Replies

Wow. Just wow.

No accident, no injuries, but “throw away the key”.

You are aware that the allowable BAC level has been being lowered for political reasons, not scientific or safety, right?

A short history of BAC levels and DUI charges:

Back in the day, DUI was charged at the discretion of the cop. This caused some problems, so the AMA was consulted, and they came up with a level of 0.15% for impaired driving.

Folks “got the message”, and the carnage went down, and after a time, the number of DUI arrests fell dramatically.

Then MADD got involved, and lobbied VERY hard to have the allowable BAC limit lowered to 0.10%. When this occurred, there was a huge spike in DUI arrests. Once again, folks got the message, and DUI arrests fell off after a time.

AGAIN, MADD lobbied for lower limits, got them down to 0.08% now, and (wonder of wonders), there is another spike in DUI’s.

The lowering of BAC levels has nothing to do with safety, and everything to do with getting as many folks “into the system” so they can be monitored, charged and fined after paying through the nose for their court date.

In BC you WILL have your car impounded for 30 days, and your licence suspended for a period if you blow 0.05%! That is the equivalent of two 8 ounce glasses of wine in a hour for a 180lb man! It is also one third the actual BAC agreed upon by the AMA as “impaired”. You have committed no offense (the law still states 0.08% for impaired driving), but you will be punished anyway.

As an aside, I had a roommate (now deceased) who was confined to a motorized wheelchair. He was arrested and charged for “drunk driving” IN HIS CHAIR because his MS affected his speech, causing him to slur his words. Should he have had his only mode of transportation seized and sold, and have to spend time in jail because the badge monkey didn’t care about the facts?

Fortunately the desk sergeant was considerably smarter than the officer. I didn’t enjoy the drive to pick him up at 2 AM, mind you...