Where's the outrage over drunk driving?

[Point of Order]

What happened to holding people responsible for their own actions? Why must it be the alcohol companies' fault someone was drinking and driving? Why is it the tobacco companies' fault for manufacturing cigarettes when the healthy warnings are right on the package?

At some point don't we need to look at someone who dies of lung cancer caused by smoking and say, 'sorry, but it was your choice'?

This irritates me more than just about anything. Always looking for someone else to blame instead of looking at the person in the mirror. We all have the choice to drink or not drink, smoke or not smoke, eat red meat and be lazy or workout like an Olympic athlete. Hold the people who make the choices responsible.

Nice rant, but it's not either/or, it's both/and.

 

[Double Down]

Where is the outrage over cockdians?

After all, whenever a team doesn't become a charmion, some ***** eaten cockdian like Peyton Manning never gets blamed.

 

[hondo]

Here's my problem with current laws regarding driving under the influence of alcohol:

The laws do a great job of catching a 120-pound woman who has had two glasses of Chard at happy hour, then gets pulled over for one of those license/registration checks that pass for DUI stings that are so prevalent in our area.

But the laws don't do a thing to stop some asshole who has had five suspensions, three revokations as a result of multiple DUI convictions who still swills two six-packs and gets behind the wheel of a car anyway.

I don't know the answer. But it's not what we have now. Because good people I know have had their lives ruined (at least in the short term) because they had a couple of drinks (hardly enough to cause them to weave or crash), got pulled over, barely blew the legal minimum and got hauled in.

 

[Tarheel316]

Hondo, what you say is probably true everywhere. It certainly is here in N.C.

 

[MileHigh]

Here's my problem with current laws regarding driving under the influence of alcohol:

The laws do a great job of catching a 120-pound woman who has had two glasses of Chard at happy hour, then gets pulled over for one of those license/registration checks that pass for DUI stings that are so prevalent in our area.

But the laws don't do a thing to stop some asshole who has had five suspensions, three revokations as a result of multiple DUI convictions who still swills two six-packs and gets behind the wheel of a car anyway.

I don't know the answer. But it's not what we have now. Because good people I know have had their lives ruined (at least in the short term) because they had a couple of drinks (hardly enough to cause them to weave or crash), got pulled over, barely blew the legal minimum and got hauled in.

Yup, I know the same deal. It happens a lot.

 

[Rosie]

I'm the one who started the thread linked earlier in this thread.

I wish I could feel empathy/sympathy for someone who was pulled over with a .08 BAC, but after the pain my family has endured these last six months, I can't. It's called responsibility. If you know you're going to drive, DON'T F'N DRINK! It's as simple as that.

I'm not going to sit here and preach like I'm some angel. I'm not. There were a couple times, more than 20 years ago, when I drove when I shouldn't. Thank goodness nothing happened, and thank goodness I figured it out. But I still feel violently ill when I think of what an idiot I was.

It never ceases to amaze me - in a sad, sorry way - when I sit in court for work, waiting for a hearing. There's always a few DWI cases, which usually go like this:

Judge: How much alcohol did you drink and what kind?

Defendant: About two or three beers/mixed drinks.

Prosecutor: Your Honor, the test results were .21 (or some variation thereof, but rarely lower than .16)

The BAC is not going to be that high on two or three beers. Almost always, there's some sort of plea agreement.

For me, those court days are now hell because I feel like I'm reliving that day over again. I want to stand up and scream "Don't you get it? You could have KILLED someone because you were too selfish to find an alternative way to get to where you were going!"

It's changing a bit. Like I mentioned on the other thread, officers I spoke with for a story said that in our area, DWI arrests are down to almost nothing on New Year's Eve. It's the other holidays where people still don't seem to get it. (In fact, the jail report for my county had just one DWI arrest this New Year's Eve.)

As far as blaming those who produce the liquor or sold the liquor, no. That has never even once crossed my mind. They didn't pour it down the driver's throat before he killed my relative. He, even though he'd been convicted on a misdemeanor DWI previously, made the choice to drink and drive. It's all on him.

I know I'm rambling, and I apologize, but this is such a sore subject with me right now. I could probably write a book on what I think SHOULD be done, but until we as a society agree not a drop behind the wheel is the only acceptable solution, we'll be arguing this for a very long time.

 

[outofplace]

I'm with Rosie on this one. I have no sympathy at all for somebody who is caught and fails the breathalyzer. Don't drink and drive. Period.

I'm not even talking just about people who drank more than they admit to. Just don't drink and drive at all. People think they are fine to drive, but they are not. Don't put yourself in a position to have to make that judgement. Your judgement is impaired when you have been drinking. Let sober you make the smart decision rather than leaving it up to less-sober you later.

And if you get caught? Good. Better you suffer the consequences of the law than hurt somebody else or yourself.

 

[Ace]

I know that this was originally started as some kind of foot-stomping passive-aggressive ploy, but the truth is that 20 years ago drunk driving was winked at.

Now it's not.

How much outrage do you want?

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Now that the outrage has been produced, what will Stitch complain about?

 

[Stitch]

Now that the outrage has been produced, what will Stitch complain about?

Words apparently have consequences according to some. You tell someone to smoke, you have to pay billions of dollars of damages in this country. It's been shown over and over that this country likes to preach personal responsibility for others, but if we do something, we blame someone else.

 

[Ace]

Now that the outrage has been produced, what will Stitch complain about?

Words apparently have consequences according to some. You tell someone to smoke, you have to pay billions of dollars of damages in this country. It's been shown over and over that this country likes to preach personal responsibility for others, but if we do something, we blame someone else.

We who? Drunkards?

 

[RickStain]

Now that the outrage has been produced, what will Stitch complain about?

Words apparently have consequences according to some. You tell someone to smoke, you have to pay billions of dollars of damages in this country. It's been shown over and over that this country likes to preach personal responsibility for others, but if we do something, we blame someone else.

The funny thing about blame is that it doesn't decrease when you assign some to somebody. There can be plenty to go around. Everyone can be wrong.

 

[qtlaw]

I know that this was originally started as some kind of foot-stomping passive-aggressive ploy, but the truth is that 20 years ago drunk driving was winked at.

Now it's not.

How much outrage do you want?

Up until the early '80s, here in California you could go to traffic school for a DUI, seriously.

Then MADD got started and it was all over for that (rightfully so.)

 

[RickStain]

The laws do a great job of catching a 120-pound woman who has had two glasses of Chard at happy hour, then gets pulled over for one of those license/registration checks that pass for DUI stings that are so prevalent in our area. ... Because good people I know have had their lives ruined (at least in the short term) because they had a couple of drinks (hardly enough to cause them to weave or crash), got pulled over, barely blew the legal minimum and got hauled in.

Okay, now I've got a little outrage going.

 

[SpeedTchr]

The laws do a great job of catching a 120-pound woman who has had two glasses of Chard at happy hour, then gets pulled over for one of those license/registration checks that pass for DUI stings that are so prevalent in our area. ... Because good people I know have had their lives ruined (at least in the short term) because they had a couple of drinks (hardly enough to cause them to weave or crash), got pulled over, barely blew the legal minimum and got hauled in.

Okay, now I've got a little outrage going.

So do I. You simply should NEVER drink and then drive. Period.