Drunk Driving
Moms View Message Board: The Kitchen Table (Debating Board): Drunk Driving
There is a story in the local paper of a man who was convicted for the 9th time of DUI. He is currently out of jail on home monitoring, but the DA wants him to go to jail. The lawyer for the man said: "He has been on a very restrictive home monitoring program and there have been no violations whatsoever". He also said "his client has been tested repeatedly and has been given a clean bill and also has been undergoing the required therapy." The judge rules tomorrow on whether or not to send him to jail.
My question is: How many chances should someone be given before putting them in jail? This man has never killed anyone, though the article states he's been involved in accidents while intoxicated. He's able to continue to support his family while on the home monitoring, and has stayed out of trouble (this 9th arrest was in July 2001), but should there be a time when we say enough is enough and we punish people for repeatedly breaking the law? Any thoughts?
That's a tuff one. I know each case is different, and you think well maybe they do need to spend time in jail that'll wake em up, but I am glad I'm not the one who has to decide who goes to jail and who doesn't. I don't have very much faith in the legal system. If you have money you can get around anything most of the time. I think you would probally see alot of average people in jail, and alot of the good ole boys club members still driving drunk. I will say in my state of Alabama after 3rd DUI, the 4th becomes a felony with a 1 yr sentence.
I agree with Barbie.
But, some people just can't learn. I do say though being in trouble that many times as that guy has been, a little jail time, might give him an eye opener.
Our tolerance level is 0.08.....enough for one can of beer.
Here in Ill.Your first offense DUI you go directly to jail.......without passing go, if no driver available your car is towed,
Then your license is suspended for 3 mon. ...Janet is that right? LOL
Second offense.....more jail time 6 months I believe then.......1 year license suspended.
3rd offense your license is revoked with a 2-3 year jail sentence, with a pretty hefty fine and a felony.
I think they take your car away permanently here in Long Island if you are found to be drunk. Could be an expensive night out!
First off, a drunk driver killed four of my classmates and injured another our JR year. It was her third offense, but had her first 2 reduced. B/c some DA reduced her first 2, 4 teenage girls died and a boy's life was ruined. This happened in N.C. in the middle of the day. The driver is now serving a de facto life sentence. I think if you are stupid enough to drink and drive you should immediately serve time. It is hard for me to say that, b/c my uncle drove drunk, and he was mayor of our town at the time!! He did lose his license, but considering he's a grown man he should have known better and suffered more consequence. Is drunk driving only a big deal if you kill someone?!?! Stricter laws is what we need. Those who disagree would feel differently if a first-time offender killed their child.
BTW, being mayor did not help my uncle, nor did having my police officer dad for a B-I-L. And to think, one of the employees in the store he owns was the boy who survived the accident in N.C.! He did such a stupid thing, it shames me.
Crystal, I'm sorry about your classmates. You are right, attitudes change when it affects people personally.
I am angry that this man has committed so many offenses and is not in jail. (I can't stop thinking that this man drives on the same roads my family and I do! And there are many more like him who aren't caught.) The article mentions his supporters saying he has an addiction, so he should be given help, not jail. I agree with them to a point; but he should have received help after his first offense. Any subsequent offenses should include jail time, IMO, automatically. He is very lucky he didn't hurt anyone! Addiction should not be used as an excuse to break the law. I don't know if that's what's happening here, but it was the first thing I thought of when I read the article.
i think when someone is caught drunk while driving, they should automatically have to serve a decent amount of time in jail. if the laws were more strict, we would have much less of a problem with this issue.
I believe that if the laws were more strict then more people would stop this behavior. I personally know someone who lost her license for the rest of her life because of drunk driving. She was 20, it was her second offense, and she severly injured the passenger in her car (it's amazing either of them survived). She has not touched a drop of alcohol from that day to this. I think to take away her license for the rest of her life at such a young age was a bit over the edge, but I think that if they took licenses away for 10 to 15 years and confiscated their car for drunk driving then maybe more people would think before they do it. IMO a year of having your license suspended is just not enough to really make people worry about it. I also think a breathalyzer type device on the steering column of a person with even one DUI so that they have to blow into the thing before their car will start would be a good idea. After having to deal with that for 5 years or so then maybe it would be a habit not to drink and drive.
I think taking your car would be a more powerful deterrent than your license. People drive without licenses every day, without a thought about it. I agree with taking their car and their license for 5-10 years. that would be good. Then again, what if that person had a family who needed that car. The family would suffer for the carelessness of their relative. This is such a murky, nasty problem. BTW, Thank you, Sunny, for your sympathy. Anyone in the NJ or NC area might be interested in the charity fund created in the girls' honor, Precious Gems Fund.
