DUI Insurance

[Rick Weber]

Sounds like both parties did what each felt he had to do. Sounds to me like the court could have shown some understanding due to the extenuating circumstances and perhaps reduced the charge from DUI/DWI to perhaps DWAI (ability impaired) or a lesser charge. I don't think one can completely incriminate either party.

Rick

[jhv48]

I hope we all have learned from this.

NEVER voluntarily agree to a blood or urine test.

Breathalyser tests can be disputed in court by a good attorney and they can be much less reliable to actually showing the party's BAL. Blood and urine are saved and are repeatable. Harder to dismiss.

He passed the sobriety test and would have walked if he hadn't given the blood test. Then he nailed his own coffin.

I feel sorry for him and might have done the same thing (but never in the Cobra, in California, if drunk, your car gets towed and impounded) if I was in his position.

He made an adult decision, albeit the wrong one, got caught and is going to pay for it now.

Unfortunate, as there were other options he might have considered (if he wasn't under the influence and thinking straight).

The cop was doing his job.

[WarrenG]

I believe that in CA if you refuse the blood test, the penalty is the same as if you took it and failed. Doubtful if any insurance company would look at either option differently.

[calcob]

Hi all, thanks for responding to my original post.... I didn't mean to start any kind of debate on the dui laws and if the deputy was justified in arresting me.

I maybe went into too much detail about the incident, my main question ment to be was can anybody recommend an insurance company or agent that would insure someone with a dui on their record that is looking to insure thier cobra?
As for the dui I was convicted of... I take full responsibility for it, I am the one who drove my daughter to the hospital, and I am the one who called 911 to let them know I was on the way to the hospital.
The way the parking situation was I didn't have much choice but to take a friends car that was only a 2 seater. (my car was blocked in and I could not get to it)
I do not blame the deputy who arrested me, he was just doing his job, he even felt sorry for me under the circumstances. I have served my mandatory jail time, have done the state required drinking and driving classes and have paid my fines... I live in Ventura, CA. and they are pretty strict here.
Yes, I could have called an ambulance but under the circumstances I thought it would be quicker, and it was, taking her to the hospital myself.
Thanks again for all the input

[392cobra]

calcob,
How is your little girl doing ?

[Sharroll Celby]

FACT: The deputy did NOT witness the poster driving his daughter to the ER. Therefore, there should NOT have been an arrest for DUI in this instance.

The deputy was doing his job, but without DIRECT and TIMELY observation of the driver, there should NOT have been ANY sobriety tests or blood tests administered. JMNSHO

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by calcob

can anybody recommend an insurance company or agent that would insure someone with a dui on their record that is looking to insure thier cobra?

Get on google and put in SR-22, HIGH RISK, Independant Insurance Agent and the area of California you live in. There is a niche practice of placing high risk policies and the right agent should be able to get you at least a modicum of coverage. Be prepared to pay a healthy premium, though.

[madmaxx]

When I got my insurance with classic I asked if they checked my driving record and was told no. The quote was something like "we let your everday provider do that, if you have other coverage it is good enough for us". Two questions, do you have other coverage? 2) is the first thing you ask is " do you cover drivers with dwi convictions? If you answer yes to both question the next time try to question 1 with yes and do not mention question 2.

One would have to be a certified idiot to drive a cobra intoxicated, I would not even attempt that.

[elmariachi]

Originally Posted by madmaxx

One would have to be a certified idiot to drive a cobra intoxicated, I would not even attempt that.

Come on...a 6-pack, 600HP and a late night cruise on Beltway 8... you might even make the morning news.

[Midwest Classic]

Unfortunately with a DUI in the past three years we can not help you out on this. Once the DUI is three years old we can write insurance on this. It is going to be impossible to get a collector car company to insure this as most require five years. I always suggest to people building cars to let us insure it during the build, if we would have been insuring this we would stay on it unless the Cobra was being driven during the DUI. I would suggest checking with your regular car insurance program to see if they will add it, if they won't you might try Progressive. They started in the business, many years ago writing just people with unacceptable driving records.

I volunteer as an EMT with our local ambulance service and DUI's are the one accident I really despise, these are all avoidable. Fortunately for you and your daughter you got to the hospital safely. The officer probably, in addition, could have done some type or reckless endangerment if he wanted to. We all learn from mistakes unfortunately the penalty is longer than we hope for.

[Great Asp]

OP, I hope your daughter is doing better, and you can figure out a way to enjoy your car.

