Trip Report - DUI

[John Spartan]

FWIW, I agree with Tuq. I would still punish people who drive with a limit over .06, but a lot less severely. I'd punish people who drive .06 to .11 slightly, and punish people who drive .12 and over to the fullest extent of the law. The people who drive with a .12 and over are the real dangerous ones.

Read this:

"There are others who we would classify as hardcore drunk drivers. In all likelihood they are alcoholics who could care less that their behavior is criminal and dangerous. These people generally drive with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of twice the legal limit or more. Typically they have more than one DUI conviction. They are 200 times more likely to kill on the road than the average non-drinking driver. In 2001, there were 17,448 alcohol-related fatalities and approximately 275,000 injuries nationwide. Fifty-eight percent of these incidents involved drivers with a blood alcohol concentration of .15 or above. A large jump in the crash data at the .10 BAC level shows that drivers with a BAC between .10 and .14 are 48 times more likely to be involved in a crash. However, drivers with a BAC of .15 are 385 times more likely to be involved in a crash. Further, 58% of drivers involved in alcohol-related fatalities in 2001 were hardcore drunk drivers."

It's these people we need to really go after, and have lesser punishments for the people who simply need a mistake. Most of the people didn't even realize they were over the limit, while the hardcore drivers know that they are and just don't give a [censored]. The hardcore drivers with 3 or 4 DWI convictions should all serve significant jail time.

[CORed]

Before the federal .08 (it's one of those deals where states lose highway funding if they don't enact it), Colorado had a law very similar to what you advocate. 0.10 for "Driving under the Influence" with automatic license suspension, big fine, alcohol classes, etc. and 0.05 for "Driving While Ability impaired", which was usually just a fine and 8 points on the drivers license (12 in a year will get you suspended, speeding 1-10 is 3 points, speeding 10-20 is 4, as is running a red light or stop sign). I think the 0.05 is still DWAI, but now 0.08 is DUI. i think this is a reasonable approach. Unfortunately, MADD, and all the people who have bought into their propaganda, what to lock up anybody who has even one beer before driving, and throw away the key.

[John Spartan]

CORed,

MADD really sucks. They can't distinguish between the one-time drivers who made a mistake and if they get a reasonable punishment, will wise up and probably never do it again. Like the points scheme you advocate and maybe a fine to go along with it, not as huge as a DWI fine but still one that makes the difference. Like a few points on the license and a $700 fie isn't a bad idea, and making the .10-13. people get a harsher punishment(and even punishment if it's not their first time getting busted for DWAI/DUI/DWI), and for the people who are .14 and up, taking their license away for a year and punishing them even more severely(and again stronger punishment if it isn't their first time).

I am mad when I read in the paper about a guy who had 4 previous DWI convictions getting blasted at a bar or at home, and then going out and driving and hitting someone, killing them. His BAC was something ridiculous like .18 Some of these people still had valid drivers licenses. It's really pathetic how the system fails us.

There should definitely be jail time for a second DWI, and serious jailtime and at least a 5 year license recovation for the third(to start after the sentence ends). Then if these people get pulled over for a suspended license then take their license away for life. If they still drive then just put them back in jail again. Either way, just focus more on the hardcore drunk [censored] who cause a huge % of the alcohol-related fatalities.