Subject to police search?

[Luke]

I am going to sign up for the national gaurd soon and with my signing bonus I think I will buy a 6x6 military truck or a school bus. But if it is going to be the school bus there is an important condition to be met.

I plan to put couches, sound system and a television as well as refrigeration for beverages. Many of my friends and myself are still under 21, I would like a way for us to party on the road without anyone getting a DUI. My plan is to build a "bulkhead" , like a plywood wall between the drivers area and the rest of the bus with a lockable door. Then one or two person would be designated drivers so we could party or go to concerts etc. My question is, if a policeman saw my fun wagon and pulled me over do you think he would insist on seeing the passenger area? What I have always understood is I could firmly state that "I do not consent to any unwarranted searches" but I don't know if this would work when people are barricaded in the back of a bus. Basically I don't want to get a bus if all of my friends are going to end up cited for underage drinking since the whole point is to keep everyone out of trouble.

Please don't take this as some sort of criminal plot, I am trying to have a good time without anyone getting a DUI. What do you guys think? I see lots of motorhome conversions here, anyone have experience with a party on wheels?

[Jarlaxle]

Check Kansas law...maybe ask a cop. MOST states allow alcohol in a motorhome as long as it's not in the driver's reach.

[Stuff]

if it is your primary residence they need a search warrent

[Diddly]

Originally Posted by Smitty

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. A cop is gonna do whatever he wants, all he needs is probable cause. If what you've posted is your sole reason for getting a bus, don't because it's going to be nothing but trouble for you. If you want to "party" underage, do it at someone's house, not on the road.

Smitty

Agreed, likely a great plan to be in the running for a Darwin award.

[lornaschinske]

Originally Posted by Stuff

if it is your primary residence they need a search warrent

Not all states recognize an RV as a home, even for full-timers. And the side of the road is NOT the place to argue law with a cop. As for underage drinking... you will be in trouble for that whether you are at home or in the bus. Under age drinking is illegal. If a cop sees underage drinking he has the right to search your vehicle. That means it can be torn apart on the side of the road and you can spend your time putting everything back in place. That is IF he doesn't find recreational drugs on some of your underage friends (shades of Cheech & Chong's Pedro's Request/Framed... "That wasn't even my stuff, I was just holding it for a friend"). Personally, I think if you can join the military and die for your country, then you can be an idiot and get stinking drunk. I do think the drinking laws in this country need to be changed to where if you have a military ID then you can get stinking drunk if you so desire. But that is the only exception. But I also think drunks are immature, moronic jerks and prefer that they stay far, far away from me. I don't have to deal with the alcoholics in my family and I don't see why I should have to put up with the fools that aren't related to me.



Framedhttp://www.musicmademe.com/song/lyrics/346463..

[Luke]

alrighty guys, deuce and a half it is

[swhite832]

Why dont you save your money...go to college...and study Constitutional law. After questions like this and a stint in the military, you will want to.

[madpsalmer]

A skoolie will not answer your issue. To break the law in any context will only bring you more pain and troubles than you need or desire. We live in world of personal choice, if you did this you would put many under-aged in harms-way as well as you yourself would become liable. Your just asking for a mess man, the last thing you need is to get into trouble while your in the military.(consequences are much more severe)

Youth is a gift, be wise and make the most of your time, it will disappear before you know it. The last thing you need is jail time to waste your prime years of health and vitality.

[Papabear]

Redleg, If you go with the party bus idea, you can count on a search, concidering your proposed scenario. Locking yourself away from the "party" will not save you from a problem if the drinkers are underage. Search warrant? Not needed. You can call it your home or whatever, but your in a licenced motor vehicle, moving down the road. The Officer can also ask everyone to step out of the vehicle to check ID's. You can refuse a search of your vehicle. At that point you can be held until a K9 unit has arrived and done a walk around and either cleared you or taken a hit, at which point there is probable cause for a search. AND that probable cause could be determined by the LEO at the point of pulling you over. Point is, your asking for trouble. If everyone drinking was of age it would be different.
If your going to hook up with the Armed forces, I will thank you for your service in advance. If your enlisted and willing to give your life for our country you should be able to "tie one on" legally, no matter the age. But until that's the case, just save yourself some heartache and try to abide with the drink'in laws.

