Saturday, July 07, 2007

First Sobriety Test

We've been having issues with the tail lights on our Jetta for quite some time now. They randomly go out for no reason. G will jiggle the wires back there and they'll usually come back on. However, it usually requires someone telling us that it's out and the last couple of times it's been the West Linn Police who have informed us.

Last night was our second experience with this. I happened to be driving. We had gone to sushi in Tualatin and then went across the street for cocktails at Hayden's Lakefront Grill. They happened to have some really great live music in the bar so we stayed and ordered a couple specialty cocktails. G had a couple of the cucumber martinis with cilantro, cucumbers and Rogue's Spruce Gin. (He ordered the second one with less cucumber for some reason.) I had the Pear Cosmopolitan with pear brandy, melon liqueur and white grape juice. It was delicious but strong so i just sipped it while we chatted and listened to the music for about an hour and a half.

On the way home, I slowed down to look at another restaurant we've been talking about visiting and that's when I noticed that there was a car on my back bumper. I started to resume the speed limit and that's when the blue lights began to flash. I was so nervous, I shifted into reverse when I brought the car to a stop. (Did I mention that our tags had expired? Fortunately G had gone to DEQ the day before to renew the registration, but the tags were still in the glove compartment.)

I handed over my license, registration and insurance information and that's when he asked me how much I'd had to drink. I told him I'd had one martini. He then asked how much G had guzzled. G mentioned that he'd had two martinis at home and then two more at the bar. That's when the police officer asked me to step out of the car so he could talk to me away from Gabe to see if I was really the one who reeked of alcohol. Next he asked me if he could check my eyes since I said I'd been drinking. I agreed.

This was the weirdest test ever. It was like being at the eye doctor, but I was standing out on the street. with this cop and the backup he had called in with my knees knocking together. So for a couple of minutes he proceeded to move his laser light back and forth and up and down while getting really close and staring into my eyes while I tried to follow it without moving my head. At one point I got so distracted by his face being so close to mine, I couldn't help but take my eyes off the light.

He let me go with a warning. It took me at least 10 minutes to stop the violent shaking that ensued after he let me go. Let me tell you, it's not easy to drive in that condition.

Now we're trying to decide if we should by a new car or just get the Jetta's electrical problem fixed. We can't afford to keep getting pulled over for the disappearing tail light. Eventually it's going to cost us.

1 comment:

Martha said...

Yikes! I got stopped on St. Patrick's Day and I was sure I would have to prove I wasn't drunk, but he didn't even ask. Glad it worked out! Good luck with your car.