Large snowstorms like this past weekend’s blizzard keep people off the roads, and therefore there usually aren’t many drunk driving arrests. Except of course, drunk plow drivers.
A man was arrested in Wayland on charges of OUI, driving to endanger, and driving with an open container of alcohol after a driver called police saying the plow nearly hit his car.
The man plead guilty in Framingham district court to the charges after admitting he was drunk , and blowing a .26 BAC, over 3 times the legal limit. He was said to have an open water bottle in the car with about an inch of vodka remaining.
He will be faced with a year of probation, and a loss of license for 45 days. As a condition of his probation, he will be required to abstain from alcohol for a year, and will be subject to random alcohol checks, as well as AA meetings, and the standard 16 week alcohol education class for first offenders.
There was no word on whether or not he worded for a plowing company, or how he got the contract to remove snow from the streets of Wayland.
From the facts of the case, it appears that it was a 1st offense OUI. It also does not appear that that man had a commercial driver’s license, which would have caused extra complications in his case and license reinstatement.
Cases like this are fairly unusual, which is certainly why it is newsworthy. In general, large storms are the slowest for drunk driving arrests.
Though the case is odd and a little bit funny, it really isn’t a laughing matter. We can all agree that anyone entrusted to a public service and public safety job like clearing out streets after a major storm should be held to a higher standard than the average driver on the road. An impaired driver of a large truck and a plow can obviously cause significant damage to life, limb, and public property.
You can bet that his future career opportunities as a contracted public safety worker in the Commonwealth will be curtailed. It will be interesting if any additional details come out has to how he was employed.
