.04

Running a red light doesn't always mean a loss of a license...but I don't encourage it....


I talked to a traffic cop one time about infractions...
He said in his experience, the average driver breaks the law several times, even on a short trip.....
ie...Speeding, unsafe lane changes, failure to use signals, cellphone use without a hands-free device........

It's not a matter of if we're "breaking the law"...it's a matter of getting caught....

 

True, but it should not be lumped with a dui. However, fatigued driving will get the cdl driver a 10 hour break. Fatigued is also a matter of opinion.

 

But your opinion and mine...are both subordinate to the guy/gal wearing the badge and holding the ticket book.......

 

Don't forget some of the company management as well.

 

True that......

 

ok. just got off the phone with the Pa. State Police where I posed the question being asked in this thread. Was told that the .04 applies only to a commercial vehicle. This contradicts what I was told in school.Hopefully it answers the question for at least Pa. residents. Since I don't drink anymore, it doesn't apply to me but, I'd be very careful as your C.D.L. is your bread winner.
All the best to you all.

 

I agree with don't drink and drive. Regardless of whether you get nailed for DUI in a CMV or POV most if not all companies will not hire a driver for 3-5 years after the incident,if at all. BTW I read a study a few years ago that driving fatigued is similar to drivng drunk.

 

Like my instructor told me while in school treat your CDL like its gold ! it's easy to get easier to lose and almost impossible to get back if you jepordize it any way. Stay safe!

 

Once i had a random alcohol test here at werner. It was a small briefcase with a machine in it, with a handset that you held and a removable mouthpiece that you opened straight out of a sealed package, after it was tested with a nitrogen air blank, and you blew into the tube and it made a click when it took the sample, and had a print out on receipt type paper. Accurate down to .001 according to the printouts. I blew a .000 of course. After the test, I asked the lady who performed it (and shes a werner safety lady), what would happen if i just had a little bit on my breath....she said, oh, we're zero tolerance, you'd get fired for .001.

.001? If i used listerine before the test i wouldve failed (it doesnt go into your bloodstream but if its still in your mouth its on your breath...)

I honestly dont agree with that, especially since it was more than 14 hours since the last time i'd driven their truck and was going to be shut down for the rest of all day, and I think that if i would've had a drink a few hours prior I would've completely been in the right. But yeah, its in the name of safety. It was kind of a wakeup call though. I've never done something as stupid as drinking at a terminal, but....getting fired for using listerine would be a hell of an experience. You'd get an OOS for .001 as well. OOS is for "any detectable amount", and thats the smallest amount that a breath analysis machine can detect.

I have to wonder though, how much nitrogen does it really take to clean the alcohol out after a positive test....? Urinalysis is the same way. if the machine isnt cleaned properly after a positive test, ......yours is positive too!


Also, the BAC limits are not a useful determinant. There is no accurate way to determine how drunk someone is. If you're drunk but under .08, but youre too drunk to drive (alcohol and any other drug has different effects on different people and alcohol can interact with medications to make you drunker on less...), you will get a ticket for DWI..."driving while impaired". Impaired is pretty vague and thats why they use it. It doesnt matter why you're impaired. You could be too tired. DWI. There's also people who could have .08 and NOT be too drunk to drive (but it is rare and most people who claim to be able to do that are full of crap)....theres also people who can have 8 drinks and not have .04, and people who can have one and be .08. And it depends alot on THE DRINK too. I suspect that one long island iced tea would put me well over .04. There is no accurate way to measure drunkenness, so the guidelines in place aren't perfect at all. If you're .08 and can pass a sobriety test, you're still drunk in the law. I suspect that i could blow .16 and still pass a sobriety test. Alcohol affects me like anyone else, but I can fake it. Hey maybe i should try it. I won't drive, i'll just get a friend to test me, and personal breathalyzers are cheap. I live with my parents, am over the legal age, and I don't let them know I drink. But i do it. At home. They dont notice. I have a fifth of vodka in my room right now. I just fake it. Only works for short periods of time. If i slip up i'll look like a drunk. Sometimes when im not paying attention i stumble and stuf when im sober though, LOL...im clumsy! Especially when im nervous! do it in front of cops too! I dont get nervous when im drunk though. But uh, my point is, you can be under .08, totally drunk, pass a sobriety test, and still be a danger to the public. You can be over .08, pass a sobriety test, not be drunk, not be a danger. You can be over .08, totally drunk, a danger to the public, pass a sobriety test. You can fail a sobriety test without a drop of alcohol in your system. ETC.

Fun fact: IN michigan a DUI on the water, a "BUI" (boating under the influence), is .10. It's also legal to boat with open containers (As it should be, thats the whole point of a party boat), but its also legal to drink a beer while you are driving a boat. Seriously. You can have a beer in one hand and the throttle in the other hand, and as long as you are under .10, you are legal. Also, when you get a sobriety test by the coast guard, you are required to wear a life jacket until you are determined to be sober. LOL WTF. I watched it happen once. Made the guy board their vessel, forced him to wear a life jacket, did the whole pen thing, and other stuff, and then he took it off and ended up driving his boat away. He looked plastered to me but he was probably just nervous to be honest. They were just harrasing a bunch of boats that day, it was the 4th of july. Anyway, theres a lot of complaitns about all this because there have been occasions where people have had fatal accidents on jetskis and boats (not fatal to THEM of course) and blew a .08, passed a sobriety test, and therefore not guilty of any crime besides driving like a dick. But do you think maybe alcohol was a factor? They were drunk weren't they? And tell me this: If you're on a pontoon boat partying, everyones drinking and the driver has a .08, how exactly do they get home? You can't sleep on a pontoon boat.