The best thing Georgia residents can do to avoid a DUI conviction is to avoid the possibility of being arrested for driving while under the influence of alcohol. However, if Georgia residents do drive after drinking too many beers at the bar with friends and still make it home safely without running into any legal trouble, the next best thing folks can do — in addition to not making the same mistake again — is to avoid posting about one’s poor decision on Facebook or any other social media site.
Driving drunk is a serious offense, and even when police do not witness an individual driving while allegedly drunk, individuals could still be charged with DUI and face penalties for the offense if they are convicted. Last week, an 18-year-old man was arrested after he struck a vehicle and left the scene of the accident. No one witnessed the crash, but the man allegedly posted about driving drunk and hitting a car on his Facebook page. After police investigated the crash and found out about the Facebook post, police arrested the man.
On New Year’s Day, the Oregon teen was arrested after police were notified about the man’s Facebook post. The man updated his status posting, “Drivin drunk … classsic 😉 but to whoever’s vehicle i hit i am sorry. :P.” Before the man’s status had been updated, police had been called to investigate a hit-and-run accident. According to police, a vehicle was damaged after another car had side-swiped the vehicle.
After police were notified about the Facebook post, they arrested the man. Police said that they gathered enough evidence at the crash site to link the man’s vehicle to the hit-and-run accident. However, police stated that they did not have enough evidence to charge the man with drunk driving even though he had posted on Facebook that he had been drinking and driving before the crash.
Source: The Daily Astorian, “Facebook posts lands Astoria man in jail,” Chelsea Gorrow, Jan. 3, 2013
- Our Athens, Georgia, firm provides counsel to those who want to fight underage drunk driving charges and other alcohol-related offenses in order to protect their rights and their futures. To learn more about our firm and practice, please visit our firm’s underage drinking page.