Are DUI Laws Excessive in your state ... ?

[JSUnlimited]

Not to brush the drinking and driving thing under the carpet as I have seen the horrid results of such accidents while at work, but how about the following?

-Inexperienced drivers. Not just the teens, but anyone in general! I have lived in Ohio for all of my life. I have been a medic/firefighter for 15 years and it amazes me that during the first snowfall (nothing like you guys get in the NE) how many crashes there are! These people are from Ohio and it seems like it is the first time in thier life they have driven in inclement weather? Slow down folks, Wal Mart is open all night!

Of course you have the whole cell phone, texting, etc......no explanation needed there.

And now, more and more while driving down the road, I see these people with stupid navigation "TOM, TOM" things suction cupped to the windshield.....a distraction???? YEP! What happened to pulling over and looking at a good old fashioned map.
Again more dangerous than a drunk?

-Medicated drivers. There are plenty of experienced drivers out there that are taking more and more new medications for many reasons. Blood pressure, depression, insomnia, allergies....and the list goes on and on! Have you all read the side effects of some of even the simple over-the-counter meds, let alone prescription ones? Need I explain more?

-Sleepy drivers. How many times have you guys been driving down the road and felt.....well a little tired/bored? I'm sure it has happened to us all. How fast can we react when in that relaxed state?

-Elderly drivers. I think we may have all came close to or have had an accident with an elderly driver. Self-explainatory!

-Agressive driver. Idots...enough said!

So to answer the original question in the first post....who knows? It seems that a persons ETOH level either by breath or blood is the easiest to prove to be at fault for an accident. But, however look at all of the other idots around you that are more dangerous than someone who truly has had 1 or 2 glasses of wine/beer at dinner with family, etc. When there is an accident caused because someone was looking at "TOM, TOM" to figure out how to get to Wal Mart in 5 seconds in 8 inches of snow while texting a friend.....do they go to jail and thier family/career/life wrecked? NOPE.... Why, nothing provable. How about the 80 year old man in the Buick who plows through 20 people in a crowd because he mixed up the brake/gas pedal? He did not mean to do it, does he go to jail?

It is a shame anyone has to loose a life for any reason! Nothing is fair. Are laws focused too much in some areas than in others because of special interest groups?

Food for thought.

Okay guys.....tear me apart!

 

[jgrreed]

The point I went to an extreme to make here is, there is nothing more you can do as far as penalties, when the death penalty did not do the job. Sure they may get tired of being arrested, and having their vehicle impounded and or seized, and spending time in jail, if their habitual. However a person who has not been through all that, will not necessarily be deterred by it.

Sorry, one more thing.

I'd say the vast percentage (this is a total guess) of those charged with DUI are NOT the 'serial DUI'ers' that you're talking about here, right?? maybe 5%?? So, in my mind, a firm (one man's firm is another man's harsh) slap on the wrist that hits a guys where it hurts (wallet and unfortunately, family) will likely make him think long and hard next time, right?? It sure would for me, how about you??

Didn't stick to my guns about not talking about this anymore, did I???

-Jer.

 

[jgrreed]

Not to brush the drinking and driving thing under the carpet as I have seen the horrid results of such accidents while at work, but how about the following?

-Inexperienced drivers. Not just the teens, but anyone in general! I have lived in Ohio for all of my life. I been a medic/firefighter for 15 years and It amazes me that during the first snowfall (nothing like you guys get in the NE) how many crashes there are! These people are from Ohio and is it seems like it is the first time in thier life they have driven in inclement weather? Slow down folks, Wal Mart is open all night!

Agreed. It's the same up here. People in general have very short memories, a lot shorter than from snow melt to first snow fall!!

Of course you have the whole cell phone, texting, etc......no explanation needed there.

Si......

And now, more and more while driving down the road, I see these people with stupid navigation "TOM, TOM" things suction cupped to the windshield.....a distraction???? YEP! What happened to pulling over and looking at a good old fashioned map.
Again more dangerous than a drunk?

Own one, and agree...... guilty myself sometimes.

