Posted on 08/07/2007 4:59:35 PM PDT by rellimpank
"Pre-emptive war" got us into a real mess in Iraq. So maybe we ought to think twice before adopting similar measures when it comes to traffic law. Specifically, when it comes to an idea floated by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) to require that all new cars be fitted with an ignition interlock that can detect alcohol in the driver's system -- and shut the car down if it does.
Several large automakers (including GM, Ford, Toyota and Honda) also support the idea -- and are working on ways to get these things into new cars, maybe within the next two or three years, if not sooner.
Sounds OK in principle -- sort of like the idea of liberating Iraq. The devil's in the details, though.
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
Define "drunk".
Please leave me out of your perverted sexual fantasies.
I've already done it at least three times. Read the thread. I've said that these machines are going to have to be set at 0.10% BAC.
That makes four times. Read it this time.
Source and link, please (other than MADD and their NHTSA partners).
You pick this post out while cannot answer the others?
Are you a carrot?
Shakes head and get ready for a real job.
Another hypothetical, since you didn’t respond to my last one.
All firearms are fitted with these ‘breathalyzer’ devices. After all, they are more dangerous. Right?
You have had a few beers, and are over the “legal limit”. You are wakened by glass breaking and are under a home invasion by 2 criminals. You grab your shotgun and point it at the intruder who is headed for your child’s room only to find that it will not fire because of your blood alcohol content being too elevated. You are then killed by the intruder, and the rest of your family will suffer the same fate.
Define "drunk".
Actually, that is what you sound like. You are trying to justify everyone to be required to have this device in their car and pass a breathalyzer every time they get in their car because of of few idiots.
Well, it's not MADD and it's not NHTSA. It's the NTSB.
"Approximately 41 percent of the highway deaths nationwide are alcohol-related. Unfortunately over the last five years, the proportion of alcohol-related fatalities has not been improving and increased last year. The trend for the last five years has been in the wrong direction. In 2001, impaired driving resulted in 17,448 alcohol-related fatalities nationwide, with hard core drinking drivers involved in almost 40 percent of these deaths."
Now I've done it four times. Read the thread.
So, tell us who decided that 0.10% was "drunk"? Physicians, scientists, politicians, MADD, or you?
Same thing.
That was the pre-MADD standard. I believe "physicians and scientists" is the correct answer.
Thank you for injecting some common sense and the voice of experience into this thread. It’s about time.
No, you haven't. Now, you need to add the definition of "alcohol-related".
If you actually research it, you may be surprised what that is.
How about this scenario?
Some guy celebrating his birthday, has a couple of beers sitting at home, his wife all of a sudden decides she is having her baby 5 weeks early.....
Actually, I believe that 0.20% was the pre-MADD standard set by physicians and scientists.
“I too am very wary of more govt control. And I know that many accidents and fatalities are caused by idiots using cell phones, reading maps and putting on makeup. And you can argue all you want about the Fed’s stats on drunk driving, but the fact is 10-15000 AMERICANS A YEAR ARE killed by drunk drivers,”
Sorry about your Dad. Those cases are heartbreaking. The reality of it is that POS should be in jail for manslaughter at least. For a heck of a lot longer than 3 years. He also shouldn’t have been driving in the first place. If his son helped him get into the car then he would have blown the test for him as well.
That's what ambulances are for. If you live somewhere out there in the hills and an ambulance would take 45 minutes to get there, that's what neighbors are for.
If you don't have any neighbors, you shouldn't have been drinking in the first place when your wife is pregnant and 34 weeks along, because that kid can decide to pop out at any time. This is what we people in the civilized world like to call "personal responsibility."
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