Does Getting a DUI Mean You’re an Alcoholic?

I’ve had a lot of discussions with friends about this. I think it is possible for a normal drinker to get one DUI – maybe a young woman who doesn’t weigh much drives right after drinking a glass of wine.  A lot of small women do not realize how little they have to drink to be over the limit.

However, I truly believe normal drinkers only need one DUI to get the message. They think, “I never want to do that again! How horrifying!”  Normal drinkers rarely get multiple DUIs.

Alcoholics are the ones who get multiple DUIs (or risk getting them but “luck” out). Why is this? Because alcoholics don’t have much say in how much they drink once they start drinking. They might say they will only have one then will wait at least an hour before driving, but once they have that one they usually find themselves making bargains with, I don’t know, the DUI gods.

“Ok, I’ll have another, but I’ll eat something to absorb it and I’ll wait a little longer. I don’t really feel that drunk…etc….etc…”

I know a few people who have gotten DUIs and it was mortifying. They swore they’d never risk drinking before driving again. The alcoholics usually do drink and drive again. Sometimes they get caught, often they don’t.

A recent story out of New Mexico reported that requiring anyone convicted of a DUI  to install an Interlock device (a device you have to breathe into and prevents starting the car if it detects alcohol) dramatically reduced the rate of drunk driving as well as alcohol-related driving fatalities.  Most states treat the first DUI as a “whoops!”  New Mexico has proven that for many it is not just a whoops – and adding an obstacle like the Interlock device makes a big different.