The RID headquarters telephone keeps ringing with varied requests for help and information. The following are a sample of such calls.

Call from worried wife whose husband is out driving after drinking heavily: How can I stop my husband? He thinks he can drive better after a few drinks. He says he can handle his liquor.

Answer: If you live in New York, you can call 1-800-CURB-DWI, tell the person answering the call (an AT&T operator) that you know your husband is impaired and is driving. Give location of the area, a description of the car and/or license plate number. The call will be routed to the nearest police station. Your husband will be stopped by the police en route. Your call gives the police reasonable grounds to stop the car. This is a service of the AT&T Company.

Call back the next day: Thank you so much. My husband was stopped and breathalyzed. He was arrested for DWI and speeding. The judge took his license pending his arraignment. Now my husband  says I have to drive him to the court. I told him to get someone else. I don’t have to drive him, do I?

Answer: “No, you have no obligation to be his chauffeur. Do what is best for you.”

Caller: I get your newsletter and have faxed you a news article about a bar complaining that police patrol an intersection where a bar is located, frightening away customers (they claim) who fear being stopped by police when they leave the bar. Can you send a reply to the newspaper carrying this story?

Obviously I can’t send a letter to the editor. I’m glad that the police keep an eye on drunken driving but I can’t say so publicly.

Answer: RID will support police patrols with a faxed letter to the editor. Police don’t just stop a driver randomly only because they have exited a bar. The driver must exhibit visible signs of intoxication in his driving capability, especially when the bar is located at a busy intersection. The letter was faxed to the newspaper the same day of the call and published.

Ed. Note: The caller left the impression that he was an employee of the bar. All calls are confidential.

Caller: How can I get the arrest history of a person that was just arrested for DWI and speeding, who claims he is a first time offender. I know that’s not the case. I have the DMV driving record which doesn’t show prior speeding or impaired arrests.

Answer: The original arrest charges should be on the local court docket which is open to the public for review during business hours. When speeding and other charges are reduced to non-moving offenses like bald tires or parking on the highway, the DMV records usually won’t reflect the original charges or they will erase these violations in a very short time period.

Ed. Note: In one particular case DWI homicide case, the prosecutor could not get the prior driving record of the defendant to bolster his case that the driver may be a multiple offender, important in the sentencing phase of the trial. RID called on a local member who lived in the general area of the defendant to ask for the original charges listed on the court docket for the past two years. The information showed that the defendant had a long history of speeding arrests. This information was given to the prosecutor and to the Judge at sentencing. The convicted defendant was considered by the court to be a danger to society and was sent to prison for a minimum of three years. The judge read his driving history aloud, in court, before sentencing.

Each person reading this newsletter now knows various ways to be actively helpful to DWI victims. The RID Helpline numbers listed in the newsletter are a direct aid to callers everywhere and need support to keep them available as a public service. Please continue to support RID’s programs which are free for DWI victims.