DUI

[aborgman]

i get that intuition says someone is taking your money, so they must be profiting, but that is not the case.

Sometimes it is though.

A good look at some of the cases involving red light cameras operated by private for profit companies, and cities shortening yellow light cycles to keep generating revenue (in direct contradiction to the recommendations of traffic safety engineers) will show that.

 

[BrianVengeance]

I drive approximately 100 miles a day, every day. A significant amount of the morons I encounter ( and there are a lot of them) have a phone in their hand or on their ear. We ban drinking and driving, we ban drug use, we ban trucks with high bumpers, we ban firearms in school zones, how much of a slippery slope is it really?

Ok, so we both agree that there is a level of impairment involved with using a phone while driving. The difference is that putting the phone down eliminates the impairment. Putting your beer down, on the other hand, may get both of your hands on the wheel but it won't make you any less drunk... the state of impairment continues.

You will potentially end up the same amount of dead if anyone hits you, impaired or not. This is the slippery slope.

 

[Floyd Eye]

Ok, so we both agree that there is a level of impairment involved with using a phone while driving. The difference is that putting the phone down eliminates the impairment. Putting your beer down, on the other hand, may get both of your hands on the wheel but it won't make you any less drunk... the state of impairment continues.

You will potentially end up the same amount of dead if anyone hits you, impaired or not. This is the slippery slope.

So driving while drunk or impaired AND texting/talking while driving should be banned. Right?

 

[Blort]

Ok, so we both agree that there is a level of impairment involved with using a phone while driving. The difference is that putting the phone down eliminates the impairment. Putting your beer down, on the other hand, may get both of your hands on the wheel but it won't make you any less drunk... the state of impairment continues.

But, if you do the right thing by pulling over and try to sleep it off, they can still bust for you for a DUI.

I had a buddy who went to a party, knew he couldn't drive, tried to sleep it off in his car, got arrested for a DUI because the cops rolled up, and by some technicality of having the keys on him, they were able to arrest him. He was later CONVICTED.

That's what you get sometimes for trying to do the right thing. He should have just risked it and tried driving home in that case.

 

[Blort]

A good look at some of the cases involving red light cameras operated by private for profit companies, and cities shortening yellow light cycles to keep generating revenue (in direct contradiction to the recommendations of traffic safety engineers) will show that.

I never understood how those cameras work. They say they take a photo of your license plate if you blow though a red light and mail you the ticket. What if you weren't driving? How can you give someone a ticket if they weren't driving? That would be like getting pulled over, and having your speeding ticket issued to a passenger.

 

[Floyd Eye]

I never understood how those cameras work. They say they take a photo of your license plate if you blow though a red light and mail you the ticket. What if you weren't driving? How can you give someone a ticket if they weren't driving? That would be like getting pulled over, and having your speeding ticket issued to a passenger.

At least in my state, those tickets can only result in bench warrants. They cannot force you to pay the fine nor can they assess points against your license. My county recently voted against installing them due to the overwhelming public outcry against them. Too bad people don't cry out against ridiculous taxes and BS EPA emissions regulations keeping my car from passing inspection.

 

[BrianVengeance]

So driving while drunk or impaired AND texting/talking while driving should be banned. Right?

Lol, why not? We can ban people who wear contacts from driving too because they may get dust under a lens and not be able to focus on the road. Why not ban hot coffee as well? If you spill it you'll almost certainly cause an accident in reaction to inner thigh burns.

Again, while I do not disagree that dead is dead and that texting while driving is impairing... you can put a telephone down and no longer be impaired. You can't "put the beer down" once it is in your blood stream. They simply aren't the same classification of issue... entirely different risk profiles between the two.

Phone down, risk immediately gone.
Beer down, risk decreases analogously to driver's metabolism.

Texting doesn't depress the nervous system, regardless of what the message says. You don't get sleepy from texting. You don't spend hours texting people and get behind the wheel after you've stopped and still pose the same level of risk.

They simply aren't the same beast, and they shouldn't be treated the same... regardless of whether or not dead is dead... or how tragic ANY loss of live is.

 

[Blort]

At least in my state, those tickets can only result in bench warrants. They cannot force you to pay the fine nor can they assess points against your license. My county recently voted against installing them due to the overwhelming public outcry against them. Too bad people don't cry out against ridiculous taxes and BS EPA emissions regulations keeping my car from passing inspection.

There are a lot of things people don't cry out against that surprises me (police checkpoints for example).

I couldn't imagine those cameras working, although I heard they are more popular in parts of Europe. At least in Michigan, you can let anyone use your car, granted they are licensed and insured. I couldn't imagine getting a ticket in the mail for something someone else did.

 

[BrianVengeance]

But, if you do the right thing by pulling over and try to sleep it off, they can still bust for you for a DUI.

I had a buddy who went to a party, knew he couldn't drive, tried to sleep it off in his car, got arrested for a DUI because the cops rolled up, and by some technicality of having the keys on him, they were able to arrest him. He was later CONVICTED.

