Driving While IntoxicatedDriving While Intoxicated, on a golf cart? By Ned Wicker From time-to-time I’ve shared some unusual stories about human behavior under the influence of a substance, but the recent tale of the drunk driver I read about in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel takes the cake. As the story goes, a guy gets drunk while golfing with relatives. He was found by county sheriffs, chugging along a state highway a short distance from the course. He didn’t even bother to get rid of all the beer cans in the back of the cart. The sheriffs deputies said they were responding to a disorderly conduct call from the golf course when they spotted the man, who by the way, was in the act of running a stop sign when he was first seen. The squad car pulled up behind the golf cart, and the deputy put on its emergency lights and sounded the air horn. The man on the cart waved, pulled on the shoulder and continued driving. The deputy then turned on the siren. The drunken driver eventually stopped. The deputy noticed that the man eyes were glassy and that his speech was slurred. The man said that he had consumed 10 beers, but he did not believe he was drunk. However, he did admit that he did not realize that he was driving the golf cart on the road until the deputy turned on the lights. The man failed field sobriety tests and the breath test indicated that he had a blood alcohol level of .136, far above the .08 level, which is the legal limit. There is a comical element to the story, mainly because the guy was just so stupid. But at the same time there is a pathetic sadness to the story. He chose to get drunk and disorderly rather than play golf with the family that brought him. He chose to steal a golf cart. He didn’t realize he was even on the highway. He didn’t know he was drunk. It’s sad. This fellow might not be a phi beta kappa when sober, but alcohol just takes the average guy and turns him into an idiot. He is left with no ability to reason, no ability to recognize that he is impaired; no faculty for understanding his own foolish decision-making. He is reduced to fumbling and potentially life-threatening behavior. There is nothing redeeming about getting drunk. Of course there is the ageless excuse, “It’s not my fault because I was drunk.” He isn’t to blame at all. It’s the fault of the store that sold him the beer, or the bartender at the club who poured it for him, of it’s the fault of the others in his party for letting him buy beer and get drunk. He is drunk and therefore exonerated. People do not take responsibility for their behavior. The man got drunk and disorderly, stole a golf cart and decided to try to drive 40 miles home. They also quickly discovered when they arrested him that it was his second offense. That indicates a pattern of behavior. People are dismissive about the idea of a little mischief after a few beers, as though all that this guy did was nothing more than an alcohol-induced prank. Drunk and disorderly is not a prank. Driving a motor vehicle while drunk is not a prank. Sadly, this man will probably receive no education and no treatment. He is very likely going to do something like this again. It may not be an incident on a golf cart. The next time it may be a fatal car crash on a freeway, or he may hit and kill a pedestrian on his way home. People will have their laugh about the drunken golfer, but there’s really nothing to laugh about. For more Driving While Intoxicated go to books HOW TO USE THIS SITE:This site contains five MAIN pages that EVERYONE should read: RECOVERY… Yourself... Your Family... Your Friends... Your Community... The rest of the pages are there for your reference to explain important topics in more detail.  You Can Be ADDICTION FREE FOREVER!Are you or your loved one struggling with addiction?YOU MUST TAKE ACTION NOW! Use this at-home guide to End Addiction Forever:Click here for details!
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