan with no basis in the law.