The Weekenders wrote: In our town, if a DUI arrest is made, it is usually thrown out in court due to mistakes by the arresting officer. Our county States Attorney is extremely mad over that.
How about 77 DUII cases - yeah, 77 cases thrown out. That happened recently in Corvallis, OR.
The officer arrested more than one person who blew a 0.00 and passed a blood drug test. Then when challenged on it, the officer apparently changed stories multiple times.
Many of those cases were valid 0.08+ blood tests, but they just didn't want to taint of corruption on those cases so the DA dumped them all.
symbasden wrote: I think there should be a difference between .01 over and double the limit. However, I also think there should be zero tollerance after your first DUI. If you get a second DUI you should get jail time and no license for a year or more. If you get a third you should be in jail for a long time.
I agree (with all of it!)
The law doesn't differentiate between a barely impaired and barely able to crawl. One is more likely to result in carnage than the other.
You don't want to go to light on the barely impaired so that people consider it no big deal though.
wa8yxm: I'll give you a funny story (something to cheer up after you sobering one!). I'm sure you've heard many, but how about one like this one?
A older guy with dementia went out driving and got on the freeway going the wrong way. Coming the other way, a woman saw the car coming and came to a complete stop in her lane. The old guy ran into her. He wasn't going fast enough to cause major injury. The problem? The lady coming the other way was quite drunk.
Here she is, doing nothing driving wise wrong, and she gets popped for the DUII. Not that I feel sorry for her since she was drunk... but it's still rather ironic.
I have an idea why drunk driving laws are not enforced as they should by the courts and why the laws are not tough enough. My thought is that the judges, legislators and prosecutors probably drink and more than likely drink and drive. I guess they don't want to have to face stiffer penalties if they are caught.
What some countries and a very few jurisdictions understand is that drunk or impaired driving is not an accident, it is an intentional act. Having sympathy on the driver because of a bad decision (to drive impaired or drunk) is never going to help anything. Here on Long Island there is the beginning of a great trend of charging drunk drivers with murder because they INTENTIONALLY got behind the wheel. That is the great point - getting drunk may well be an accident while consuming alcohol but getting behind the wheel is intentional and about the same risk to everyone else as someone with a gun taking shots in random directions.
IMHO that is the right way to go. Therapy for the problem of drinking too much all the time can be 10 to 20 in a cell. That will cure any drinking problem while keeping the public safer.
2004 Starcraft Aruba 25RS, 2004 Dodge Dakota SLT. Just the two of us, 2 Jacks and a desire to roam!
Two cousins of mine years apart from the same mother lost their lives to drunk drivers who didn't care. One said at the hospital when my aunt showed up to view her daughter and was refused due to the condition of the body that he was the one who hit and dragged her daughter over 300 feet before stopping and what was she going to do about it. They deserve worse then life in prison.
My son doesn't drink but I told him if he did think about calling me ANY TIME of the day for me to pick him up. He promises if he did drink he would do this. He probably won't drink but just in case. He is now 22 yrs old now and I still say it to him.
I can tell you that the laws and enforcement in Europe are much more stringent than in the US. For instance, loss of license on the first offense is the norm. In Finland, the first offense fine is a percent of your annual income. A Nokia executive paid about $250,000 a few years back.
In 2000 I attended a Carnival (Mardi Gras) parade in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany. The guest of honor was supermodel Heidi Klum since it was her home town. A good time was had by all, to say the least. Then we had to figure out how to get everyone home. First offense in Germany at the time was loss of license (even a US license) and a $2,000 to $3,000 fine. Driving 'buzzed' was not even up for discussion.
Wow. This post has raised a lot of interesting discussion. I guess I am lucky. I have not been touched personally by any DUI fatalities or disabling injuries, but I am very much in favor of stiffer penalties for drunk driving offenses and more proactive enforcement.
However, I would be interested in hearing some of your opinions/personal policies for having a social drink and then driving.
Personally, my policy is as follows:
If I am driving with my kids, I will not have any alcohol and drive. If I am in a social setting, I will have one drink (usually a beer) and if I have an hour or more after consumption, I will drive home. I always felt that I was completely unimpaired in this situation.
However, after reading some posts and doing some other research, I am starting to question this policy. As a previous poster has stated, while one drink may not impair an individuals ability to drive, studies have shown that even low-level BAC readings can begin to impair cognitive problem solving skills and can impair an individuals ability to make decisions, especially under stress.
I guess that from now on, I will be more inclined to leave the car home, or call for a ride if I have any drinks, even one.
I guess, for me, setting aside the human costs for a moment, it comes down to a simple cost benefit analysis. An expensive cab ride for me in NB would be $20. If I am lucky and just get popped at a spot-check, or traffic stop, it will cost me $500 in fines, $$$ in increased insurance and maybe my job. If I am not lucky and hurt someone, how do you put a price on someone's misery? A $20 taxi seems pretty cheap.
So again, for everyone that has said they have no tolerance for DUI, what is your limit? 1 drink? 2 drinks? nothing?
Sean, Maureen, 4 Kids and a Shih-Tzu
2003 Rockwood Roo 21
2004 GMC Envoy XL (4.2 L V6)
Quote: So again, for everyone that has said they have no tolerance for DUI, what is your limit? 1 drink? 2 drinks? nothing?
I'll probably get flamed for this by the self-righteous tee-totallers, but I'll drive if I feel I'm below the 0.08 blood alcohol legal maximum. I make that judgement based on amount consumed, time since consumption, amount of food in my stomach, and how I feel.
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