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Police arrest 2 for 'super drunk' driving; blood alcohol levels between .33 & .35

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Pardus

Diamond Member
Article & Video

FERNDALE, Mich. (WXYZ) - They should have been passed out or in a coma. Instead two men were arrested for super drunk driving with a BAC of .33-.35.

Even though he looks pretty functional in the dash cam video, police say 39-year-old Kevin Spates was 'super drunk' during his roadside sobriety test.

The Detroit man was arrested Monday along 8 Mile in Ferndale for drunk driving. Officers say he had a blood alcohol level of between .34 and .35. At that level Spates should be passed out, in a coma, or dead.

“These people can function in a seemingly almost normal manner,” said Lt. Bill Wilson with the Ferndale Police Department.

Ferndale police arrested a second 'super drunk' driver Tuesday morning.

Fifty-year-old William Rhodes was stopped along Woodward for driving 10 mph under the speed limit. Police say when they pulled him over they found Rhodes blood alcohol level to be .33.

According to a study done by Concordia University, a man weighing an average 160 pounds would have to consume ten beers an hour to reach a blood alcohol content of .35.

This is not the first time both Spates and Rhodes have been arrested for drunk driving. Both have extensive drinking and driving records and suspensions.

The magistrate arraigned Spates on Tuesday for his 3rd operating while intoxicated offense. He has two prior convictions for OWI and his license has been suspended 31 times. On top of that he’s been a wanted man in Wayne County since 2008 for a parole violation.

Rhodes has a similar history with a criminal record going back to 1980. This is the fourth drunk driving arrest for Rhodes. He’s had three prior drunk driving convictions and his license has been suspended several times.

Despite the numerous convictions and arrests for drunk driving and driving without a license, this is the first felony drunk driving charge for both men. That's why they have been able to escape a lengthy prison sentence so far.

“Hopefully, now that these are felony charges the courts can do something to keep these men off the streets and in prison for a long time,” said Lt. Wilson.

Both men face up to five years in prison. Bond for Spates and Rhodes was set at $25,000 cash surety.

Both are due back in court February 16.
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Whenever I get that drunk (I haven't been to .35), I can function normally. I never ever try to drive a car though, but I don't turn into a retard 16 year old girl faking being drunk.
 
No blood test can tell when a person is driving drunk. The test only tells you the person drove over the legal set limit.

I drink so xxxx amount of beers before I get drunk another get pissed on 1 beer and he will be under the set limit
 
My ex-brother-in-law pulled a woman over whose BAC was well above that (in the .4x's, forget the exact number). He said she actually drove reasonably well considering her condition.

And the 10 beers is in an hour - that's a pretty hefty amount.
 
andylawcc said:
hum... only 10 beer to get .35? i was expecting more.
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I took 10 beers an hour to mean steady state, not 10 beers to get you there.

So if you're ready .35 you need to drink 10 beers an hour to stay there.

You probably need to do it for 2-3 hours to get there at first.
 
JTsyo said:
WTF why did they give him his license back so many times?
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Driving is a right, didn't you know?

Doesn't matter if you're a criminal, abuse the privilege, drive while drunk, have vehicular manslaughter charges, or are an illegal alien...the government cannot take away your god-given right to operate heavy machinery as irresponsibly as humanly possible.

That said, I wish the cops pulled people over here for going 10mph under the speedlimit. Stupid fucks in California DO NOT know how to drive.
 
actuarial said:
I took 10 beers an hour to mean steady state, not 10 beers to get you there.

So if you're ready .35 you need to drink 10 beers an hour to stay there.

You probably need to do it for 2-3 hours to get there at first.
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what type of beer is it. I can drink a hundred Beer shandies and still be sober
 
haha driving 10mph under the limit. They should arrest people for driving 55mph on the interstate here while they're at it. That's just a ridiculous hazard when everyone's doing 70+.
 
drebo said:
That said, I wish the cops pulled people over here for going 10mph under the speedlimit. Stupid fucks in California DO NOT know how to drive.
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People in my city do that too. It just blows my mind. 3 lanes of traffic going 70k when the posted limit is 90k. Seriously wtf. They should all be pulled over and given sobriety tests. They're probably sober, but it would give them a good slap. Your driving is so bad that we think you might be drunk.


I took 10 beers an hour to mean steady state, not 10 beers to get you there.

So if you're ready .35 you need to drink 10 beers an hour to stay there.

You probably need to do it for 2-3 hours to get there at first.
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This is wrong because alcohol breakdown is a zero-order reaction. Being more drunk doesn't mean you need to drink more to maintain that level. That's why so many of us have trouble maintaining. We think we need to drink more to maintain a higher level of intoxication, but we don't. Being a little drunk and being very drunk require the same amount of alcohol to maintain.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_half-life#Alcohol
The removal of ethanol (drinking alcohol) through oxidation by alcohol dehydrogenase in the liver from the human body is limited. Hence the removal of a large concentration of alcohol from blood may follow zero-order kinetics. Also the rate-limiting steps for one substance may be in common with other substances. For instance, the blood alcohol concentration can be used to modify the biochemistry of methanol and ethylene glycol. In this way the oxidation of methanol to the toxic formaldehyde and formic acid in the (human body) can be prevented by giving an appropriate amount of ethanol to a person who has ingested methanol. Note that methanol is very toxic and causes blindness and death. A person who has ingested ethylene glycol can be treated in the same way.
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ShawnD1 said:
People in my city do that too. It just blows my mind. 3 lanes of traffic going 70k when the posted limit is 90k. Seriously wtf. They should all be pulled over and given sobriety tests. They're probably sober, but it would give them a good slap. Your driving is so bad that we think you might be drunk.



