In every state, except Utah, the legal blood alcohol limit to operate an automobile is .08.
So when you hear of someone having a BAC of .34, you know that they are more than four times the legal limit to operate a motor vehicle on the streets, let alone on an airport runway.
Drunk Woman With .34 BAC Drives Car on Airport Runway
This all went down at the Tulsa Riverside Airport on Sept. 29. Police responded to a call that someone in a silver vehicle was driving on the airport runway. Yes, you read that correctly — driving their car on the airport runway.
Air traffic control called local police to report what looked to be someone intoxicated driving a vehicle on the runway. A pilot was trying to land a plane at the same time.
Another pilot that was taxiing on the tarmac stopped his plane and got out to confront the driver of the car. That pilot said that they saw a belligerent woman with a vehicle full of beer cans, so he too called police.
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When police arrived, it looked like a college frat party had happened in the woman’s ride. They found 18 empty beer cans inside her vehicle, along with a cardboard box of Coors Light, an empty six-pack container and a garbage bag full of other beer cans.
Woman arrested, accused of .34 BAC while driving on airport taxiway
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Officers had her step out of the vehicle to do a breathalyzer test. The accused woman dang near broke the thing by blowing .34! She was not cleared for takeoff.
Country Stars Arrested for DUI
Country music has always had a little bit too close of a relationship with drinking, so it’s no surprise that some of the biggest stars in country music have been arrested for DUI.
Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker
MNPD/Michael Buckner, Getty Images
Michael Buckner, Getty Images
George Jones
George Jones was one of the most legendary drinkers in country music history, and he was arrested on two different occasions for DUI.
The first incident took place in 1982 at the height of his alcohol and drug abuse, and he was captured on camera resisting arrest and arguing with a news reporter who was filming. Jones pleaded guilty to DUI, and he received a fine, a suspended 30-day sentence and a year of probation.
Jones faced a second arrest for DWI in 1999, when he flipped his SUV. He sustained severe injuries, including a collapsed lung and internal bleeding, and spent 13 days in the hospital after the accident, and ultimately pleaded guilty to DWI. He received a fine, but no jail time, and the terrifying incident straightened him up for good. The country legend was reportedly sober from then until his death in 2013.
MNPD
Sam Hunt
Sam Hunt’s blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit when Nashville police arrested him for DUI in November of 2019, after drivers reported him going the wrong way on a street in East Nashville.
The singer pleaded guilty to DUI in August of 2021, and he received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days, most of which was suspended. He agreed to serve 48 hours in a DUI education center, and he also lost his license for a year and was required to complete an alcohol safety course. He later wrote a song called “Locked Up” about the incident.
MNPD
Morgan Wallen
Morgan Wallen has been in and out of the headlines over the years for a series of legal infractions in which alcohol played a role, but his DUI arrest in 2016 went largely unreported.
Police arrested Morgan Wallen on Jan. 18, 2016. He faced charges of misdemeanor driving under the influence after that arrest, which prosecutors later dropped.
That arrest appears to have been expunged.
Randy Travis
Randy Travis
Police in Texas arrested Randy Travis for DWI in August of 2012 after he was involved in a one-car accident. His blood alcohol was nearly three times the legal limit, and he reportedly resisted arrest and threatened arresting officers.
The country icon pleaded guilty to DWI in February of 2013, and he paid a $2,000 fine and served two years of probation as part of a plea deal.
MNPD
Wynonna Judd
Wynonna Judd was arrested and charged with DUI in November of 2002, when police observed her speeding near Music Row in Nashville.
She pleaded guilty to DUI in December of 2013, and received a suspended sentence and a year of probation. She also lost her license for a year and agreed to perform 200 hours of community service.
MNPD
Joe Don Rooney
Rascal Flatts guitarist and singer Joe Don Rooney was arrested for DUI in September of 2021, after crashing his car into a tree in the early morning hours in an affluent Nashville suburb.
Rooney went to rehab, and he pleaded guilty to DUI in June of 2022. He was sentenced to 11 months and 29 days of jail time, but Rooney served just two days in jail, with the remaining 11 months and 27 days of his sentence suspended. He lost his license for a year and had a breathalyzer lock installed in his vehicle as part of the deal.
Rooney also went through a divorce with his wife, former Playboy Playmate of the Year Tiffany Fallon, after his arrest.
In January of 2024, the guitarist revealed that he was celebrating 28 months sober, admitting he would have never sought help if not for the crash.
Glen Campbell
Glen Campbell
Glen Campbell was arrested and charged with DUI and hit-and-run after he slammed his BMW into another car and fled the scene in Arizona in November of 2003.
Campbell pleaded guilty to extreme DUI and leaving the scene of an accident in May of 2004, and he spent 10 days in jail.
Mindy McCready
Mindy McCready
Mindy McCready was one of the most troubled singers in country music history, and she was arrested and charged with DUI in May of 2005 after being pulled over, refusing a breathalyzer test and failing a field sobriety test.
The “Guys Do It All the Time” singer was found not guilty of DUI in a trial in July of 2006 after her attorney successfully argued the sobriety test had been performed improperly.
The troubled singer was still mired in numerous personal and legal problems when she died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in February of 2013.
Michael Ray
Michael Ray
Michael Ray was arrested and charged with DUI in Florida after bumping another car in a fast-food driveway in December of 2017.
The charge was later reduced to reckless driving due to a procedural error.
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