04/20/24
November 09, 2004
Michael Phelps arrested for drunk driving.: The 19-yr-old six-gold Olympian was charged with DUI, violation of a licence restriction (what does that mean?) and failure to obey a stop sign, and could be jailed for a year, be fined about $800 and get 12 points on his driver's licence. No underage consumption charge? (Or is it just for serving alcohol?) Commence fish and drink jokes.
posted by worldcup2002 to other at 02:03 PM - 12 comments
Ah, there's my underage consumption charge. thanks, goddam. How come you know so much about this? Are you in law enforcement?
posted by worldcup2002 at 04:07 PM on November 09, 2004
no, no. the restricted license is just something i kind of remembered from driver's ed. when i read the article this morning i looked it up to find out the specifics about the underage drinking thing, because that's what bothered me most about this story. not that he was drinking at age 19 (shit, who here hasn't done that), but that he was driving.
posted by goddam at 04:20 PM on November 09, 2004
that he was drinking at age 19 (shit, who here hasn't done that) I haven't. I started at seven. Anchor beer and 7-up - homemade shandy.
posted by worldcup2002 at 04:27 PM on November 09, 2004
Pretty smart, Goddam, Maryland Code section 16-113, Issuance of restricted licenses, subpart (b)(1) reads: "(b)(1) Notwithstanding the licensee's driving record, the Administration shall impose on each licensee under the age of 21 years an alcohol restriction that prohibits the licensee from driving or attempting to drive a motor vehicle while having alcohol in the licensee's blood." Not sure if its the same here but it operates the same... under 21, no alcohol in the system is allowed. So the underage driver doesn't get out of it if they are under the legal limit for DWI. You should get a prize for that.
posted by chris2sy at 04:33 PM on November 09, 2004
Yes! Teenagers are dumb drivers even without alcohol. They don't need the help.
posted by worldcup2002 at 04:47 PM on November 09, 2004
Can I point out here how dumb it is that in many states, you have to be 21 to drink?
posted by salmacis at 05:38 PM on November 09, 2004
What is the drinking age in the UK, salmacis?
posted by dusted at 06:41 PM on November 09, 2004
Is "when they can see over the bar" an age?
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 09:28 PM on November 09, 2004
Can I point out here how dumb it is that in many states, you have to be 21 to drink? Where many == all (at least in the US) thanks to former Secretary of Transportation Libby Dole and her strongarming mafia-like tactics of withholding Federal Tax Dollars for highways until every state (Louisiana being the last) acquiesced. What is the drinking age in the UK, salmacis? Officially 18, IIRC, although I spent six weeks there when I was 19 and was never once asked for age verification. Nowadays I'm 25 (with a beard) in the US and get carded fairly consistently. I don't think it's so much age of drinkage as it is enforcement. Although, frankly, I've no idea what either of these have to do with an Olympian driving drunk.
posted by Ufez Jones at 11:10 PM on November 09, 2004
The point is not the age at which Phelps started drinking. That's a totally personal thing that everybody has to deal with on their own. The point is that he was driving impaired. He was over the legal limit for his classification of license. (We have a graduated licensing system in Ontario, and it's similar; you can't have any alcohol in your blood whatsoever until you complete all the stages and obtain your full license. Then you're bound by the legal limit. Fine by me.)
posted by DrJohnEvans at 12:35 AM on November 10, 2004
So, what does a six-gold Olympian swimmer drink? Extra points for real drink names with swimming-related funniness.
posted by worldcup2002 at 01:10 AM on November 10, 2004
violation of a license restriction has to do with the fact that he's under 21 and registered above a certain blood alcohol level. it's usually something much lower than the regular DUI limit, like .01 or .02.