Posted on 05/07/2005 4:32:18 AM PDT by billorites
"Many studies have shown that impairment begins in the .04 range. The point where most rational people wouldn't even think of driving is around .06, in my experience (I have access to a portable breath testing device). The reason so many cops are gung ho about removing impaired drivers from the roads is because they see the daily carnage they cause."
Total MADD BS Propaganda!!!
I have a cousin that is 6'4" and weighs 250 and I would feel very safe with him driving me home after drinking a case of beer.
Some people just metabolize alcohol better than others.
Some may be impaired at .06 while others are not impaired at .10 !
Face it it's just a revenue generator in cases where drivers are arrested with BAC less than .08.
All American Boozin' Ping.
MADD is out of control.
Amen!
This is the case in most small towns in Delaware. One town was so notorious for their speedtraps and roadblocks on the highway that Legislation was passed to limit their revenue raising ability by forbidding them to do traffic enforcement on the highway. The Police Force in that town was cut in half because without the traffic enforcement revenue there wasn't enough money to pay for the cops.
As the mother and grandmother of 3 that were all killed by a drunk driver---there is no sympathy from this end for a guy that goes out and has a drink and drives. No one is sure how alcohol will affect them as so much has to do with the weight---the amount of food----and your blood sugar level---so better stay home if you need a drink. How very simple it is to have a designated driver-----I have been one all my life.
BUMP
I believe that the original founder of MADD said the exact same thing.
Mark
You have my sympathy.Did that drunk driver have A drink?What did that driver actually test at?
While this has nothing to do with this thread, you might find it interesting...
The State of Missouri sued the Kansas City, MO Police Department... Over funds and property confiscated from drug busts.
The State of Missouri has a law that any property confiscated by state or local law enforcement during a drug bust goes into a state fund. However, the federal government has a program that if they do the bust, assisted by local law enforcement, then the feds and the local LE share "the booty." Well, when the KCPD realized just how much they were missing out on, they would do all the investigations, but at the last minute, they'd call in the feds for the actual bust. That way they got to keep 1/2 of the property siezed. When the state realized what they were doing, they sued the KCPD in state court. I believe that the KCPD had to give what they had "earned" with the feds to the state, because they were in violation of the law!
Mark
Thats the truth - my wife drives better in traffic or bad weather after 2 or 3 drinks.
No matter what -never ever never admit to a cop you have had drink. Once you do the doors open to this kind of abuse!
Roger that.
It IS an outrage when police are rewarded on a case by case basis rather than salaried. Such a system pays for abuse and gets what it pays for.
Around here, DUIs are busted with no income to law enforcement.
Ever been to a cop bar and see them all get in their cars and drive home?
Check this one out:
http://www.mississippidui.com/attorney/mcrae.html
July 7, 1998
"Impact of McRae DUI Case Debated"
By Pamela Berry
Attorneys say Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Chuck McRae's successful defense of a second drunken driving charge won't cause an increase in breath test refusals.
But others, including lawmen, predict people's perception of McRae's July 7 acquittal will mean more will try to get around the state's drunken-driving laws by refusing to take the DUI test.
I assume that income ws mostly for speeding. The argument being made in this thread was that higher (and apparently stupider) standards for DUI were somehow to be laoid at the feet of law enforcement because they would make money from the enforcement of those standards. The "fines" to which I referred, therefore, were fines levied for drunk driving offenses, not for traffic offenses generally.
And as I said above, around here traffic and drunk driving laws are enforced without any increase in compensation for the officer or his department. Tickets, however DO sometimes encourage the financial parts of local government to be aware that their cops are doing SOMETHING other than eat doughnuts.
As a general observation, I've noted that people complain about Law Enforcement right up to the point where THEIR ox is gored. THEN if they complain is because LEOs don't do their job as efficiently as it's done on CSI or Law and Order.
Maybe I misunderstood your comment - but I took it that you did not realize that some police forces are funded by their enforcement practices. I was just letting you know there are a bunch of them in Delaware.
And this is all traffic enforcement, including drunk driving offenses. Some of these departments are funded solely on the basis of how much they "collect."
I have no dog in this fight because I have never gotten a DUI or even a speeding ticket, but with that said I do happen to believe there is some very arbitrary enforcement of traffic laws, particularly DUI, and much of it is revenue based. But that's just one person's opinion.
So, where's the follow-up story about those w 0.02 and 0.03 BACs suing for false arrest?
My bet is that they got lippy w the LEOs.
I've been through these check points after drinking and have never been asked to get out of the car, or hassled in the least.
Gotta be polite, even when PO'd.
I am sorry at your loss.
This guy, John Doyle who wrote this article, writes pro-drinking and driving articles for a living.
Im my San Antonio Express-News, 03/19/05 he wrote the following letter to the editor:
Re: "Sobriety checkpoints are brewing again" (March 9):
It's troubling that state Sen. Judith Zaffirini is leading efforts to authorize roadblocks in spite of recognizing that their intended purpose is "not really to catch drunk drivers."
According to Jeffrey Runge, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, today's drunken driving problem is "by far and away" made up of "those who have alcohol use disorders."
These chronic alcohol abusers know when and where police will be stopping drivers because roadblocks are, by design, highly publicized.
NHTSA found roving patrols are the best way to catch habitual drunken drivers. These patrols net nearly three times the arrests as roadblocks. Texas led the nation in reducing alcohol-related traffic fatalities in 2003 thanks to aggressive roving patrols.
Roadblocks are a costly detour from effective law enforcement.
John Doyle, executive director, American Beverage Institute, Washington, D.C.
Funny how he doesn't mention - and neither have any of the previous posters - how DWI costs our country over 114 BILLION DOLLARS annually and the death toll is over 17,000 Americans each year.
Let me apologize in advance if I hurt someones feelings: But a big SHUT UP goes out to anyone offering lame excuses for drinking and driving. Same SHUT UP goes to critics of MADD, also.
Want more facts? Well I'm gonna give them to you: Texas, sad to say, is one of 11 US states that don't have DWI check-points. The "Bubba" industry has seen to that. Studies of proven that these check-points save 20% of DWI fatalities each year. In the last 20 years, this could have resulted in more than 6800 Texans alone still being alive.
OK, I'll get off my soapbox now. (And put on my flame retardant suit?)
I agree that it is not a good idea to get "lippy" with the cops, but it is not an arrestable offense either.
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