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Comment by spiderice | Hacker News Reader

I’m just wondering why they’re allowed to drive at all after 3 DUIs.

In Mississippi, one of those two aforementioned states, it's perfectly legal to drink and drive (with an open container in your hand!) as long as you stay below 0.08 BAC.

(Nit: it's legal at a state level but municipalities and counties are allowed to dictate more rules on drunk driving - most don't, but YMMV)

I suppose it still looks a little bit like this then: https://youtu.be/2xcQIoh3FQQ

Except for the open container, most states allow you to legally drive with a BAC below a certain cutoff.

Not exactly. Most states, 0.08 or above is presumed guilty of DUI without any other impairment detected. You can still get a DUI with a BAC below 0.08 but it becomes a bit harder to convict since it becomes a function of the officer’s testimony and any physical tests administered before your arrest.

Right, it becomes a matter of impairment, not blood alcohol level.

But you can certainly have one beer on an empty stomach, have a BAC of 0.04 and drive around. As long as you aren't visibly impaired, it's legal.

True true - but to drink and drive, in the most present tense form of the word drink, only in Mississippi!

I don't know about America but in the UK people don't get their driving licence taken away that often, even if they have hit 12 points (ie: racked up enough offences to theoretically lose it). There is a lot of consideration as to whether removing the driving licence will cause hardship and defendants obviously usually argue that it will (with some truth) so judges sometimes don't remove the licence.

Anecdotally, I feel like it's actually gotten less common over the years. When I was a teenager I would meet adults who were riding the bus because they'd had their licence taken away. Often it would be for a 6 month period before they could re-apply (without retaking the test). That became less frequent at some point.

I think there has been a huge cultural change in how people regard drink driving - I'm old enough (50s) when i was almost regarded as a subject for humour. Now I don't know anyone who doesn't take it very seriously indeed - particularly here in Scotland where the blood-alcohol limits are quite a bit lower for driving than in the rest of the UK.

I feel a similar cultural change in Iceland, however in USA I feel no such change, quite the contrary. Moving to the USA was honestly a bit of a culture shock in observing how commonplace the practice is. What was more shocking is observing a practice of strategic drinking, that is try to drink just the right amount to keep your blood alcohol level at the legal limit. I’ve never seen anything like that before I moved here.

That will obviously vary quite a lot across a country the size of America. Local to me, DUI is extremely frowned upon.

But yes, it is somewhat common for people to have an idea of what it takes to get to a BAC of 0.08%, because that is the threshold at which you will be charged with DUI. For many regular drinkers, they won't be impaired at 0.08% and it takes less alcohol than you think to get there. Especially with modern microbrew beers. Getting a DUI will completely f*ck over your life, so if you like to drink socially, you are very careful.

In Lithuania the rules are fairly simple: fines up to a certain level of intoxication.Criminal record, car seizure,massive fine and lost licence if it goes above certain limit. Also, one needs to take a driving test at the end( after 2 or 3 years) if they want to drive again and the examiners are known to apply every rule in the book so they'd have hard time to pass.

>in the UK people don't get their driving licence taken away that often

In England and Wales, a drink-driving offence would attract a minimum of a 12 month disqualification unless there are very compelling mitigating factors. On a second offence (or a serious first offence), you would usually have to undergo a medical examination and re-take your driving test to get your license back.

https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/offences/magistrates-co...

https://www.gov.uk/driving-disqualifications/disqualificatio...

One in five continue to drive:

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-10304829/Mo...

....illegally. That's a problem of nearly non-existing enforcement in the UK, not the toughness of law.

Illegally? It sounds like a judge has decided to leave them with a license despite having 12 points. That seems the definition of legally to me.

Good lawyers, basically. Either that or it's a small town and they know the right people.

I know someone who was woken up by a State Trooper, fast asleep in her vehicle on the side of the road, with the engine running so it was obvious that she fell asleep while driving.

It was by far not her first DUI. I assume that she lost her license after that, but I do know that she kept driving.

> I know someone who was woken up by a State Trooper, fast asleep in her vehicle on the side of the road, with the engine running so it was obvious that she fell asleep while driving.

It doesn't sound obvious to me. If it was cold out, you would run the engine for heat for instance.

It may not be obvious she was in fact driving, but it'll get you a DUI charge every time. Hell, even if you're in the back seat sleeping it off you're likely to get a charge if you have the keys anywhere accessible (and sometimes, even if you don't).

This is correct.

I also neglected to mention that the car wasn't neatly pulled over onto the side of the road but had driven itself into the ditch between the road and a field.

I would expect them to be in prison for 25 years or something after 3rd one. You know like 3 strikes...

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