People will do some pretty creative things to get around after a driving while intoxicated (DWI) charge. Some people will ride bikes, others will take the bus, and some people will drive a pink Barbie car to get from class to class on their University campus.
If you think that sounds like something out of a sitcom you’d see on TV, you’re not alone. The people who have spotted a 20 year old co-ed driving a pink Barbie car around are sharing her picture on social media and blasting the horn when they see her. Most people think it’s funny, but what’s not funny is why she’s driving a Barbie car in the first place.
The 20-year-old Texas State student was arrested on DWI charges on March 4th. Her arrest came after she refused to submit to a breathalyzer test, resulting in an automatic license suspension of 180 days. She was subsequently charged with DWI, and when that happened her father took away her vehicle and left her with a bicycle to get around campus.
But it’s hot in Texas, and if you ask anyone who has ridden a bike around campus, they’ll tell you it’s not the ideal mode of transportation. In order to have something motorized to drive around on, the student in question purchased a hot pink Barbie Powerwheels from a little girl. Now instead of walking or riding her bike around campus, the student drives her Barbie car.
She may only be rolling at 5 mph per hour on the road, but photos of her driving her Barbie car have gone viral online at a speed no one could have predicted. Although some articles commented on how funny it was, people are now wondering if she’s making a mockery of DWI.
With Texas leading the country in alcohol-related crashes and Texas DWI laws recently changed to require ignition interlock devices for all offenders, it’s a really bad time for anyone in the state to thumb their nose at the penalties from a DWI. Odds are a judge may not look to favorably on her finding wheels again so soon after she was required to give up her drivers license either.
In the meantime, this is one student who’s enjoying the notoriety that her DWI has brought her, and that’s not a good thing no matter what state she lives in.
Photo by mashable.com