-Medicated drivers. There are plenty of experienced drivers out there that are taking more and more new medications for many reasons. Blood pressure, depression, insomnia, allergies....and the list goes on and on! Have you all read the side effects of some of even the simple over-the-counter meds? Need I explain more?

Yep, but good luck proving it.

-Sleepy drivers. How many times have you guys been driving down the road and felt.....well a little tired/bored? I'm sure it has happened to us all.

Yep, you're right. No quantifiable test of tiredness though

-Elderly drivers. I think we may have all came close to or have had an accident with an elderly driver.

Yep, but at least they're usually driving slow!!! Might bend your fender, unlikely to kill your family. Are there not rules on retesting elderly drivers after a certain age??

-Agressive driver. Same as elderly drivers....or we ourselves have been one!

Yep, but there's not an 'aggressometer', so good luck enforcing it.

So to answer the original question in the first post....who knows? It seems that a persons ETOH level either by breath or blood is the easiest to prove to be at fault for an accident.

Even if you're not at fault, if a kid runs in front of you and you could've have stopped 'impaired' or not, YOU'RE SCREWED!!!

But, however look at all of the other idots around you that are more dangerous than someone who truly has had 1 or 2 glasses of wine/beer at dinner with family, etc., and when they cause an accident because they are looking at "TOM, TOM" to figure out how to get to Wal Mart.....do they go to jail and thier family/career/life wrecked? NOPE.

Only if they do something really bad. Dangerous driving would be the charge, if it can be proven. I agree, but how can you prove that without an opportune security camera or several witnesses to prove it.

Not being "impaired" for any reason is called 'common sense', something that's pretty freakin' low in the world today!!!

Alcohol is an easily tested, measured, and common, form of impairment, so they can actually do something about it. Life ain't always fair, so for now we'll just have to accept that doing everything else possible except driving while on the I-5 is OK, but having 3 beers with the boys between 5 and 6 on friday, is not.

-Jer.

 

[JSUnlimited]

Life ain't always fair, so for now we'll just have to accept that doing everything else possible except driving while on the I-5 is OK, but having 3 beers with the boys between 5 and 6 on friday, is not.
-Jer.

How true, how very true.....and I think maybe you have summed up this whole post/thread?

 

[Cat_Driver]

...At least twice now I've asked what your alternative to current and/or stiffer penalties is. I'd like to hear what your thoughts are on what should be done with people caught driving drunk. Maybe there's something I haven't thought of.

OK I'll bite. Technology has advanced so that one must blow in a device in order to start a vehicle.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9770650-1.html

A lot of work can be done in bars:

Bartender can: suggest that the patron leave his or her car keys with the manager, who will ensure that the car is not towed away.
Offer to call a cab.
Offer to call a friend or relative who will agree to drive the customer home.
Encourage sober friends to drive the guest home.
Promote a designated driver program.
Install a taxi phone and/or have parking stalls reserved outside the main door for them.
Promote the safe ride program offered in your city...or start your own.
Encourage staff awareness.
If the patron refuses all of the above suggestions and still insists that he is not too intoxicated to drive home, inform your manager of the efforts you have made to provide alternative transportation. Your manager might intervene and inform the patron that the police may have to be called. This can be done anonymously, but this threat must be made with the full intention of following through if necessary.

 

[dmccarty]

If you drink and drive go look at the charts on this link. It tells you how many drinks will make you legally drunk based on your weight.

http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/healthissues/1100827422.htmlhttp://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/healthissues/1100827422.html

Two drinks in one hour will make a 110 pound man drunk while it takes four in an hour if the man is 200 pounds.

Women handle alcohol differently than men, a 100 or 120 pound women is over .08 with two drinks in an hour. A 180 pound man is drunk with four drinks per hour while a 180 pound women is drunk with three drinks per hour.

Its hard to judge what is a drink. By the book a 12 ounce beer is the same as 5 ounces of wine which is the same as 1.5 ounces of 80 proof spirits. I have beer in the fridge the ranges from maybe 4-5% alcohol to over 10%. Not all beer is created equal.

If you are drinking a mixed drink are you getting 1,2,3 or 4 ounces of alcohol? Its hard to know.