Just DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE - especially a 15,000+ lbs. brick on wheels

[thechandler]

jesus. all you guys act like youve never had some beers with the guys before you were 21. My and my friends drink on my bus all the time, though never on the road and certainty not while driving. Everybody drinks under 21, its only the idots that crash and do stupid stuff. think back to your highschool years, we all drank. and the whole not being able to legally drink if your in the military is straight bullshit. By a bus luke, its so much fun. countless nights me and my buds have been sittin around with nothing to do, so we just say "lets go chill on the bus. best part is you have a place to sleep to if you dont/cant drive home. do it.

[Stuff]

weeding out the bad ones. just unfortunate they sometimes take the good ones with them...

[thechandler]

Originally Posted by Smitty

You may want to go back and re-read the OP again because drinking on the road was EXACTLY what he stated he wants to do. Put a bunch of drunk teens in a bus on the road....yeah, smart to justify that Maybe someday one will kill one of your family members, hell maybe all of 'em.

Smitty

Alright I dont want to get on anyones bad side here. I guess I didnt realize he said he would be rolling down the road while livin it up. I guess I think it would still be alright if its a sealed off area away from the driver, but that sounds pretty un realistic/impractical. And wtf smitty thats pretty low.

[lornaschinske]

Originally Posted by thechandler

jesus. all you guys act like youve never had some beers with the guys before you were 21. My and my friends drink on my bus all the time, though never on the road and certainty not while driving. Everybody drinks under 21, its only the idots that crash and do stupid stuff. think back to your highschool years, we all drank. and the whole not being able to legally drink if your in the military is straight bullshit...

No I haven't had any beers or anything else before I was 21. I watched my idiot friends get high on drugs more than booze (most of them were dead before they ever hit 40). I never said that you shouldn't drink if in the military. I think that if you are in the military you should be able to since you are old enough to die for you country. As for drinking in my high school years, I have a long history of alcoholics in my family. Most, if not all, started drinking in their early teens. My uncle (only one to ever get sober... has his 25 year pin) started drinking around the age of 12. 3 of my 4 great uncles were alcoholics. One claimed he drank because he survived the Bataan Death March... I asked him what his excuse for drinking was before that happened. He didn't mind that... just proved that I was a Sharpe and could dish out as well as he could. The Sharpes are long-lived and have a stubborn, mean streak in them. It comes in handy at times. He was also proud of me because I didn't drink (and would stand up to him). One of my best friends in NC was an alcoholic and started drinking as a pre-teen (common in that area) He later also got into drugs. Stopped drinking for a few years and got sucked back into it. Drunk and high until they found him, murdered, a couple of months ago. I never saw my paternal grandfather (occupation... farmer and moonshiner) sober except twice in my life... once in a hospital where he was drying out again and in his coffin. My maternal grandfather died shortly before I was born and finally pretty much quit drinking in his later years (he was a rum-runner during Prohibition). I don't think you have a clue to what early drinking can do to people. I've seen the results of it in my family. I've know folks who had close family killed from drunk drivers. And you response will most likely be "I can quit anytime" or something along those lines. And just because someone did something stupid when they were younger doesn't make it okay!

In case you don't know any history
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bataan_Death_March

[thechandler]

though i sympathize with your situation, you can't simply generalize a whole age group.

[lornaschinske]

Originally Posted by thechandler

though i sympathize with your situation, you can't simply generalize a whole age group.

You did!