That's what you get sometimes for trying to do the right thing. He should have just risked it and tried driving home in that case.

I wholly disagree that he should have tried to risk going home... it is much harder to get into a fatal accident while sleeping in a parked car. Sometimes you make the best choice and still get bent over. It sucks, and if the facts are as stated, then I really feel for your buddy.

 

[Floyd Eye]

Lol, why not? We can ban people who wear contacts from driving too because they may get dust under a lens and not be able to focus on the road. Why not ban hot coffee as well? If you spill it you'll almost certainly cause an accident in reaction to inner thigh burns.

Again, while I do not disagree that dead is dead and that texting while driving is impairing... you can put a telephone down and no longer be impaired. You can't "put the beer down" once it is in your blood stream. They simply aren't the same classification of issue... entirely different risk profiles between the two.

Phone down, risk immediately gone.
Beer down, risk decreases analogously to driver's metabolism.

Texting doesn't depress the nervous system, regardless of what the message says. You don't get sleepy from texting. You don't spend hours texting people and get behind the wheel after you've stopped and still pose the same level of risk.

They simply aren't the same beast, and they shouldn't be treated the same... regardless of whether or not dead is dead... or how tragic ANY loss of live is.

To my knowledge, no one is talking about banning possession of a phone in a car, they are talking about banning USING it while driving a car. Dust in the eye or spilling coffee is what's called an accident. Slamming into a family of four because you need to text Buffy is called douchebaggery. See the difference?

 

[Floyd Eye]

I wholly disagree that he should have tried to risk going home... it is much harder to get into a fatal accident while sleeping in a parked car. Sometimes you make the best choice and still get bent over. It sucks, and if the facts are as stated, then I really feel for your buddy.

Here in Mo., the keys have to be in the ignition to be given a DWI.

 

[BrianVengeance]

To my knowledge, no one is talking about banning possession of a phone in a car, they are talking about banning USING it while driving a car. Dust in the eye or spilling coffee is what's called an accident. Slamming into a family of four because you need to text Buffy is called douchebaggery. See the difference?

Of course I see the difference... but I do ask, what about texting at a red light? Should this be banned as well? Does it pose the same risk? Should it incur the same liability?

And for the record, MD / DC / VA all have laws against using handheld mobile devices while in a vehicle, which I have no problem with... especially as a motorcycle rider.

 

[Floyd Eye]

Of course I see the difference... but I do ask, what about texting at a red light? Should this be banned as well? Does it pose the same risk? Should it incur the same liability?

And for the record, MD / DC / VA all have laws against using handheld mobile devices while in a vehicle, which I have no problem with... especially as a motorcycle rider.

Yes. A red light is still driving. Parked on the side of the road is different IMO, although in most places in Europe this is illegal as well.

 

[BrianVengeance]

Here in Mo., the keys have to be in the ignition to be given a DWI.

That's pretty common, I think. A lot would depend on the facts of the case... eg, admitting that you were sleeping while intoxicated in a car is different than admitting you were at a party and pulled over to sleep it off because you were too drunk to keep driving.

Questions like "do you know why I pulled you over?" are explicitly designed to elicit admissions of guilt.

 

[Floyd Eye]

Questions like "do you know why I pulled you over?" are explicitly designed to elicit admissions of guilt.

Exactly. If you wreck your truck in a ditch, someone gives you a ride home, then you call the cops to report the wreck and they show up at your house and you're drunk AND you admitted you were driving, guess what? DWI time.

 

[aborgman]

I never understood how those cameras work. They say they take a photo of your license plate if you blow though a red light and mail you the ticket. What if you weren't driving? How can you give someone a ticket if they weren't driving? That would be like getting pulled over, and having your speeding ticket issued to a passenger.

Depends on the state.

In some states the car owner is responsible regardless of whether or not they were driving. Others actually take photos of the driver and license plate.

 

[MakiSupaStar]

 

[Blort]

Depends on the state.

In some states the car owner is responsible regardless of whether or not they were driving. Others actually take photos of the driver and license plate.

That's unbelievable.

Michigan may have a crap economy, but compared to some of these other states, it's not so bad. No police checkpoints, no traffic cameras and mailed tickets, and easily accessible LEGAL medical marijuana.

 

[GregC]

Based on the massive reduction in drunk driving deaths, no.

Drunk driving related deaths 1982: 21,113
Drunk driving related deaths 2009: 10,839

In 1982 the drunk driving fatality rate was: 128/1,000,000 vehicles.

In 2009 the drunk driving fatality rate was: 46/1,000,000 vehicles

1982 the drunk driving fatality rate was: 91/1,000,000 population
2009 the drunk driving fatality rate was: 39/1,000,000 population

Miles traveled have gone up (~90%), number of drivers has gone up (~35%), and drunk driving fatalities have dropped precipitously (-50%).

This.

 

[MatticusMania]

So is texting/talking on your phone while driving.

Sure it is, which is why theyve enacted laws to cite people for comitting such an offense. Personally, those fines could be a little more strict.