11/05/24
September 29, 2011
Former Indy 500 Champ Arrested for DWI: Al Unser, Jr., a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, was arrested in Albuquerque, N.M., early Thursday morning for reckless driving, aggravated DWI and racing upon a highway. Unser was clocked at 100 mph and his blood-alcohol content was .16. He allegedly told police he'd been racing another car. "You caught the slower driver," he said.
posted by rcade to auto racing at 04:10 PM - 17 comments
101 MPH in a Suburban? How about a restrictor plate on that thing.
Going to AA meetings does not mean you are a recovering alcoholic. There's something about listening and participating in the meeting that's rather important. Yeah, I'll go to the meeting if it means I escape jail time.
posted by Howard_T at 05:29 PM on September 29, 2011
While not condoning his actions, a drunk Al Unser Jr. at 100 mph is probably the equivalent of your average sober driver going 45 mph, or a normal old lady going 30 mph, in terms of safety on the road
posted by Atheist at 05:35 PM on September 29, 2011
From the story:
Deputies say the black sedan took off going north on Coors.
Gotta love lines like that, with the thought that Unser is on the same boulevard, but heading in the other direction.
With all the milk that the Unser family has victoriously consumed in Indiana, you'd think that would have satisfied their lifetime liquid intake requirements.
posted by beaverboard at 06:59 PM on September 29, 2011
While not condoning his actions, a drunk Al Unser Jr. at 100 mph is probably the equivalent of your average sober driver going 45 mph, or a normal old lady going 30 mph, in terms of safety on the road.
We had a discussion about this a while ago when some other racing driver got done for speeding in a residential area. I can't recall, but I'm fairly sure booze wasn't involved and I came out with a similar argument to this, Atheist, but based on speed. I think the introduction of drink changes everything. I don't know how "drunk" 0.16 is, but I know when I've had a few drinks I feel (for a short while) ten foot tall and bulletproof. I don't want to be on the road with anyone who feels that way. I'm tempted to say "especially" someone who is already a superb driver and has a whole different perception of risk.
posted by JJ at 07:26 AM on September 30, 2011
101 MPH in a Suburban?
I've got a Suburban and have gone over 100mph and to be honest with you, it didn't even feel like I was going 100mph cause that bad boy runs smooth.
posted by BornIcon at 08:54 AM on September 30, 2011
a drunk Al Unser Jr. at 100 mph is probably the equivalent of your average sober driver going 45 mph
Right up until he makes contact with someone. Then the laws of physics make everyone equivalent.
posted by yerfatma at 09:59 AM on September 30, 2011
I am going to start indicating when I am making a tongue & cheek comment for those who really believe I am serious. DUI is DUI regardless of who does it.
posted by Atheist at 10:37 AM on September 30, 2011
posted by JJ at 10:46 AM on September 30, 2011
Unser got off too easy for his 2007 car crash in which his blood alcohol was three times over the legal limit. Repeated drunk drivers need to lose their license to drive.
posted by rcade at 10:47 AM on September 30, 2011
If you get caught once in the UK you lose it for up to 3 years. You can lose it if you're "in charge of the vehicle" even if you're not driving it. You can get 6 months in prison for it too.
Given all that, and ignoring the moral implications for a moment, I'm still surprised how many people still risk it here.
posted by JJ at 10:55 AM on September 30, 2011
I am going to start indicating when I am making a tongue & cheek comment...
Isn't it tongue in cheek comment?
posted by BornIcon at 11:28 AM on September 30, 2011
I think he was being tongue-in-cheek about the tongue & cheek thing.
posted by JJ at 11:32 AM on September 30, 2011
Knowing a bit about his antics in Houston when he was just Jr., I can tell you that this is just the latest in a lifetime of self destructive, alcoholic behavior. I've watched the man do some amazing things in a race car and marveled. I have also watched him stumblling drunk and thought: what could have been. He's 49 now, I have no empathy for him. He needs to man up and accept responsibility for his actions. If it were Joe Average in the same situation, he'd be going to prison for some time.
posted by Tinman at 12:17 PM on September 30, 2011
I don't know how "drunk" 0.16 is
As a rough guide, it's apparently drunk enough that when pulled over by the police, you think it wise to make a smart-ass remark ("You caught the slower driver."). Who does that?
posted by yerfatma at 12:54 PM on September 30, 2011
In California the legal limit is .08 so .16 is twice the legal limit.
posted by Atheist at 01:41 PM on September 30, 2011
Who does that?
You mean apart from people too drunk to know better?
I know that many people out there disagree with me on this, but I believe there are some people who get DUI's who are more unlucky than anything. There really are people who don't realize what a powerful drug alcohol is, and fail to recognize how impaired they are after drinking just a little bit. A blood alcohol level of .08 is a really gray area that might sneak up on someone who isn't paying attention to how much they are drinking. On average, a 180 lb man can metabolize one drink an hour, keeping blood alcohol level pretty low. (Of course, an alcoholic whose liver no longer metabolizes booze is not the same.) Throw another drink an hour on top of that, and you can pretty well stay below .08, so long as you're not doing it for an extended time. (Whether you believe that someone who has had anything to drink at all should be driving is another discussion; I'm just talking legally.) To be at a .16, he had to be drinking pretty damn heavily--like 4 drinks an hour for a couple hours.
What I'm trying to say is that this dummy wasn't just careless and unlucky. He was drunk beyond any grey area, and had to know that he was. Then he topped it off by drag racing someone in a three ton automobile. So fuck him.
posted by tahoemoj at 03:55 PM on September 30, 2011
And the driver with 2 previous DUI arrests. So it evens out.