This is wrong because alcohol breakdown is a zero-order reaction. Being more drunk doesn't mean you need to drink more to maintain that level. That's why so many of us have trouble maintaining. We think we need to drink more to maintain a higher level of intoxication, but we don't. Being a little drunk and being very drunk require the same amount of alcohol to maintain.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_half-life#Alcohol
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Correct but that test don't show you if your drunk or not. Only that you are above the legal limit
 
LiuKangBakinPie said:
Correct but that test don't show you if your drunk or not. Only that you are above the legal limit
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You're thinking of the breath thing. I'm thinking of stuff like walking in a line, trying to catch a rock the officer throws at you, etc. I've never had a sobriety test, but I would assume that it's extremely humiliating when you're not drunk. All this cars are passing by, watching you get sobriety tested. The cop is treating you like a 2 year old. "alright now can you touch your nose?"

I would be an awesome cop. People driving like idiots would be given a sobriety test every time. Even if the fail the test, I could just say "Yeah, that part is tricky. You seem sober enough" (implying they look slightly drunk even when they're 100% sober)


Related to what you said, people reading this article should keep in mind that BAC is almost meaningless. It's not alcohol that makes you drunk, but alcohol's effect on GABA receptors (and a few other things) in the brain. If you never drink and you're not taking any prescription sleep aids or anxiety medication, then 0.1 BAC will make you very drunk. If you're a hardcore alcoholic and your brain relies on alcohol just to maintain proper GABA function, then 0.1 is nothing. You're legally drunk, but your brain would actually work better at 0.1 BAC than it would at 0.

With that said, getting people to walk in a straight line is a better sobriety test. Instead of checking how much alcohol is in their system, it checks how well their brain functions. It doesn't matter what's in their body. All you're checking is brain function. They could be on heroin and somehow pass the test with flying colors, or they could be on Benadryl (which is legal) and fail the test immediately.
 
It's rare but it happens. I knew a kid in college who went through an entire handle of vodka himself (he was a big guy). He went out driving and got pulled over for driving erratically. He passed every field sobriety test (this was before breathalyzers) so he couldn't charge him and bring him in. Instead he just had a friend of the guy come and pick him up.
 
ShawnD1 said:
You're thinking of the breath thing. I'm thinking of stuff like walking in a line, trying to catch a rock the officer throws at you, etc. I've never had a sobriety test, but I would assume that it's extremely humiliating when you're not drunk. All this cars are passing by, watching you get sobriety tested. The cop is treating you like a 2 year old. "alright now can you touch your nose?"

I would be an awesome cop. People driving like idiots would be given a sobriety test every time. Even if the fail the test, I could just say "Yeah, that part is tricky. You seem sober enough" (implying they look slightly drunk even when they're 100% sober)


Related to what you said, people reading this article should keep in mind that BAC is almost meaningless. It's not alcohol that makes you drunk, but alcohol's effect on GABA receptors (and a few other things) in the brain. If you never drink and you're not taking any prescription sleep aids or anxiety medication, then 0.1 BAC will make you very drunk. If you're a hardcore alcoholic and your brain relies on alcohol just to maintain proper GABA function, then 0.1 is nothing. You're legally drunk, but your brain would actually work better at 0.1 BAC than it would at 0.

With that said, getting people to walk in a straight line is a better sobriety test. Instead of checking how much alcohol is in their system, it checks how well their brain functions. It doesn't matter what's in their body. All you're checking is brain function. They could be on heroin and somehow pass the test with flying colors, or they could be on Benadryl (which is legal) and fail the test immediately.
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I am talking about the blood tests as well. We don't use much of the breathalizers here nor does a walking the straight line counts. You have to take the person to a dr get his blood drawn within 4 hours where the dr will seal the kit and it will get send to the forensic lab. The charge will be driving under the influence and the 2nd charge will be driving above the legal limit of 0.008. Unless they plead guilty they normally get convicted on the 0.008 one and not the drunk driving one.

Why do we question the walking the straight line and reflexes test? Simple. A baby not being able to walk a straight line or reflexes ain't so good is it drunk?
 
I've been to 0.25 twice in my life. The first time I was in a stupor in the bowling alley and could not be moved. Ambulance -> hospital -> DAPA level 3 discharge from the Navy.

The second was at a friends party. My snoring was keeping everyone from having a good time and again I was in a stupor, they were afraid I'd jimi hendrix so they called 911. Ambulance -> hospital -> wake up with an IV (and a catheter) confused and naked.
 
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LiuKangBakinPie said:
I am talking about the blood tests as well. We don't use much of the breathalizers here nor does a walking the straight line counts. You have to take the person to a dr get his blood drawn within 4 hours where the dr will seal the kit and it will get send to the forensic lab. The charge will be driving under the influence and the 2nd charge will be driving above the legal limit of 0.008. Unless they plead guilty they normally get convicted on the 0.008 one and not the drunk driving one.

Why do we question the walking the straight line and reflexes test? Simple. A baby not being able to walk a straight line or reflexes ain't so good is it drunk?
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0.08, not 0.008.

Smelling a glass of wine will get you to 0.008.
 
LiuKangBakinPie said:
I am talking about the blood tests as well. We don't use much of the breathalizers here nor does a walking the straight line counts. You have to take the person to a dr get his blood drawn within 4 hours where the dr will seal the kit and it will get send to the forensic lab. The charge will be driving under the influence and the 2nd charge will be driving above the legal limit of 0.008. Unless they plead guilty they normally get convicted on the 0.008 one and not the drunk driving one.

Why do we question the walking the straight line and reflexes test? Simple. A baby not being able to walk a straight line or reflexes ain't so good is it drunk?
Click to expand...

Just curious, where (what country/state) do you live that you get an auto blood draw? You in law enforcement?
 
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