"Messing" with OnStar gets men arrested for drunk driving

Aside from the usual party-related hazards of drunk driving, drunk dialing, and beer goggling, we're now faced with a new booze-fueled activity to avoid at all costs: drunk OnStarring. In yet another installment of our seemingly-endless gadgetcentric Stupid Criminals Series, two Michigan men were pulled over by police after an OnStar operator notified 911 that the mirror-mounted button in the men's Cadillac Escalade had been pushed several times without any feedback from the passengers. Apparently the owner of the Escalade, Gavin Grant, was too drunk to drive, so he gave the keys to his "more sober" buddy Brent Farmer, who subsequently blew a .30 (over three times the legal limit) when the po-po breathalyzed him. When asked why these two geniuses kept pressing the OnStar help button, Farmer told the cops that they were "just messing around." This being Farmer's third-offense drunken driving arrest, at least now he'll have to keep his messin' to the bus or sidewalk for awhile.

[Via Fark]

[ET @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

3rd DUI? They should take his license for life.

[JP @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

In Georgia they do take your license for life after the 3rd DUI

[Brian @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

Are we going to see this on the next Onstar commercial?

[Michele Johnson @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

3rd DUI, two wasn't enough to revoke the license?

mj
http://www.junglemungle.com

[Nick @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

dumbass...thanks for personifying the typical drunk-driving devil-may-care American attitude that the rest of the world pokes fun at us for.

[FJ Elf @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

He WINS! Give the man a beer

[torkhum @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

they should sue onStar for calling the cops on them... or not.
that is funny -they should've just called the X, like the rest of us. I LOOOB u BABY.

[jdw242 @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

gosh; once you get to 10 pushes the stun guns mounted in the seats kick in...

[AndrewNeo @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

OnStar didn't call the cops on them.. they called 911 because they weren't sure what was happening. Cops went to check it out, found out they were drunk.

Anyway, I suppose that's a good use for OnStar.. though maybe not for the car owner!

[choco @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

I used to be one of those OnStar operators. I worked the late shift so we used to get drunk people calling in all the time. I had someone who smashed his truck and didn't want the police to come out, so I didn't send them. It's his car so he can do what he want to. But if they press the emer button and if they don't answer when you come on the line, we automatically send the police. I once send the cops on someone who didn't answer that was going about 90 down the freeway and the cops gave him a ticket.

[XenoCorpse @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

OnStar can listen in, even when you don't know it. The feds have used it to spy on people.

Why anyone would want a Big Brother Button in their vehicle is beyond me.

[epp_b @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

["OnStar can listen in, even when you don't know it. The feds have used it to spy on people."]
That sounds like a conspiracy myth, but certainly scary if it's true.

["Why anyone would want a Big Brother Button in their vehicle is beyond me."]
'Only GM Could'

[Arman @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

3rd DUI?

What a piece of $h1t.

[John @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

Unfortunately, repeat DUI offenders, even if they lose their license, just get back in the cars and continue driving. It might deter them more if you seize their vehicles rather than impound them.

[Winterfresh @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

It's very true. I work in GPS. There are actual FBI cases against drug dealers where Onstar 'snooping' has been used. It's just a cell phone modem in a box with GPS.

[EatingPie @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

I hate our drunk driving laws. The guy should have had his license suspended on a first offense. Suspended for a full year at the very least. It's sick that this is not a fedral requirement.

In El Salvador, you used to get the firing squad on the first offense. Of course, that's when they were killing you just for things like walking and talking.

-Pie