Steve Palmer [00:00:00]:

Steve Palmer here, Lawyer Talk, Q and A, DUI style, Off The Record. Now we're on the air. So this question comes from Timothy. Steve. I love your show. Used to listen to you on the blitz. That's a local radio station I used to be on, weekend and week out. I I know you used to talk a lot about drunk driving and DUIs. My son is 21, and he and his friends never drink and drive.

Steve Palmer [00:00:20]:

They say Uber is just way too easy. I'm wondering if you have seen a decline in DUIs as a result of Uber or Lyft. Great question. I love this question. And, look, there there has definitely been a seismic shift in drinking and driving over the last, say, thirty or forty years. Even when I was in high school, you know, we didn't have Uber and Uber and Lyft, and there was no high school question. I wasn't allowed to drink in high school, so I didn't. But those who did probably drink did did a lot of drinking and driving, and those in college did a lot of drinking and driving.

Steve Palmer [00:00:51]:

And those who go into adults go into bars did a lot of drinking and driving. And back in those days, you had to hire a cab or call a cab. And you know, but the question here is does does Uber change any of that? Yes, no, maybe. Here's what I found about Uber and Lyft. And it has this sort of strikes right to the heart of what alcohol is. Alcohol is a drug, and alcohol, is a drug that impacts the part of your brain right up here. I think the prefrontal cortex for those medical scholars out there. It attacks the part of your brain and impairs the part of your brain that its very purpose is to make rational decisions.

Steve Palmer [00:01:31]:

Here's what I'm getting at. If you set out not to drink and drive and you say, look, I'm just not gonna drink tonight, so I'm gonna drive my buddies to the bar. Next thing you know, your buddies are throwing a shot in front of you. Next thing you know, you had two. Next thing you know, you're driving home and maybe didn't have your your normal six beers, but you had two shots and two beers, and you're right on that bubble. You get pulled over because it's two in the morning. It's the witching hour, and please pull people over for things like, no turn signal or whatever at two in the morning. The next thing you know, you find yourself on the side of the road doing field sobriety test wondering, should I call Steve Palmer? Yes.

Steve Palmer [00:02:04]:

You should. But how did that happen? Well, when you set out rationally to make a decision not to drink and drive, it made perfect sense. After a couple of drinks, it made perfect sense to go ahead and drive. So how does that happen? Well, because that alcohol is a drug that impairs your ability to make that decision. In a lot of ways, Uber and Lyft has changed. Maybe it's increased some of my business, but it really hasn't changed much. The volume of my DUI defense practice hasn't changed much. I'd be curious to see if there's if anybody's really tracked the stats on this.

Steve Palmer [00:02:37]:

But I would agree this, most kids, by kids I mean 21 year olds in college or otherwise, are really good about not drinking and driving. I think the education, if anything, has more impact on that, than Uber and Lyft. I'll tell you one story. I had one guy came to me and he had I represented him years ago. And he had this notebook of all the times since I represented him, that he had not driven after drinking. In fact, he had kept a log. So went out this day, took an Uber, took a cab, so and so drive, didn't drink and drive, that was sort of his way of staying straight I guess. But then he was at my, he was sort of proud of it, but he was in my office at my conference table, and he was charged with an OVI again.

Steve Palmer [00:03:22]:

And I he said he was proud of this. I said, yeah. But what you're you're here. And it was this story I just told. He went to a wedding, didn't intend to drink, did, had a couple of drinks, and next thing you know, he's pulled over on the side of the road. And, you know, it's it's one of these things where it's really hard to be fail safe against drinking and driving, a %. The best way not to get caught drinking and driving is not to drink. I'm not saying that everybody should stop drinking, but look, be cautious.

Steve Palmer [00:03:51]:

I get a lot of guys who call me, they made it home with Uber and then they got the they wanted their fifth meal at Taco Bell, so they drove out and got caught drinking and driving to Taco Bell at three in the morning. Or maybe they smoke or chew tobacco and they go to the gas station at three in the morning and they get pulled over. Or maybe it's the proverbial booty call happens. So they're driving over to see their loved one or maybe would be loved one and get caught on the way there back. So look, there's all sorts of ways why Uber and Lyft are not foolproof. It's certainly good stuff though. Believe me. I'm not I'm not I'm not saying don't take Uber.

Steve Palmer [00:04:22]:

I'm just saying be careful. Understand what that drug is, what it does and why it does it. And often that's enough to help you rationalize through the irrational. Anyway, I hope that helps. Great question. Thanks for listening. Steve Palmer, lawyer talk off the record on the air q and a style. Until next week.