Mistaken DWI

stenwick · November 3, 2003, 6:41pm

<div style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">Have any of you had an experience when you were pulled over by a policeman for DWI when you were actually experiencing the effects of low blood sugar? </div>

stenwick · November 3, 2003, 6:44pm

Have any of you had an experience when you were pulled over by a policeman for DWI when you were actually experiencing the effects of low blood sugar?

gschmitt · November 3, 2003, 9:12pm

I haven't had that experience myself but having worked 20 years as a paramedic I have seen this happen. I can see why this would happen and the police officer would not think about a medical reason until the blow was done. This is one of the important reasons for a medical ID on the patient.

You only live once, but what you do now will determine how long that once will be.

DeadMan_Inc · January 14, 2004, 5:48pm

A few years ago in Toronto, a woman driving an 18-Wheeler lead police on about a 50 km "chase". She was swerving, hitting the rail, while all the time, surrounded by about 8 cruisers. Finally, she just stopped and the police all surrounded her with guns fixed.

It ended up that her blood-sugar was very low and she was unaware that the police were after her. Her first question to them was "What did I do wrong?"

You'd be surprised at how many of our emergency personnel are fairly ignorant to diabetic symptoms.

When I was rushed to the hospital with hypERglycaemia, the ambulance driver thought I'd been drinking heavily. And the doctor that came to my house before the ambulance came, thought I'd been sniffing cocaine all day. I've never even SEEN cocaine in my life.

laurapancoast78 · January 8, 2005, 6:26pm

i have never had experience with this personally, but FYI, there was a court case a few years back. an older person had run a stop sign or something and had caused a minor accident. the defense was that his blood sugar had been low. the judge ruled that this was NOT defensable. in other words, it is our responsibility as diabetic drivers to make sure that this does not happen. if low BS sneeks up on you, test before you drive. i have a medical id braclet, and i also have an id necklack hanging from my rear view mirror, in case of an accident.

i guess what i'm saying is, don't make the police be the enforcers--what do they know!!--be responsible yourself. but it is also a shame that cops arent' more educated about the symptoms of low BS and that instead of knowing they accuse US.