I recently made a very poor judgment call and drove while over the legal limit and have not been charged yet but am looking at a DUI on my record.  This is my only one and I believe I’m being charged with the lowest offense.   What implications would one DUI have on becoming a corporate or commercial pilot?  I know I can’t get my pilots license for a year, I already spoke to someone in the FAA about that here in Minneapolis but I’m looking out over the long term.  Has anyone here been through this experience before?  Where might be good place to go to ask this question?
Thank You!

I think that if it is only a one time offense, then you might be ok. I mean, nobody is perfect, and sometimes it takes mistakes to learn lessons. I know I used to have a wicked speeding problem, and although I was never caught, hitting a road sign at 120 clicks in a round about sure taught me my lesson. I will never street race ever, not on a street, not for money, not in my own car or a borrowed car, and not against friends. Never. Sometimes all it takes is one mistake to learn the most important lesson. Pilots make mistakes all the time, sometimes everyone pays that price, and sometimes no one pays that price. I think that you'll be ok if you've learned your lesson, and you have a good explanation when asked about it. Best of luck.

Thanks for all the info. Was a wake up call, and I should have been more careful.  Waiting for this whole process to take it's course has been difficult too.  Just happy to know that I haven't ruined my chances to get into he cockpit of a King Air.

MIKE

A sideline question here, but what is the difference between drunk driving and DUI, or is it the same. Here in Europe, we have one offence, drunk driving and in 99.99% of cases an automatic ban and in 101% of cases a record.

Matt

Thank you rottydaddy for that.  I knew first off to not lie to the FAA when it comes time to get my license. I have a few hurdles I need to jump over before I can even consult the FAA about obtaining my private pilots licence such as Court ( ), find a job supervising again in this economy, and then saving up to prepay for all the instruction I need which won't be easy but attainable none the less.

I will look into the AOPA and/or aviation attorney and see what I can learn from them. I know here in Minnesota after 10 years you can have your DUI expunged from your record and I may look into that when I'm 36...Yikes!

And yes, Drinking + Driving =  Stupid!!  And will never happen again!

Get a good lawyer. Bargain. Sometimes you can plead guilty or no contest, and end up with no record.

Steve M wrote on Feb 17^th, 2010 at 9:47pm:



I love US justice. A positive breath test in Europe is as good as convicted, the court is a formality that confirms your ban and fine

Matt

DaveSims wrote on Feb 18^th, 2010 at 7:48am:

If that was a drug raid and they accidently broke into the wrong house, I'm sure they wouldn't have let them off for 'accidently finding out' that they broke the law. Mad world 

Steve M wrote on Feb 18^th, 2010 at 5:56pm:



Still, all that hassle because she just had to have an alcoholic drink when she knew she was going to be driving.

Matt

[/quote]There are so many technicalities that you can get off on its ridiculous.  For example, the officer in most states has to have an intital cause to stop you, in other words you have to break a traffic law.  We once had a guy get off scott free because the officer listed the initial cause to stop him as illegal lighting, because he was driving with his fog lights on.  Well if you scrutinize the law, fog lights are legal, so the initial cause was tossed out, and the DUI, even though he blew a .18!  Even though he was guilty of driving drunk, he got off because the officer didn't have probable cause to stop him. [/quote]

This is possibly what I'm looking into too.  The police officer said he pulled me over because I had my highbeams on.  Well we ever passed the officer.  He came up behind me and through his lights on.  I may have case but have yet to see the final report.  I'll run it by an attorney and see.  I'm just worried about the costs because I am unemployed.  So far I do have $2000 saved up and can mybe get $3000 by the time this starts rolling, but it's something to look into. It's all a waiting game.  I would like nothing more than to avoid jail time and have it go on my record. The jail time might be the easiest we'll see.  I'll be peading guilty and I'll be getting a chemical dependancy test done one my own that I can present to the judge showing that I'm taking this seriously and that I'm taking the initiative to make this right.

MIKE

Yeah that's what we we're talking about tonight too that having a DUI on your record excludes you from going to Canada.  However I don't know if it affects you're whole life or if after a few years they overlook it and let you in.  This part I do not know.

MIKE

Northwest 102 wrote on Feb 19^th, 2010 at 1:14am:
Take it from one who knows, it will eventually be expunged from your driving record.  Individual states will have different requirements.

Go to Russia, they have a 5 DUI minimum to get into the air force!

Northwest 102 wrote on Feb 21^st, 2010 at 6:15pm:
Canada is the country which considers DUI a felony but when it's no longer on your US record - keep a straight face  .

Northwest 102 wrote on Mar 3^rd, 2010 at 9:39pm:

Just remember, the charge may be expunged, but that does not mean that   there is not still a  record, somewhere, that you were stopped and given a breathalyzer or other DUI test.

If the question is "have you ever been pulled over on a DUI?" DO NOT LIE, even if you were told the whole thing is forgotten and you are in the clear.

I'm still playing the waiting game here. In 5 more days it will be a month since I was pulled over.  So far nothing has come in the mail yet. I've gotten used to being sober cab once again and it's nice to see the bank account rise instead of fall.

I do very much want this to be over ASAP and get this weight off my shoulders. I'm trying like hell to get a good job here before everything starts so I can start putting some money away.  Unemployment is enough but I would really like to be working too.  Job market seems to be improving! More opportunities for supervisors!  We'll see.  I checked my license status with the DMV earlier today and it says I'm still valid.  I almost want to lose it ASAP so I can get it back ASAP and not let this drag into the summer months.