So I'm going to Prison for 2 years

[MuresanForMVP]

[ QUOTE ]
LOL. So wait, you actually think a DUI charge shouldn't be jailtime if you kill someone?

[/ QUOTE ]


JESUS CHRIST IF YOU KILL SOMEONE IN A VEHICLE YOU WOULD AND SHOULD GET JAILTIME FOR VEHICULAR MANSLAUGHTER WITH A DUI ENHANCER. DUI<VEHICULAR MANSLAUGHTER

[pirateboy]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
LOL. So wait, you actually think a DUI charge shouldn't be jailtime if you kill someone?

[/ QUOTE ]


JESUS CHRIST IF YOU KILL SOMEONE IN A VEHICLE YOU WOULD AND SHOULD GET JAILTIME FOR VEHICULAR MANSLAUGHTER WITH A DUI ENHANCER. DUI<VEHICULAR MANSLAUGHTER

[/ QUOTE ]

Do you really NOT see where you're being unclear?

[Matt Williams]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
A DUI is a DUI whether it was at .05 or .20; an officer decided he was incapable of driving a vehicle.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think this type of mentality is why drunk driving laws are so messed up to begin with. First of all, these numbers are somewhat nebulous concepts to begin with. Without testing a persons blood (even that is not fool proof), it is very difficult to determine "how drunk" a person is. The fact that we have a strict cutoff point for DWI's is ridiculous (ie .07 you can drive 70 MPh in the rain with a baby in the back, .08 you are the scum of the earth). Breathalyzers are probably the most inaccurate devices in popular use next to oven thermometers. It is very hard to find data on these things (by design I suspect) but a single reading on a breathalyser could have an error bar of +-.03. These readings are practically useless. I think you are right to say that it is very much the officer's call on alot of cases, and this would probably be the most accurate way to determine if a person deserves a DWI in a vacuum. I just don't think police are smart enough/well trained enough/make enough money to be given this much power.

Equating a .05 to a .2 is just retarded. First off how much more likely do you think a person with a .2 is than a .05 to hurt somebody? I would guess (no data though) that you would need less than 100 cases of a person driving with a .2 to show that they are much much worse than a sober person. For .05 I am honestly not sure if you could show it with 10k cases, especially when you factor in the fact that a certain percentage of .05 are really around .03. Coupled with the fact that sober driving itself is somewhat unstudied, (ie how much more likely is the worst sober driver to hurt somebody then the best). If anybody has any data on this I would love to see it and if I am wrong I will gladly change my tune.

That said, I agree that people driving drunk is a problem and something that should be punished. I wish we had better technology so that we could stop people from driving drunk. Maybe something like everybody would have to scan their ID to start a car. Then I would totally support really harsh penalties, like get caught once you can't drive for a year, twice you can't ever drive again. Though the accuracy issues would still be a problem, I would sleep much better at night knowing that your ability to drive is all that is at stake and not your freedom. Cases where people are hurt /killed would still be tough to decide punishment though. I would also would be terrified of giving the government that much power so I am not sure if it is practical even in the future.

[Highjack] Has anybody been able to buy a breathalyser that wasn't a complete piece of [censored]? I, like alot of people in their early 20s, have friends who drive when I think they shouldn't. I have bought 3 breathalyzers each one more expensive then the last and they have all sucked. I would pretty much spend any amount to get one so I could convince my friends to take a cab or wait a few hours. Granted they often lead to retarded higher BAC prop betting but that is safer then driving drunk IMO.

As for OP, I really think it sucks that you have to spend 2 years in jail. If their was some way in which you could be free and we could assure that you wouldn't drive drunk I would support that 100% (couldn't we use house arrest for this?????). I don't really know much about life inside so I can't really help you with that. That book that was suggested before seems like a good idea. I hope things aren't too bad for you in jail and I hope you can get things back to normal when you get out.

[/ QUOTE ]

There's a really really easy way to get around that. It's so easy, you will be surprised no one has thought of this. What you do is this: if you have more than 2 or 3 beers, DON'T DRIVE!!!!!! Wowowowowowowowow! What a concept! I mean really, how hard is it to call a cab?

[MuresanForMVP]

[ QUOTE ]
This hints that you think that DUIs shouldn't be a crime until someone is killed.

[/ QUOTE ]

No,I said it shouldn't be prosecuted as if you killed someone everytime you did it. My issue is not with it being a crime, my issue is with how retarded and ridiculous the sentencing has become, and how the legal limit has been switched from .10 to .08, and will keep going down because of those god damn MADD lobbyists. And how those numbers really don't even matter anywhere cause any f'ing cop can just say "well I thought he was intoxicated" regardless of a .05 reading on the breathalyser. THAT's the type of [censored] I have issues with, not the fact that it's a crime.

[pirateboy]

Maybe if selfish pricks would quit drinking, driving, and killing people, it wouldn't have gotten this far.

What came first, the drunkards on the road or MADD?