Everybody drinks under 21

The OP is talking about breaking the law. A lot of the courts are getting tired of the underage drinking and are now going after the adults who facilitate the drinking. As a military person, the OP will have to deal with the military and could be dishonorably discharged. And drunk young underage girls that have sex can be classified as rape (too drunk to give consent) and the OP can also be prosecuted on rape charges. That means sex offender registry. Also mean being chased out of neighborhoods because those registries are public. I wouldn't hire someone that was listed on a sex offender registry. I don't care what classification they have. I think the OP (and a couple others on this site) haven't thought about the "worst case" scenario. And like Murphy's Law says, "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong". And then there are the parents who would take things into their own hands. I know that if my girls were under age and I found out they were in the situation that OP proposes... let's just say he would never see his 21st birthday, no body would ever be found and I would have an airtight alibi. It pays to know folks in low places.

[madpsalmer]

jesus. all you guys act like youve never had some beers with the guys before you were 21.

Well actually I never drank underage, I do knock back a few now but I have never driven after I have had any alcohol. Obviously you have never been impacted by drunk drivers and the negative effects of their stupidity. A pity be careful not to paint people such as the likes of me as a prude, You just have a narrow view of the truth of under aged children and their ability to make decisions.

13,846 deaths in 08 due to Alcohol and cars. 37% of all auto related accidents were fatal alcohol related accidents.

One out of 10 children ages 12 and 13 uses alcohol at least once a month.
In a single year, 522 children under age 14 were arrested for driving while intoxicated, (113 of them were under 10 years old).
70 percent of all teenagers drink alcohol.
60 percent of all teen deaths in car accidents are alcohol-related.

You figure it out...

[thechandler]

Originally Posted by lornaschinske

I know that if my girls were under age and I found out they were in the situation that OP proposes... let's just say he would never see his 21st birthday, no body would ever be found and I would have an airtight alibi. It pays to know folks in low places.

Oh, but your such a perfect parent that your girls would never be in that situatuion. And I guess i didnt know that murder was considered alright, but underage drinking? NO WAY!!!! totally illegal. haha jesus I think were all getting a little too worked up over this. And I never condoned drunk driving or even driving after drinking. IMO theres a huge difference between driving drunk and sitting around a campfire having a few beers. also just because im not about to spew out my entire family history does not mean that I have no idea what alcoholism is and how it affects a person and their family.

[lornaschinske]

One day you will change your tune.

[thechandler]

Originally Posted by Luke

My plan is to build a "bulkhead" , like a plywood wall between the drivers area and the rest of the bus with a lockable door. Then one or two person would be designated drivers so we could party or go to concerts etc.

Alright smitty see atleast he explains how it would be a sealed off area designed exactly to prevent "jacking with the driver"

Originally Posted by Smitty

Maybe someday one will kill one of your family members, hell maybe all of 'em.

THAT was low, how could you wish that on someone just to prove a point.

Originally Posted by lornaschinske

One day you will change your tune.

Maybe so, but hopefully not the tune that sings murder is justified.

[Papabear]

Chandler - Bottom line with a bulhead, barbed wire, electric fence, whatever, You still have a group of UNDERAGE people drinking in the back. They will be pulled over in a heartbeat, subject to search and hauled off in the paddy wagon.
There's a big difference between "sitting around the campfire" and driving around with a bunch of kids drinking. Don't matter if the driver(also underage) is sober or not. Aside from the safety aspect of having "a lockable door" to keep them pinned in.

Luke - buy the bus. You'll have some good times in it. There is just no reason to make it a mobile party wagon with a sign that says Arrest Me. Take the parties to somewhere less obvious and less mobile. If ya want you can be designated driver to take them all home after the party.

And what's up with YeagerBombs? I don't like the taste and you end up with a hyper drunk thats wide awake. At that point you have a fairly agressive and useless human being that you have to taze twice to put down. But then again it seems we have a whole generation that cannot make it day to day without a regiment of zippy drinks to help them through. Are we now also losing the natural energy to just make it through a regular day?

Smitty - Acha cha cha

As I step from the podium