Steve Palmer [00:00:00]:

Alright. Steve Palmer here back with another DUI 360. What is DUI 360? Well, if you've watched the series, you know that what I try to do is take a 360 degree approach to DUIs and, DUI defense and particularly how it relates to each individual client, not sort of as a whole. Some things, of course, apply to everybody as a whole, and and maybe that's sort of the direction I'm going today. I've done this I'm dusting this series off. For those who have followed my podcast for years know that I did a DUI 360. And one of the first episodes was, first, do no harm. And what do I mean by that? Well, what I mean by that is, 1st, don't drink and drive.

Steve Palmer [00:00:34]:

If people always ask me, what's the best way to get out of a DUI charge? And, you know, the best way to get out of it is not to do it. And I don't want this series to be misunderstood to to teach people how to get away with DUIs. That's not the idea. The idea is to address the problems once you have them. So first do no harm is, fancy talk to say, don't drink and drive, and you won't get an OVI or a DUI. Now that seems overly simple, and I suppose it is overly simple because it is overly simple. People ask all the time, how much can I have to drink and not worry about getting caught drinking and driving, which is really to say, what do you do when you get pulled over and you've had a couple of drinks? Should you take a test? Should you not take a test? Are you in jeopardy? Whatever it is. I'm here to tell you, as soon as the police officer who pulled you over gets a whiff of booze, they are gonna suspect you, and they are gonna think, and they are likely going to charge you with OVI in Ohio or DUI everywhere else.

Steve Palmer [00:01:34]:

So, you know, people say, well, I'm good for 2 glasses of wine. Right? I know that I can drive after a couple of beers or 2 beers. And then they maybe even get into these nuances like a 22 ounce draft of, a domestic, say, Michelob Ultra that's known to have sort of a lower alcohol content, or maybe they're drinking a heavy IPA. You know, they go down this rabbit hole. Here's here's the best advice. If you if you're drinking alcohol and you're about to so you had a couple of glasses of wine at dinner and you're about to get in your car, the question you should ask yourself is not whether I'm safe to drive. Because, you know, that that is almost impossible, particularly after you've had some alcohol. It impairs your ability to make that decision.

Steve Palmer [00:02:16]:

Maybe you should ask yourself, what am I gonna do if a police officer pulls me over? Am I gonna be comfortable taking a breath test, a urine test, field sobriety test, knowing full well that my heart's gonna be racing and beating out of my chest, that I'm gonna be under the gun with a police flashlight in my face, that I'm gonna have to answer questions that I don't really know how to answer, and that I'm gonna be subject to a full blown battery of DUI related stuff on the side of the road with my loved ones in the car, or maybe alone, whatever the situation. And if you're not comfortable, if you're thinking to yourself, I'm not really quite sure how I'm gonna answer that question, then don't do the harm in the first place. Don't get behind the wheel. Don't drive. I've I've been asked numerous times since the days of Lyft and Uber, hasn't your OVI or DUI defense business dropped? I mean, people would think it would drop off the face of the planet because it's so easy to just pick up your phone and and call, dial up an Uber Uber and have a safe ride there within seconds. It almost is the exact opposite because here's what happens. People may Uber out safely, to their friend's house where they all go or drive to their friend's house, and then they all Uber out. And then the plan is maybe I'll just stay at home or stay with my buddy and sleep it off.

Steve Palmer [00:03:30]:

But then it's too late because they've had the booze. They've had the alcohol. They've already been drinking. So the part of their brain that is designed to make rational decisions has already been impaired because that's what alcohol does. And then they get behind the wheel, and they drive home, and they get caught. Or maybe you drive home, and, you think, man, I'm hungry. I should have stopped at Taco Bell, but I didn't. Now I'm gonna go back out and grab a snack or grab a, you know, the the 4th meal or whatever it is at Taco Bell, and you get pulled over on the way back.

Steve Palmer [00:03:59]:

Or if you're a tobacco user, you're out of tobacco, you run out to the gas station. I'm not making these up, folks. These are the things that I have listened to in my office with real live people who have gotten caught drinking and driving even after they thought they did it safely with Uber. The point is alcohol impairs your ability to make rational and reasoned decisions. And if you think you're gonna make a rational and reasoned decision about getting behind the wheel, every single time, then you're probably not given alcohol enough credit for what it's supposed to do. I had a client that came in a few years ago and had a notebook full of entries, like spreadsheet entries. And each entry, had a date, a time, maybe not a time exactly, but a date, an event. And it he was documenting all the times that he took Uber or a taxi or some other safe ride out while he was drinking.

Steve Palmer [00:04:56]:

He was just that kind of guy that liked to sort of keep himself honest with a logbook on that kind of stuff. And, you know, he had it was multiple pages of entries. So this has been years that he'd been doing this, and he was all proud of himself. And, he's he hands me the notebook, and I just said, yeah. But you're here again for a second OVI, a second DUI. And, you know, he sort of looked at me and and and gave me a look that we both knew. And the problem was this, that after he he had not planned on consuming alcohol at the event he had been at, it was a wedding or something. And he ran into an old friend, and he said, alright.

Steve Palmer [00:05:32]:

I'll just have 1 bourbon or one drink. And that led to 2, and maybe he didn't even finish the 3rd as I recall. But he's pulled over on the way home because that was his ride. That's how he was getting home. He was driving, and he gets pulled over. And he was in that spot I'm talking about where, crap, I'm on the side of the road. I don't think I've had that much where I can probably pass a test, but maybe I won't. And then his heart starts racing, doesn't know what to do, doesn't know what to say.

Steve Palmer [00:06:00]:

And understand, again, the police not only have smelled an odor of alcohol, one, because he had had a couple of drinks and his his wife had had some drinks, but then he's the police officer also knew this guy's prior record because it shows up right in his cruiser. So he's gonna he's not letting this guy go. He's gonna get charged with OVI. So what's my point? 1st, do no harm. The surest, most positive way not to get an OVI is not to drink and drive. And maybe the surest, most positive way not to drink and drive is not to drink. That's a different topic. But here we are, DUI 360 wrapping it up.

Steve Palmer [00:06:35]:

Don't mean to lecture at you. Just call it like I see it. Lawyertalkpodcast.com. Off the record, on the air, at least until now.