So many people drive without licenses, without insurance, it is absolutely appalling. In Philadelphia they finally got a law that if you are stopped for a traffic offense and you don't have current insurance or have a lot of tickets or are driving with a suspended license, your car is taken immediately. You can't get it back without paying the tickets or making a payment arrangement and getting insurance if your license is not suspended; not at all if your license is suspended, and there are towing and storage fees.
Some judges are starting to require a breathalyzer attachment to the ignition that must be breathed into before the car will start, and so far the appellate courts have upheld it. A license to drive is a privilege, not a right.
I am appalled that the courts are so often lenient on drunk drivers. A recent study by the Philadelphia Inquirer showed that it depends on where you are stopped - some police departments make dui a priority, others can't be bothered unless there is an accident. Disgusting!!!
Choosing to drive after you have been drinking is a choice, and drinking when you know you will be driving is a choice. Anyone who makes the bad choice should pay the consequences and the consequences should be stiff.
Personally, if I know I will be driving, I drink no alcohol for at least three hours before I will be driving, and I generally only have two or three drinks at a party over a 3 hour period, because I know I get drowsy and silly if I have more than one drink an hour. And I would never allow someone to drive away from my house if s/he was, in my opinion, even slightly impaired, even if it means s/he or I sleep on the floor.
As for parents who allow under-age drinking at parties in their homes - I have not suffient words that are printable to say what I think. A woman in a county near hear was recently sentenced to 4-5 years prison because she allowed teens at a party in her home to drink and it was proven that she knew they were drinking, and one was involved in an accident after leaving her house. I think that is appropriate.
Ginny, I read about that case, and saw it on TV. And I agree with you about parents who allow underage drinking at parties. When my son graduated from high school last year I wanted to have a party at the house. He asked if we could get a keg. I told him ABSOLUTELY NOT! I realize that if kids are going to drink, they will find a way, but it's certainly NOT going to be supplied by me, or done in my house.
When Pam and I were younger (back in the day), the legal drinking age in Louisiana was 18. Of course, we and all our friends thought we were so cool going to all the bars. And of course, our parents had little to no clue as to what we were doing. Sometimes when I think about how we used to drive home after spending an entire evening/night out drinking, it puts me in a cold sweat. Seriously. If I find out my kids are doing that there will be some serious consequences. I would never consider driving now while I was drinking; I rarely drink anymore anyway, but I'm too afraid to drink and drive.
I was talking to DH this morning about this topic. He said the laws in this state are a joke since we have drive-thru daiquiri shops around here. I reminded him about the Brew-Thru beer places on the Outer Banks of NC. His (stupid) argument was that that was beer, and daiquiries contain *hard* alcohol. Told him alcohol was alcohol, and driving under the influence was the same no matter if you are drinking beer, wine or straight shots. I do know the laws have gotten tougher here in the last few years.
And as for the original question posted by Sunny, it's an issue where if you say that being stopped even once is too often and that jail time should be imposed for that, you have to be prepared that it could *possibly*, at some point in the future, happen to a family member or close friend, and be prepared to uphold that. You can't pick and choose *who* the law applies to.
I always laughed at those Brew-Thru places too. And for that parent in the Deleware Valley that Ginny was talking about, I remember it too. My dad is a cop in Burlington county, and he used to see kids from my high school and the schools around it throwing parties at their parents' houses with permission all the time. It is unbelievable!! BTW, Ginny, the biggest problem Philly has is the Kensington and Alleghany sections. People come from all over the Valley to get drugs, and commit various offenses on the way. If they get caught they spend a few hours in the Roundhouse, and are right back to more crime. The cops are considered a joke to them.
OK time for me to get bashed. Richard has 2 DUI's on his record after the 1st he was put on a year probation he did that with no problems and paid $500 in fines. After his 2nd which was May/02 he had to pay $1200 in fines which we are still paying and he is having to go to AA once a week for 52 weeks.
Do I think he should go to jail from those NO. The first he was picked up on after his mother died and the 2nd he was picked up on after his best friend was killed.
So for me I believe he should have been put in treatment and not thrown in jail what would that have solved he does some time and then gets out and drinks some more with the AA and counseling he is now in that helps way more he is finally admitting htat he does have a problem.
Sorry if that makes some of you made but that is my opinion. Not everyone should go to jail for DD.
Before I start........I am not bashing anyone, or raking anyone through the mud, this is just my OP, and my thoughts for this subject
I dont understand the point in people drinking and driving.
I don't care of how well they think they can drive, even if they are only under 1-2 beers or drinks.
I have never drove while drinking, or been drinking.
Me and DH would always take a cab home from the bar......after drinking.... We would drive my car to the bar, and then going home wether we had one drink or 10 we'd take a cab. If we left, we would take a cab (bar hopping) it can be expensive, (why we don't go out often) but it's safe.
I have seen people so drunk they can't walk, or find thier keys, and walk out of the bar, get in thier car and leave. That scares me. Here I am on the road too, and these people are out there driving. It's always the innocent people that gets hurt.
