by msummers10 on March 27th, 2007

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If a person is obviously drunk, but has a BAC of .01 below the legal limit, can they still be charged with DUI, or will they just be slapped with a lot of smaller charges, like reckless driving and failure to _______?

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by Anonymous on March 28th, 2007
Yes. the combination of BAC of .07, plus the results of the field sobriety test, is more than sufficient to arrest someone for driving under the influence.

Officer observations play a major role in charging someone with dui.

I stopped a vehicle for weaving all over the road. the driver was a male hispanic. i finally got him to stop. i opened the drivers door and he fell out onto the pavement. he smelled of alcohol, his clothes smelled of vomit/alcohol. his eyes were bloodshot and half mast. his speech was slurred. there was a cold 12 pack of budweiser on the floorboard and an open beer container. he could not walk without assistance, to my police car.

I did not give this man a field sobriety test. i did not give him a BAC test. why? he was not capable of performing either.

He plead guilty in court.
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by branciforte3241 on March 27th, 2007
Depends on the state, but... Usually the law is against driving under the influence of an intoxicant and having a BAC above 0.08 is considered sufficient proof of that influence. There are other ways to prove that you were under the influence. For instance, if you were obviously drunk. It is hard to imagine anyone being "obviously drunk" when their BAC is below 0.01. With a BAC that low it becomes much more of a burden of proof issue at the trial, but it is possible. The basic crime here is driving while impaired.
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- I meant 0.07(in the area with a limit of 0.08), not 0.01. This was also just a hypothetical(yet specific) situation, so I didn't do any research on BAC or how it fluctuates between different body sizes.
  
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  by msummers10 on March 27th, 2007
- Definitely you can get a DUI for a 0.07. Like, I said, the crime is to be driving while impaired and BAC is just one statutorily defined way to prove impairment. BAC is a normalized measurement (mg alcohol per liter of body volume). It is acceptable to compare BAC's between people of differing body masses. It takes a large person more drinks to equal the BAC of a smaller person. BAC, however, is a poor indicator of impairment. An inexperienced drinker is far more impaired by, say, a 0.05 than an alcoholic who has, over time, learned to mitigate the physical effects. You could meet an alcoholic at 0.2 and not even know he was drunk, whereas a non-drinker would be dancing on the tabletops and vomiting his guts out. My knowledge of this subject come partly from listening to forensics experts testify at criminal trials.
  
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  by branciforte3241 on March 28th, 2007
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by Cannin on March 27th, 2007
depends on the state. most will hit you with a dui. hell, you can get hit with a dui just for driving past a miller lite billboard. ok... that was a joke.
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- Don't drink in drive in FL. 3 times in a row or they'll let you rot for a year.
  
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  by Kevisaurus is a Carnotaurus today on March 27th, 2007
- It should be 1st time and you rot for a year. That would make them think twice.
  
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  by msummers10 on March 27th, 2007
- No joke in FL. They are serious as hell here. Every 2 blocks every weekend they got some poor drunken schmo pulled over and given the drunk test. We have DUI checkpoints every weekend where I live. Makes me feel a little safer.
  
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  by Zibbys Mind Is In the Gutter Today on March 28th, 2007
- Wish we had that here...
  
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  by geek860 on March 28th, 2007
- Yeah, I think they should put together a little DUI taskforce that does it all the time. I feel much safer with my son being wih me all the time.
  
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  by Zibbys Mind Is In the Gutter Today on March 28th, 2007
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by Zibbys Mind Is In the Gutter Today on March 28th, 2007
Oh yeah. I know in FL, you can get a DUI even if your not at the "legal limit". Accordig to the books, if you are intoxicated (noticably) then you are eligible for DUI. I know a girl that got one with a BAC of .02 and the "legal limit" here is .08. She was what they call "visualy intoxicated". Because everybody is different and alcohol works in one person differently than in another.
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Question

If a person is obviously drunk, but has a BAC of .01 below the legal limit, can they still be charged with DUI, or will they just be slapped with a lot of smaller charges, like reckless driving and failure to _______?

Answers. 4 helpful answers below.

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Question

If a person is obviously drunk, but has a BAC of .01 below the legal limit, can they still be charged with DUI, or will they just be slapped with a lot of smaller charges, like reckless driving and failure to _______?

Answers. 4 helpful answers below.

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