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Posted on 04/20/2011 10:35:36 AM PDT by WOBBLY BOB
I often see DUI cases or the like where the driver borrowed someone's car so they could drive despite the fact the have no license and/or are suspended.
Why is it the owner of the car is never charged as an accessory to a crime?
If the owner did not file a police report of their car being stolen and the driver has keys, the presumption of guilt and burden of proof should be on the owner of the car. (How else would another person be driving the car?)
(Excerpt) Read more at freerepublic.com ...
How does your state do it ?
(Here, people with multiple DUIs buy cars from the Thrifties section looking for cheap cars with 8-12 months left on the tabs and drive it without updating registration until it expires or they're arrested for being a jackass again)
Here in CT you can elect to have the license plate stay with you and even pass it on to your children.
In CA the plates stayed with the car.
In Ohio, the plates with the person registered, from car to car, or can be canceled for new plates when a new car is purchased (temp tag for 30 days.) Plates do not stay on a car when it’s sold.
In Idaho you keep the license plate and file a release of liability within 5 days of sale. The date on the form is the last day you are liable for anything done with the vehicle. It’s not the owner’s problem. It is
the criminal, scofflaw frequent DUI offender. Leave the non-participants
out of the legal morass.
I have a close freind that earned himself a DUI several years ago...I only found out about it this year. I would have never thought to pull his driving record before letting him borrow my car to run up to the store.
How about, instead of playing games with DUI, lets make the following changes:
1. If you create property damage, drunk, while in a car, you go to jail for 10 years and your property is seized to pay for the damage, and future wages are seized if necessary to pay for the damages. Hard labor on a road crew.
2. If you kill somebody driving drunk it’s a Murder One charge.
3. Eliminate the breathalyzer, until and unless somebody causes property damage or a death.
What this does is it eliminates the entire industry surrounding DUI. It get’s rid of the cops, the courts, the lawyers playing the DUI game. It eliminates checkpoints. It eliminates the jobs of DA’s, Cops, and other otherwise unemployable attorneys. It eliminates record keeping at the court house. More city jobs gone, gone gone. It also eliminates drunk drivers.
But then again, nobody really wants to solve the problem of DUI. They just want to hire more armed union thugs, and otherwise unemployable lawyers, and give cops reasons to set up unconstitutional road blocks.
Well, the easiest question to answer is why the owner isn’t charged as an accessory to the crime. If I loan you my rifle to go hunting, and you rob a 7-11 instead, am I an accessory? In order to be an accessory to drunk driving, you’d have to willingly loan your car to someone who is already visibly intoxicated. Most states will charge you under those circumstances.
If I on the other hand loan you my car to go out dancing, I have no a priori reason to assume that drunkeness will be involved, which is the legal threshold.
Illinois licenses are car specific. But if someone was arrested driving another’s car the owner would pay through the nose by the time it was impounded and eventually bought back from the Pound. Hundreds of dollars minimum and it could get into the thousands if enough time passed.
If I knowingly lend a firearm to a felon, I can be charged with a crime.
If I carelessly leave a gun where a child can get to it, I can be charged with a crime. (intent is not needed to be charged with this crime in MN)
Cars kill ,maim and injure a lot more people than firearms every day in this state ,but politicians only focus on “easy access to guns”. So what about easy access to 2 ton guided missiles called cars?
I hear what you’re saying.
I’m just of seeing the same old crap on the news every night.
poster # 6 makes a lot of sense. which is why it will never happen. (MN leads the country in recidivism rates) I think everyone gets probation.
Ah I only lived in WA for 4 years so I never got a new plate. And in NM I never changed cars, so ... have no idea what they do there.
I like your thinking.
my ? stems from a recent case here where mom lended her car to her daughter who had no license or insurance then runs someone over , crippling them for life and bankrupting them with medical bills.
all while texting on her phone...
Here in WV the tags stay with the owner. If I sell my vehicle to you the tags are still registered to me.
A quick story about the DUI laws.
My niece was at work and her live in boy friend (drug addict, drunk, child abuser “neglect”, no drivers license) decided he need some meth so he took her car without her knowledge and wrecked it.
When she tried to press charges the DA informed her that since there was an extra set of keys and he knew where they were he “had” permission to drive the car.
He then sued her insurance and received a settlement and her insurance would not pay for the car since she allowed an unlicensed driver to operate it.
Are our laws wonderful or what!
If I were the DA, I go after the daughter only.
The civil case against the mother is a no brainer, and the plaintiff will win.
So, if I give someone something and they use it in a crime I am guilty? Well, then, Mr. Taxpayer, that DUI offender also used YOUR roadways to commit the crime! Well, now, seems we need to arrest you for accessory to DUI for providing the roadways for which the crime could not have taken place without.
Uhh Your either go to the county courthouse, the DMV or by mail.
age can play a factor.
“social host” laws come to mind.
(party guest leaves your home drunk, you can be in trouble.especially if they’re a minor-like a grad party, etc)
I’d like that.
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