You two are entering Round 47.
Posted on 02/23/2006 5:12:43 AM PST by Cagey
Baltimore television station WBAL reported that one bill would have convicted drunken drivers wear a Scarlet Letter of sorts.
According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics, 45 percent of Maryland's traffic fatalities are related to alcohol. The House Judiciary Committee heard about 18 driving under the influence bills Tuesday, but none as controversial as the so-called Scarlet Letter approach.
Montgomery County Delegate Herman Taylor, D-District 14, introduced House Bill 1315, which would require the state's Motor Vehicle Administration to issue special license plates to people convicted on at least two DUI offenses.
WBAL reported critics have called the measure a bumper sticker solution to crash prevention.
"It's intended to track people who have had two or more offenses dealing with drunken driving," Taylor said.
The license plates would contain the letters "DUI" in bold. Taylor said a drunken driver struck him last May, and at the time of the crash, police had no idea that person was a multiple offender.
Taylor considers the DUI plate an ounce of prevention because it gives police a license to stop the driver at any time.
"(The bill) will allow (police) to, without probable cause, pull them over and check" their driving records, Taylor said.
Defense attorneys have raised questions as to the specter of possible civil rights and other violations.
"I don't think the answer is a license plate, I think the answer is certainly more treatment and rehabilitation, which the governor has supported (and) the House Judiciary Committee has supported, tougher penalties for subsequent offenders," said Montgomery County Delegate Luiz Simmons, D-District 17, a member of the House Judiciary Committee.
Other states have already instituted similar measures. WBAL reported Ohio issues to habitual drunken drivers a yellow license plate that has red numbers.
Last year, Florida's Legislature considered requiring those with multiple DUI convictions to use a bright pink license plate. WBAL reported a similar issue also came up some 10 years ago in California.
Michigan currently uses paper tags to identify repeat offenders, while Oregon and Washington state put a zebra sticker over the plate of habitual offenders.
Thanks!
That is exactly what I was worried about. How many DUI multiple offenders would actually be caught by this law? As a part of this law, are we going to require all friends, family, and associates of a DUI multiple offender to drive around with a DUI license plate? Right. Enforce that.
In Ohio, they used to give drunks a yellow plate for a probationery period. (I think)
Purposefully so.
OK, Einstein, let me break out the Crayolas so you'll be sure to understand.
What you and others are advocating is a "your papers please" kind of society. You apparently see no problem in labeling people according to the political tides of the moment (read: demogaugery).
The Nazis did that as Old Sarge pointed out. I believe that sometime in the future, perhaps the very near future, that conservatives and right-wingers will be viewed by the liberal society at large akin to how they view child molesters.
That's why I asked you if you had ever been to an ANSWER rally. You have chosen not to answer. Very well. I will answer.
An ANSWER rally is full of unbridled hate and evil. This is self-evident if the rally is viewed from close proximity (as I have done on a number of counter-protesting occasions).
Let me ask you another question: Ever listen to Al Gore speak in some of his more unhinged moments? What do you think will happen if he becomes president?
If they are handing out DUIs there for .02, I don't support this measure.
"(The bill) will allow (police) to, without probable cause, pull them over and check" their driving records, Taylor said.
What a retard. Any stop based only on the license plate would be unconstitutional and require suppression of any evidence collected. No amount of legislation will overturn the probable cause requirement to stop a vehicle. What the plate will do is create a presumptive suppression issue for every DUI stop that involves someone with one of these plates. J@ck@asses
See post number 87. The only real effect will be to hamper the ability of prosecutors to secure convictions. Period.
I'm so sorry. Like you guys don't have enough to put up with over there! Hope you're all well soon.
My brother is an alcoholic, and from what I know and have experienced, I don't think the plates would have stopped him. I think it is, as one poster said, feel-good legislation.
In my brother's case, he had to hit rock bottom and was faced with prison before he checked himself into rehab. He is now sober and employed at a rehab half-way house for men. Sadly, though, some people are never able to get the monkey off their back, and license plates nor any other intervention will help.
My 2 cents.
Do your nieces and nephews point and laugh at handicapped people, too?
Your 2 cents count! I agree that no license plate (nor revoking a license, for that matter) will stop a drunk from driving, and I'm sympathetic to the embarrassment of sober drivers who have to drive that car. The major benefit I see from the proposed law is that drivers behind that car will be able to see the plate and give the car a wide berth.
My purpose here isn't to Do Good, as a couple of posters here have suggested, but rather to decrease the likelihood that a drunk driver will smash into me or someone I love one day.
Another possible benefit is that the embarrassed family members will be less tolerant of the drunk. My mom, for example, used to let my dad drive with all of us in the car, even when he was UI. I don't think she should have done that, and maybe the license plate would have embarrassed her enough to decide differently. And leave him a lot sooner than she did. Shame is a great social motivator, though I certainly understand that it's not a cure-all.
Only if you considered chronic alcoholics to be handicapped. Personally, I look at it more as a self-inflicted injury.
You don't get one of those tags for your first DUI, you have to be deemed by the court to be a "hard core drunk driver", according to this standard:
Hardcore drunk drivers can be defined as those who drive with a high blood alcohol concentration of .15 or above, who do so repeatedly, as demonstrated by having more than one drunk driving arrest, and who are highly resistant to changing their behavior despite previous sanctions, treatment or education.
Terms used in Ohio that could identify hardcore drunk drivers are:
• Repeat offender — 2nd and subsequent offenses in 6 years.
• Felony DUI —
- 4th degree felony = 4th offense within 6 years.
- 3rd degree felony = 5th and subsequent offenses within a lifetime.
Ridicule is very light treatment for people who repeatedly put other peoples' lives in jeopardy by driving while intoxicated. Being an alcoholic may be a sickness, but getting behind the wheel of a car while drunk is not protected behavior, nor is it reason for much sympathy.
It is a stupid idea. Drunks will drive with or without a license. It is common to cite a driver for driving on a suspended or revoked license. A second offense should carry a minimum 1 year (felony) stay in prison and a lifetime prohibition from driving. If the individual is caught driving subsequent to this event, give them 10 years.
My attitude may seem harsh, but drunk drivers have killed more friends and acquaintances than I have fingers and toes to count.
Maybe you'd like to see them forced to wear yellow martini shaped patches on their clothes too
I read this post after I responded before, sorry if my post was kind of brusque.
I think the purpose of the plates is to subject repeat offenders to social ridicule as a way to get them to stop. If someone's wife is embarrassed if she has to drive the car with the yellow plates, she will likely reinforce the hubby's need to clean up.
My neighbor across the street has at least 5 DUIs, including one where he hit a parked police car and fled the scene.
But he isn't bad enough to have the yellow plates. The yellow plates only affect a potential DUI because a cop can stop them at any time and check them, which may prove to be a deterrant to some. Whether or not it is a significant deterrant to someone who is so far into the bottle that he doesn't care and does it anyway, I don't know.
But IMHO, most of the people who do get those yellow tags are way, way past the point that they should have any kind of license.
I agree with everything you said. Thanks for stating it all so well!
Do you have a hidden agenda?
Maryland government threw away the constitution years ago. I suspect that there are questons on the bill of right for the Maryland civil service exam, and if they get them right, then they fail.
You two are entering Round 47.
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