I would not make a good police officer if that's what it takes to be one. The cop is doing his job giving a sobrity test to a man who brought his daughter to the hospital with her fingers torn open? There had to be another option open to the police officer. The OP passes the first test, but the police officer (doing his job right?), wants a blood test also?

Sometimes right ain't right.

E

[ERA Chas]

Originally Posted by Great Asp

OP, I hope your daughter is doing better, and you can figure out a way to enjoy your car.

I would not make a good police officer if that's what it takes to be one. The cop is doing his job giving a sobrity test to a man who brought his daughter to the hospital with her fingers torn open? There had to be another option open to the police officer. The OP passes the first test, but the police officer (doing his job right?), wants a blood test also?

Sometimes right ain't right.

E

Well said Asp, I'd never make it as a lawman either.

Ya, ya, the law's the law and OP will now take his duly prescribed medicine. (With apparently less bitterness than I might). His instinctive decision to aid his child will now reward him with major DMV heartache and allow insurance companies to feast on him for the next 3 to 5 years. No good deed goes unpunished.

Options to the officer? How's this?

If I'm the cop and detect the effects of alcohol, I take OP aside and TALK to him-and use my academy-learned detective skills to determine in a brief conversation if this guy's a bad dude with a problem or a guy that instantly made a decision that his kid's life was in trauma. Knowing that a little girl has lost a digit would be uppermost on my mind-not that this guy could have flattened innocent pedestrians. The fact is, he didn't. Rather than pondering which test to submit him to for maximum penalty, I give him a BIG sermon about driving in this condition and tell him to kiss his kid for me.

If the officer let him walk, would he later torment and second guess himself with the thought. "...damn, I failed to do my duty and missed an opportunity to protect the public from possible harm from this guy"?

Yes, I know officers, you see blood and carnage on the highway every day and you are sworn to combat that horror. But here was a miracle to witness, the Almighty guided this legal inebriate safely to the salvation of his child. You could say major carnage was averted here and call it a day. Cops are humans too, right?

Surveying the situation for a suitable driver/vehicle substitute to take my kid to the hospital is something I would waste zero time on-as he did.

But that's just me and maybe Asp too. But I would do exactly as OP for my kid. Foolish and wreckless as that is in these 'cover your ass' days.

Hope your kid's on the mend too, OP.

Flame away.

[undy]

...no heat from this direction.

[LudicrousSpeed]

Originally Posted by ERA Chas

Well said Asp, I'd never make it as a lawman either.

Ya, ya, the law's the law and OP will now take his duly prescribed medicine. (With apparently less bitterness than I might). His instinctive decision to aid his child will now reward him with major DMV heartache and allow insurance companies to feast on him for the next 3 to 5 years. No good deed goes unpunished.

Options to the officer? How's this?

If I'm the cop and detect the effects of alcohol, I take OP aside and TALK to him-and use my academy-learned detective skills to determine in a brief conversation if this guy's a bad dude with a problem or a guy that instantly made a decision that his kid's life was in trauma. Knowing that a little girl has lost a digit would be uppermost on my mind-not that this guy could have flattened innocent pedestrians. The fact is, he didn't. Rather than pondering which test to submit him to for maximum penalty, I give him a BIG sermon about driving in this condition and tell him to kiss his kid for me.

If the officer let him walk, would he later torment and second guess himself with the thought. "...damn, I failed to do my duty and missed an opportunity to protect the public from possible harm from this guy"?

Yes, I know officers, you see blood and carnage on the highway every day and you are sworn to combat that horror. But here was a miracle to witness, the Almighty guided this legal inebriate safely to the salvation of his child. You could say major carnage was averted here and call it a day. Cops are humans too, right?

Surveying the situation for a suitable driver/vehicle substitute to take my kid to the hospital is something I would waste zero time on-as he did.

But that's just me and maybe Asp too. But I would do exactly as OP for my kid. Foolish and wreckless as that is in these 'cover your ass' days.

Hope your kid's on the mend too, OP.

Flame away.

It is not for me to judge or decide, If put in this situation I have a Sworn Duty to act. It is for the Judge & Jury to make decisions based on character & circumstance.

I have seen very few die from gunshots or stabbing. I have seen WAY Too many gruesome injuries & deaths involving DUI. Which is the greater crime?

Is my job to merely Suggest the Law rather than Enforce it?

Plus, and take this how you will, if it were ever to come to light that I had let this person go, I would lose my job and earn a one way ticket to jail. Sorry, but that just aint gonna happen.

And yes, if it was another cop, same result. Its already happened in my office. It is part of what me must do. Even good people make horrible judgement errors.

