Texas Frightens Me Sometimes

Ahhh...another beautiful morning in Austin. Crisp - a little more humid than I'd hope, but cooler nonetheless. Just had a delicious bowl of Barbara's Shredded Vanilla Almond flavored Oats with blueberries, some OJ and now plopped down on the couch sipping Brazillian coffee. My dog Mattie is curled up on the floor next to me. All seems right with the world. Until...

I turn on the local news to find that somehow, legally, Austin police will draw your blood down at the pokie if you refuse to take a breath-a-lizer test when pulled over. Comma-say-wha?

I know what you're thinking. Drinking and Driving is a horrible thing that sometimes ends up in tragedy. I agree. However, you don't live in Texas.

In Texas, it's the longarm of the law that rules.




And, in Austin, I've watched over the last six years the presence of police increase at least two-fold, which has only made me feel less safe. Furthermore, Austin police love to pull people over. It's sport down here. I've personally been pulled over half-a-dozen times for nothing, and even sometimes fabricated incidents. 95 percent of my friends have had to take the driving test after being pulled - some deserved - most not. This driving test is intended to keep driving misdemeanors off your record and is coincidentally offered via video or at the Comedy Club. Yes, it is a joke.

This is why I am scared about the Police having the legal capacity to force a blood draw down at the station if you refuse a breath-a-lizer on the street. When I first moved here, a lawyer friend of mine specifically instructed me never to agree to a breath-a-lizer when pulled over in Texas. I didn't think much of it at the time, but soon enough, I got pulled over, and fortunately did not have to refuse anything...however, I find his first words to me as a new Texan alarming. Welcome to Texas.

Many cops will ask you to do it, and in the past, you had the right to say no with little to no reprecautions (if you seemed reasonably sober, or even actually sober.) But, as my lawyer friend told me, the breath-a-lizer tests are sometimes faulty and if you take one and it takes a false reading, it would go on your record permanently, land you in jail and possibly ruin your career. But, to think now you would be forced to take a blood test.

My fear is that our Police in Austin - the ones who are out pulling people over on the side of the road - seem a little power hungry to begin with. The idea that they have absolute law to take you "downtown" and draw blood seems barbaric and very un-American.

I'm curious to see what the reaction of other people in Austin will be. In the mean time, I'll be driving like a grandma.