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drunk driving and the legal limit

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Smallpotatoes, Aug 23, 2007.

  1. spnited

    spnited Active Member


    New Jersye law is: open container anywhere in the car, driver gets DWI citation, automatic 6 months suspension, $250-500 fine, $1,000 insurance surcharge per year for 3 years ... same thing you get if you're at .10 or above. .08 can be challenged.
    Only way to beat .10 or above is prove the Breathalyzer was defective or the cop screwed up adminstering the test. And the lawyer who can get you off will cost you at least $5,000.
     
  2. old_tony

    old_tony Well-Known Member

    Not just the open-container laws, but other state laws have been the product of extortion from the Feds. In the 80s, states lost federal highway funds if they didn't raise the drinking age to 21. Later they lost the funds if they didn't lower the limit from .10 to .08. Yet none of that has fixed anything. Kids still drink and drive. And all the fatal accidents we read about (OK, just 99% of them) involve someone in the .18 to .28 range -- outrageously drunk individuals. Really, do we ever read about .11 and .09 fatal accidents? Never.
     
  3. zeke12

    zeke12 Guest

    It's weird to type this, but I agree with tony.
     
  4. old_tony

    old_tony Well-Known Member

    I think we probably agree on more things than either of us will admit publicly -- although I'll always publicly admit our agreeing on Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show being a great band.
     
  5. sportschick

    sportschick Active Member

    Get a room, you two :D
     
  6. Platyrhynchos

    Platyrhynchos Active Member

    Spending Sharing the Night Together? :D
     
  7. writing irish

    writing irish Active Member

    "oh yeah, all right"
     
  8. zeke12

    zeke12 Guest

    Irish, you make my pants want to get up and dance.
     
  9. Big Buckin' agate_monkey

    Big Buckin' agate_monkey Active Member

    Relax, big boy. No one is challenging your manhood.
     
  10. old_tony

    old_tony Well-Known Member

    Another Dr. Hook song that could sum up a lot of us, I suspect: Everybody's Makin' it Big but Me."
     
  11. ThomsonONE

    ThomsonONE Member

    MADD has morphed from an organization trying to stop drunk driving to another shrill group trying to impose their morality standards on everyone. MADD doesn't like alcohol, so none of us should drink, there should be no beer advertising on TV or at sports arenas, etc. Nonsense.

    If MADD and the govt really wanted top stop drunk driving, breathalyzers would be cheap and plentiful. You should be able to buy one for $20, then leave it in your car so you could know if you were over the limit. The idea that you are breaking the law by having a BOC of .081 without knowing it is ridiculous, and serves no real purpose in stopping dangerous drivers.
     
  12. MacDaddy

    MacDaddy Active Member

    If I remember correctly -- a big if, I'll grant you -- during the debate about lowering DUI standards to .08, it came up that there's no data supporting any meaningful difference in impairment between .08 and .10.

    It's basically a money grab by the government, and politicians wanting to show they're "tough on DUIs" by lowering the limit. Besides, who's going to vote against something like that and be branded as "supporting drunk drivers"?

    As was mentioned earlier on this thread, if law enforcement was really wanting to focus on safety, they'd nail the people who are the real problem -- people driving way over the .08 limit, and those who do it with some consistency. The way the system is now, it's almost like a first DUI is worse than a third or a fourth.
     
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