[Knytestorme]

[ QUOTE ]
will also probably lose my license for like 5 years for all you in favor of heavy punishment

[/ QUOTE ]

Given 2 of the 3 DUI's were while you were driving without a license, I don't see how you can say this is heavy punishment with a straight face.

[pirateboy]

By the way, if they say .08 is a crime, and I blow a .07 and still get put away, I'd be pissed, fwiw.

[pirateboy]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
will also probably lose my license for like 5 years for all you in favor of heavy punishment

[/ QUOTE ]

Given 2 of the 3 DUI's were while you were driving without a license, I don't see how you can say this is heavy punishment with a straight face.

[/ QUOTE ]

With 2 of the incidents happening while he was blacked out...

[MuresanForMVP]

[ QUOTE ]
Maybe if selfish pricks would quit drinking, driving, and killing people, it wouldn't have gotten this far.

What came first, the drunkards on the road or MADD?

[/ QUOTE ]

drunkards ftw, but just because some activity results in x number of deaths per year doesn't mean the state can go to any and all means to eliminate it, as it sees fit. The punishment must always fit the crime, and our thoughts on what is a reasonable punishment are so far off this seems to be an irreconcilable difference. We're just arguing in circles, and I will continue to maintain that the push for harsher DUI laws is retarded, as if theyre not retarded enough.

As for op, I've really lost sight of the fact that he was underage, and without a license while doing this 3 times over. In light of this, 2 years may actually be a reasonable sentence, but not just because of the DUIs. He really seemed to ask for the book to be thrown at him.

[Max Raker]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
A DUI is a DUI whether it was at .05 or .20; an officer decided he was incapable of driving a vehicle.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think this type of mentality is why drunk driving laws are so messed up to begin with. First of all, these numbers are somewhat nebulous concepts to begin with. Without testing a persons blood (even that is not fool proof), it is very difficult to determine "how drunk" a person is. The fact that we have a strict cutoff point for DWI's is ridiculous (ie .07 you can drive 70 MPh in the rain with a baby in the back, .08 you are the scum of the earth). Breathalyzers are probably the most inaccurate devices in popular use next to oven thermometers. It is very hard to find data on these things (by design I suspect) but a single reading on a breathalyser could have an error bar of +-.03. These readings are practically useless. I think you are right to say that it is very much the officer's call on alot of cases, and this would probably be the most accurate way to determine if a person deserves a DWI in a vacuum. I just don't think police are smart enough/well trained enough/make enough money to be given this much power.

Equating a .05 to a .2 is just retarded. First off how much more likely do you think a person with a .2 is than a .05 to hurt somebody? I would guess (no data though) that you would need less than 100 cases of a person driving with a .2 to show that they are much much worse than a sober person. For .05 I am honestly not sure if you could show it with 10k cases, especially when you factor in the fact that a certain percentage of .05 are really around .03. Coupled with the fact that sober driving itself is somewhat unstudied, (ie how much more likely is the worst sober driver to hurt somebody then the best). If anybody has any data on this I would love to see it and if I am wrong I will gladly change my tune.

That said, I agree that people driving drunk is a problem and something that should be punished. I wish we had better technology so that we could stop people from driving drunk. Maybe something like everybody would have to scan their ID to start a car. Then I would totally support really harsh penalties, like get caught once you can't drive for a year, twice you can't ever drive again. Though the accuracy issues would still be a problem, I would sleep much better at night knowing that your ability to drive is all that is at stake and not your freedom. Cases where people are hurt /killed would still be tough to decide punishment though. I would also would be terrified of giving the government that much power so I am not sure if it is practical even in the future.

[Highjack] Has anybody been able to buy a breathalyser that wasn't a complete piece of [censored]? I, like alot of people in their early 20s, have friends who drive when I think they shouldn't. I have bought 3 breathalyzers each one more expensive then the last and they have all sucked. I would pretty much spend any amount to get one so I could convince my friends to take a cab or wait a few hours. Granted they often lead to retarded higher BAC prop betting but that is safer then driving drunk IMO.

As for OP, I really think it sucks that you have to spend 2 years in jail. If their was some way in which you could be free and we could assure that you wouldn't drive drunk I would support that 100% (couldn't we use house arrest for this?????). I don't really know much about life inside so I can't really help you with that. That book that was suggested before seems like a good idea. I hope things aren't too bad for you in jail and I hope you can get things back to normal when you get out.

[/ QUOTE ]

There's a really really easy way to get around that. It's so easy, you will be surprised no one has thought of this. What you do is this: if you have more than 2 or 3 beers, DON'T DRIVE!!!!!! Wowowowowowowowow! What a concept! I mean really, how hard is it to call a cab?

[/ QUOTE ]


Um, yeah....., i agree with you. Not sure where you got that I hadn't thought of that from my post. I do have friends that do it and this is the only thing that has caused physical confrontations between me and a few really good friends.