[Jamo]

Left this in All Cobra Talk for a few days because the thread starter was, in the final analysis, simply asking about a source for high-risk insurance coverage for his Cobra. Obviously, it turned into a debate about the underlying crime which gave rise to the need.

I'm moving it to the Lounge so that the master-debators can carry on if they wish to do so. Me thinks Patrick and others have given the threadstarter good advice.

Ultimately, a good independent insurance broker is going to be the best bet.

Personally (I am not a criminal attorney, so this is as John Q. Public), I applaud the threadstarter coming back on here and accepting his responsibility. Seems to me, that's the proof in the pudding. Good on ya and good luck.

[Cobrabill]

Originally Posted by LudicrousSpeed

1)I'm absolutely blown away by the responses to this post.

2)Explain to me why this Police Officer is a "POS" for doing his sworn duty???

3)My first fatal accident scene involved a dad who rolled his car off the freeway. His 4 year old daughter was standing in the back seat when they crashed. She was partially ejected as the vehicle rolled several times. I was the second person on scene (off duty Officer was the first). I found her in the grass a few hundred feet from the car, crushed from the waist up, breathing her last breaths. She died in my arms.
Her dad was drunk. He killed his little girl.
I still have dreams about her.

4)To Calcob: I'm sorry for your child's suffering. But were there not other licensed drivers at this gathering? We also have these things called Ambulances with highly trained Paramedics who can drive with lights/sirens and who are sober. You spun the wheel man, I'm glad the worst that came of it was a DUI for you. Learn from it & pass this experience on to all who will listen.

5)To all who threw the cop down, seriously, get bent. I've been to too many scenes where the drunk driver is cursing the Firemen/Paramedics who are trying to patch up his minor wounds while more Firemen are cutting whats left of the other family from their car.

6)To the retired cop who chimed in I'll say this: not sure what state you hail from, but in California we have a section in the Vehicle Code (40300.5 CVC- look it up) that allows a Police Officer to arrest for DUI even if he didnt see the person driving. You dont even have to be behind the wheel of a vehicle when you're contacted.

7)Wow, what a bunch of sheep. Dont worry tho, I'll be back on the job tomorrow keeping the wolf at bay.

1)Tough sh!t
2)JOB?!!!MY A$$.He's revenueing.Coulda pulled the guy aside and made him call another driver-he didn't..
3)And?!!I had a 4 year-old die in the back seat of my unit with my partner doing CPR while i set the record for the "cross-town boogie" to the hospital.It sucks.I see her face ever day too.DEAL WITH IT.
4)How dare you pass judgement on a parent who has just seen his childs hand almost bitten offAnd his actions were validated by the medical authorities.
5)Get bent?No-YOU are cordially invited to go fornicate yourself and the equine that transported you her.)I'll bet.And that's why the Peoples Republic of Kaifornia is the most F'd up state in the union.Please stay there.
7)Sheep?Hardly.You're not a cop-you're an a$$hole with a badge.You're one of the too many that fell thru the cracks at the academy.

[Jamo]

Oh, and BTW...no more personal attacks or this sucker will close immediately.

[Sharroll Celby]

The officer DID NOT see the OP drive his vehicle. Therefore, the officer could NOT prove the OP was DUI. OP should have gotten a lawyer.

[LudicrousSpeed]

Originally Posted by Cobrabill

1)Tough sh!t
2)JOB?!!!MY A$$.He's revenueing.Coulda pulled the guy aside and made him call another driver-he didn't..
3)And?!!I had a 4 year-old die in the back seat of my unit with my partner doing CPR while i set the record for the "cross-town boogie" to the hospital.It sucks.I see her face ever day too.DEAL WITH IT.
4)How dare you pass judgement on a parent who has just seen his childs hand almost bitten offAnd his actions were validated by the medical authorities.
5)Get bent?No-YOU are cordially invited to go fornicate yourself and the equine that transported you her.)I'll bet.And that's why the Peoples Republic of Kaifornia is the most F'd up state in the union.Please stay there.
7)Sheep?Hardly.You're not a cop-you're an a$$hole with a badge.You're one of the too many that fell thru the cracks at the academy.

I apologize to everyone I told to "Get Bent", EXCEPT for this guy.


Eh, I'm bored with this one.

Calcob, I'm sorry I Hijacked your thread and hope your child heals both mentally & physically. God bless the kids, they're all we've got.
Take Care.

[Got the Bug]

I suggested that this thread be moved to the Lounge at the beginning of March.

Expecting to see the "death spiral" now that it's free game in the swamp...oops...I mean the Lounge.