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 ...
I have no problem with them being part of a sentence for a drunk driving CONVICTION. My problem is EVERYONE having to have one. so far there is no mandate, but the auto companies see it coming and that is why they are starting to put them in.........that is wrong.
I commented in another post, when I had some bloodwork done in the fall my BAC was .04, which is half the legal limit----yet I had not had any alcohol to drink in nearly a week, and even that was only a couple of glasses of wine with Thanksgiving dinner.
They are ALREADY figuiring out ways to bypass the detections. Early models were decieved with simple compressed air cans.
MADD is using this as a fundraising tool because their cause is finished.
As a lawyer, the amount of DUI cases is WAY down. It is NOT stiffer sentences, is is NOT overpaid DWI taskforce officers, it is NOT lowering the level to 0.08. What caused the change is EDUCATION, period. It was an education campaign where peopel were simply TAUGHT and INFORMED about the dangers of drunk driving.
It was the officers showing slides in highschools, it was the commercials, it is even the big booze companies which say the simple, drink responsibly.
EDUCATION made the difference.
MADD is only Mommies Aquiriing Damn Dinero.
Make no mistake this is only about money.
LOL, you can’t handle the truth!
There is a DUI firm in FL which actually maintains their own breathylizer. They have an excellent record showing how the machine can be made to do whatever you want.
Thinks like: airblank calibration hardwired to read zero, electical spikes which cause a .4 BAC reading (aka you are a corpse),air contamination from paint, breathmints causing false high positives,the machine can’t tell if you rate is going UP or DOWN, making the person wait for the reading to allow the body to absorb more alchol from the stomach.
BTW the last one REALLY makes the device useless, in theory if you have three shots of booze very fast and take the test right away your body does not yet have the alchol in the blood yet.
again, these machines are mere fundraisers.
MADD needs to go the way of the DoeDoe Bird.
This is a pile of crock...all a drunk needs to do is take their kid along just to have him/her breathe into the device, so not only can they drive drunk, they can now do it with a kid in the car, too. Real good solution, this is. /sarc
As well you should be.
I have no problem with them being court ordered for someone CONVICTED of a DUI, but I have serious problems with everyone having to have one in their vehicle, even if they never drink, or is like me and doesn't drive after drinking.
I tend bar part time and have done so on and off for more than 25 years, you best believe I know about alcohol consumption and driving. Where I work now is a members only private club, and I have ticked off more than one of them when I refused to serve them because they were intoxicated, including some officers of the organization.
My husband and I both volunteer in there to cook on Wednesday nights, he just called me to let me know he would be home in time so we only have to use one car, his. Which means if we're not busy in the kitchen I just might have a beer or 2. If I took my car, I'd be drinking Iced Tea.
OUCH!!!!!! That's gonna hurt, but it is an excellent point.
Exactly.
As long as the keys to the car are assessable to the driver then that is a DUI.
In Delaware even if the keys are under the seat or in the trunk it is considered accessible. Best bet is to toss them out the window.
I forget . . . maybe it was in 4th grade . . . I don’t really recall. It might have been in Jr High . . .
And, Alamo Girl has driven the lesson home here quite clearly and emphatically . . .
Calling ideas kooky
is different from
calling a poster an irrational cook out of touch with reality.
I may hit the abuse button.
But, for now, it’s comforting to see you tarnish your side’s ALCOHOL-AT-ALL-COSTS perspective with such outrageous personal, person-hood assaults and diatribes.
Reminds me of many rants I’ve heard in many an alcohol group . . . rationalizations, denial, justification for alcohol at all costs and the death, blood, burned body mayhem be d*mned.
Gotta RIGHT to get drunk!
Gotta RIGHT to drive drunk!
Gotta RIGHT to kill innocent children!
‘Welll, ah might not put it EXACTLY like that . . . but I’ll sure rant to functionally the same end.’
Very impressive.
Stop it.
Please define "Drunks" (in all caps, please-just to please the neo-prohibitionist crowd).
In my experience of a couple of decades of counseling many alcoholics and 100's of hours in alcoholic's groups . . .
it's the alcoholics and their fierce cohort defenders who
Shoot--they can't even face or acknowledge the truth to their mirrors.
9 DUI's . . . court ordered into the program on the 9th one . . . bodily harm to other families twice and once to himself . . .
FIRST WORDS OUT OF HIS MOUTH:
I DON'T NEED TO BE HERE. I DON'T HAVE AN ALCOHOL PROBLEM.
Try again. You're making your argument and perspective weaker all the time. Much appreciated.
Why do you care?
I’d certainly prefer it limited to folks convicted and/or otherwise documented to have an alcohol problem.
Alcoholic rages; alcoholic child and wife beating; drunken brawling etc. would be sufficient, for me.
But what’s fascinating is the fierce alcohol defense arises in such threads.
Brings back so many intense memories from the alcohol groups.
. . . walks like a duck . . . waddles . . . swims . . . flies . . . lays eggs . . . quacks . . .
DENIAL is sooooo transparent to everyone but the one wallowing in it and ranting out of it.
I don’t recall hiring you as my posting screener and censor.
You are welcome to call facts about alcohol and alcoholism and drunken drivers
propaganda . . . if you wish.
God knows my credentials in terms of training and experience counseling such over a long period of time.
BTW, the retired head of the U.S. Navy center that treated President Ford’s wife Betty was my boss and trainer. He was a nationally recognized expert on the topic.
You can call his facts propaganda if you wish. Please be my guest. It helps make that perspective look all the more ridiculous.
BTW, when he was in the Navy before he got his own alcoholism under control . . . he had a job in the Pentegon near the CNO. And a Navy car.
Sometimes he’d take the Navy car to New York City. He could tell from toll booth and gas receipt stamps that he HAD to have been driving in excess of 90 and even in excess of 100 mph.
And sometimes, he’d wake up in New York wondering how he got there. Or back in DC with the receipts and a total black out of any memories of the trip.
I suppose you’d call that propaganda, too.
BTW, are you calling me a liar about the fellow with 9 DUI’s? If so, You are 100% wrong. AS IN WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.
Try again. I enjoy seeing that perspective get weaker and weaker with every such effort.
Would that make you feel any better?
You’re welcome to define it.
There are lots of definitions used in the profession . . .
Someone who’s use of alcohol causes problems in family, work or other relationships and activities.
Someone who’s fine motor coordination; vision, judgment is measureably impaired.
Someone with a blood alcohol level above 0.08.
Someone who can’t leave alcohol alone for 6 months WITHOUT craving it, yearning for it persistently,
Someone who has to have 3 or more cans/glasses/shots in 24 hours.
. . .
Yours?
Why do I care?
Because I’ve seen first hand far toooooooo much of the results of excessive alcohol consumption impacting families.
The deaths on the highway are bad enough.
The death in children with vacant eyes and hurts inside that will never go away are at least as horrid.
What if all your loved ones were crushed and destroyed by a sleepy (”non-drunk”) driver?
Would that make you feel any better?
= = =
I have no clue what you are asking here. It seems like an illogical collection of words, to me.
Perhaps you could explain your question. And then explain how it relates to some post of mine. It really seems rather off the wall as it is.
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