Drinking on an empty stomach makes the booze go into your blood stream quicker. If there is food in your stomach food is released over time thus if you are drinking and eating the alcohol will enter your system more slowly compared to an empty stomach. Drinking on an empty stomach means the booze goes down the hatch, through the stomach, into the intestines and into your blood stream pretty fast.

A man's body will metabolize an ounce of alcohol in one hour. A women will be a bit less. This is pretty important.

If you drink a beer at 5:00, 6:00, 7:00, and 8:00 you should be ok since the you are consuming and getting rid of one beer an hour. But if you are drinking two beers an hour and weigh 200 pounds.....

After the first hour, 6:00, you have one beer in your system.

At 7:00 you would have two.

At 8:00 you would have three.

At 9:00 you are at four drinks in your system and you are at .08

Later,
Dan

 

[JohnDeere4300]

Oh my God, my first controversial thread since 2004, my gosh it feels good !

*1. Does anyone know what happen to this person?

Since it was his first controversial thread since 2004.

my gosh it feels good!

H

Good Mornin Johndeere,
Im truly sorry that your life was so affected by a drunk ! Im also very sorry to hear that you were injured and lost your CDL.

But I have a hard time with someone being sent away to jail for 20 years after being stopped in a routine check after consumming two beers JMHO !
Which I guess Im entitled to an opinion also. So I guess Im saying that I dont agree with your system!


*2 (J.M.H.O.) Im guessing that it was my harsh punishment that
i thought should be made a law.

(.04, .08,) I think it should be (.00)

 

[Robert_in_NY]

And now, more and more while driving down the road, I see these people with stupid navigation "TOM, TOM" things suction cupped to the windshield.....a distraction???? YEP! What happened to pulling over and looking at a good old fashioned map.
Again more dangerous than a drunk?

I don't know if the Auto navigation devices are really as bad as drunk driving or playing with a cell phone. I don't have a dedicated one but my phone has a navigator feature. I only use it when I have to go somewhere in a city I am not use to or don't know where I am going exactly. I don't have to look at it either as it tells me which way to turn, how far the turn is and what road I am turning on so I have no reason to worry about anything other then what is going on outside of my truck.

If you are worried about these navigatiors and take them out of vehicles you will just have more people multitasking as they read their map on their steering wheel while navigating a major road or city street. I have used the navigator feature 4 times in the year that I have owned my phone and have found it to be a asset as I don't have to worry about finding my turn or missing my turn and having to find a place to turn around. The best part is the fact I don't have to look at it as the instructions it gives are great.

 

[JohnDeere4300]

OK I'll bite. Technology has advanced so that one must blow in a device in order to start a vehicle.

Volvo drunk-driving tool prevents start | Crave - CNET

A lot of work can be done in bars:

Bartender can: suggest that the patron leave his or her car keys with the manager, who will ensure that the car is not towed away.
Offer to call a cab.
Offer to call a friend or relative who will agree to drive the customer home.
Encourage sober friends to drive the guest home.
Promote a designated driver program.
Install a taxi phone and/or have parking stalls reserved outside the main door for them.
Promote the safe ride program offered in your city...or start your own.
Encourage staff awareness.
If the patron refuses all of the above suggestions and still insists that he is not too intoxicated to drive home, inform your manager of the efforts you have made to provide alternative transportation. Your manager might intervene and inform the patron that the police may have to be called. This can be done anonymously, but this threat must be made with the full intention of following through if necessary.

(I agree with you on all of that if they would just do it.)


most bars i see around in different states are only worried about
trying to get people packed in.

( But their mostly worried about if the flashing lights are working outside)

 

[IH3444]

There was a story in the paper, maybe 4 years ago about a repeated drunk who had been arrested for DWI. After the second arrest his state of Virgina I think I read that he had to serve mandatory jail time....well after the fifth arrest he was sentenced to 7 years in prison. Got released, several months later he ran head on into a mother and her three children and killed them all. So much for jail time for multi-repeat offenders. I have absolute zero tolerance for this type of behavior. What in the world can you do with these type of people? Lockup for life? How do you keep someone of this nature from obtaining booze and driving? It takes a real man like Eddie to get the wake up call, smell the coffee, and change his behavior. But these others, what in the world can you do with them???