A little too tipsy to drive home? You’d be wise to grab a cab, ride with a sober driver or bunk it for the night if you’re at a friend’s house.
I’ve no doubt you’ve heard these words of wisdom before. But perhaps here’s some you haven’t: if you’ve gotten a few hours of shut eye on someone else’s couch after a night of drinking, that doesn’t mean you’re sober.
Believe it or not, law enforcement doesn’t care if you attempted to “sleep it off,” for awhile, and then still put the keys in the ignition. State trooper Krista Hedstrom said they get Sunday morning DUIs all the time.
“It is very common,” she said.
Such a traffic stop often goes like this, Hedstrom said:
Trooper: “How much have you had to drink?”
Driver: “Nothing. I just woke up.”
Trooper: “But were you drinking last night?”
And whether the drinking was done before sleeping or after, a trooper will conduct a DUI investigation if they have reason to believe you have alcohol in your system, Hedstrom said.