It's a hassel yes, to have to drive the next am to get your car....gotta have Dh or someone drive me to the bar to get my car, but it's a hassel that I can live with. At least I am not putting my life, or anyone elses at risk, and plus having a DUI on my record.
I couldn't dare live with myself if I ever did drink and drive if I hurt a family, or killed them because of my stupidity.
I just wish everyone would take a cab, it's more $ in the cabbies pockets, but it's a lot more lives left unharmed. Also it's a lot less DUIS given out.
Tonya I'm not bashing you......this (what I said) has been picking at me every since this post was started, and i just now got the time to post it.
I am glad that he got into AA....
Mechelle,
Why don't you just take a cab to begin with, then you want have the hassel of picking up your car.
Also, I agree jail is not always the answer. As I stated before I think that would be a punishment for the average Joe, but not for those who have influence and money. I don't have the answer to this problem, It is wrong for the states to sell it, and then watch people walk out of the liquor store and get in a vehicle and drive off. They allow it because they profit either way it goes from the sale or from the fines after they pull you over for drinking their products, it's a double standard that send a double message. I do admit that for those that have the overnight stay in jail for the first time, for some that's enough to deter them, but for those with serious drinking problems they are just thinking about away to get their next drink, not about the safety of others. Do I think that's an excuse, NO, but I think their has to be more investigation into it, than just throwing someone into jail. Like I said before there are no easy answers to this one.
Tonya,
I can see your point since you know someone who has been through this on the "driving" end, but, then again, if a drunk driver killed your son, would you really care whether or not they had a "reason" to be drinking and driving? That's the thing with all of these debates, even capital punishment. If your child killed a person, you would be devastated if they received the death penalty, but if, on the other hand, someone killed your child, you might want to kill them yourself! There are always two sides to things, but I know that if a drunk driver killed a member of my family, I wouldn't care WHAT their excuses were! If someone is emotionally upset over a death and "needs" to numb themselves with alcohol, OK....but do it someplace safe, where there is no possibility of hurting someone innocent. JMO, not a bash against yours
I had a good friend killed by a drunk driver. I think all drunk drivers should go to jail first offense and lose their liscense if not forever then for at least 10 years with the stipulation that if they are caught driving they go directly to jail and do not collect $200 and do not pass go. Then after the jail time or while they are in jail they should be required to attend AA meetings.
Barbie,
I have. Got to wait an hour before they come get ya. When I am ready, I'm ready, and i won't wait an hour and watch the clock, and our time away from the kids (very rare) tick away........
So we'd just rather take my car, and leave it at the bar. I don't mind the hassel at all!!
I knew someone who was drunk driving and hit a child. The child lost a leg.
The person I knew was trying to get everyone he knew to write the judge a letter. No I didn't write a letter because I was horrified because it could have been me or someone I know.
I think he pretty much got off. I know he wasn't put in jail.... The child still didn't have his leg.
http://msnbc.com/news/849069.asp
this article is interesting in the way that it is related to the topic... i for one dont drink personal decision dont like the throwin up part or the head ache and all it duz is make me go to sleep after one drink lol anyways everyone should act responsible when drinkin and affectin others lives .... if u drink and drive u dont deserve a lisince and the freedom that goes with it
If he would have killed a child god yes my opinion would be totally different but becuase he was lucky enough to get pulled over before that happened then to me the circumstances are different. Not everyone deserves jail time.
Actually I should have said I was going to write a letter for him but I talked to some co-workers at the time that were horrorfied I was going to support the guy who ran kids over while drunk. Then I realized what he had done. It was like a delayed reaction to realizing what had happened. It was like I was going to stand by a friend no matter what. I was very young at the time. I realized, I didn't want to be associated with him anymore.
Tonya, not for nothing, but it was lucky the cops noticed how badly he was driving. He could have hurt himself or someone you knew.
In both of his cases he was pulled over for stupid stuff not for his driving he was pulle dover hte first tiemf or 2 blinker at 2am and the 2nd it was for a rolling stop at the corner stop sign by the house.
man arrested for third dui ... tho this time it was different ...he is going to jail for manslaughter ... he went head on into a mother that has been killed and left three kids under the age of 8 behind ... how many chances duz a dui person get ? he took a mother from three kids and a child tho she was 27 from a mother ... all cuz he choose to drink and drive!!! no one in my opinion has that right to take anothers life... no one has the right to drink and drive and say they are ok only going a few blocks he was only a few blocks from his house she on the way home from the cornor grocery store. first offense should be a one way ticket to jail no passin go ... i mean walk in a bar and take the keys away or u dont get served .... dont like the rulz to bad ...but a kid will has his mom in the middle of the night when he has a nightmare and to have cookies made for him... i think its a total shame that these kids dont have a mom now !!!ill step down off my soap box now ... sorry to be so steamed about this
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