A Breathalyzer in Every Car?

[deadheadskier]

.02??? I have that in me on a daily basis ;-)

yep, check this out. A lot of countries have a tolerance of ZERO meaning if they detect any in you at all, you're screwed.

http://dui3.com/archives/3/drunk-driving-laws-in-the-united-states-canada-europe-and-more/

 

[campgottagopee]

yep, check this out. A lot of countries have a tolerance of ZERO meaning if they detect any in you at all, you're screwed.

http://dui3.com/archives/3/drunk-driving-laws-in-the-united-states-canada-europe-and-more/

Nepal here I come!!! :lol:

 

[mondeo]

You know, in many countries around the world, the limit for DUI is actually .02? Lots of complaints of the .08 limit but that is actually one of the highest allowable limits in the world. Penalties around the world tend to be far more strict than here in the states as well in terms of length of suspension, psychological evaluations and major costs in order to get your license back, jail time etc. By in large, the US has some of the most lax DUI laws in the world.

'Only' having to blow into a breathalyser to start a car up seems like a pretty reasonable trade off to me.

They also cut off your hand in parts of the world if you get caught stealing.

What bugs me more than the inconvienence is the social impact. One vehicle families where the husband gets a DUI but the wife has to drive around a car with a breathalyzer. Two vechicle families where the teenager gets a DUI and the parents have a breathalyzer. You screwed up 7 years ago, haven't driven with a BAC over 0.02 since, but still have the breathalyzer. Drunk driving is fairly heavily stigmatized, as it should be, but you're going to be putting the stigma on people that either don't deserve it in the first place or have legitimately changed their ways.

To me, the penal system is there to protect society and to reform those who commit crimes. Those are the sole purposes. The impacts of a blanket law like this would impact those that are merely associated with DUI convictees and those who have reformed. That's the problem.

What's wrong with a judge's discretion? Why can't a judge look at the case, see that you blew a 0.08-0.09, no previous alcohol related incidents, clean driving record, etc., and determine that fines, time served, licsense suspension, whatever is enough and that you're not a likely risk to repeat?

 

[Geoff]

Where did you purchase your breathalyser? It sounds horribly inaccurate to me. For three years I taught TIPS to bartenders in Vermont and Maine. It is pretty much the national standard for training responsible alcohol service and monitoring over serving. A guy your size should be able to have five 12 ounce beers in two hours before reaching .08. You burn off 1 per hour, so your BAC after having five in two hours would be the equivalent of having 3 beers in you.

I've double-checked the results with the breathalyzer one of the Killington constables carries around. It's calibrated properly. Your data sounds about right. No bar I know of pours 12 ounce beers. Beer comes in a 16 ounce glass. 48 ounces (3 pints) of 5% draft beer (for example, common brands like Budweiser, PBR, and most microbrews) in 90 minutes puts me over. That's the same as drinking 4 twelve ounce beers in 90 minutes. I'm barely over but I'm usually over or teetering right below the limit at 0.79 where the Vermont "0.08 or driving while intoxicated" law will get me tossed in jail.

3 pints of beer in the bar over 90 minutes isn't exactly heavy drinking. You're not drunk. No bartender I've ever seen is going to refuse pouring that 3rd beer. If I've had 3 beers, I usually have to hang out for an hour afterwards drinking water so I can drive home.

 

[Geoff]

What bugs me more than the inconvienence is the social impact.

What bugs me is that it's a felony. At 0.08, you are not impared but that's the law. As a convicted felon, you can't vote. You can't go to Canada. There are all kinds of jobs you are excluded from that have nothing to do with driving an automobile. You're ineligible to run for public office. You are prohibited from getting all kinds of licenses. You can't buy guns or ammo.

...and the Vermont State Police are trolling the Killington Access Road arresting anyone who even gets close to 0.08. It destroys lives if you don't have the money to lawyer up and get the charge reduced. An awful lot of people don't have the thousands of dollars to pay the attorney retainer kicking around.

I think the DUI law is seriously broken. 0.08 is far too low to be a felony. At least in the state of Vermont, it's being used as a revenue generating source since virtually anyone exiting a bar parking lot is close enough to the limit to get arrested.

 

[ed-drum]

My wife was run over by a drunk driver a long time ago. Broke her pelvis. If they put a breathalyzer in a car, what's stopping someone from keeping a balloon in the car and letting the air from it do the reading? Convicted felons can vote if they are not in prison or on parole. Convicted felons can run for office, but they probably wouldn't win. Hunter has their Police and Fireman's race and they get totally wasted, but not one of them has gotten arrested for drunk driving. If they want to stop drunk driving, CLOSE DOWN THE BARS. But, that will never happen.

 

[wa-loaf]

Hunter has their Police and Fireman's race and they get totally wasted, but not one of them has gotten arrested for drunk driving. If they want to stop drunk driving, CLOSE DOWN THE BARS. But, that will never happen.

Happened at Wachusett this year after the fireman's race, except that they drove into a tree on the way home. Guy left a 5 year old daughter and wife without a dad. The driver got a DUI and vehicular homicide.

I think these guys deserve to let loose and have a good time since their jobs are tough, but you'd think they would know better. I'm sure they have all seen the results of these kinds of crashes.

 

[deadheadskier]

Happened at Wachusett this year after the fireman's race, except that they drove into a tree on the way home. Guy left a 5 year old daughter and wife without a dad. The driver got a DUI and vehicular homicide.

I think these guys deserve to let loose and have a good time since their jobs are tough, but you'd think they would know better. I'm sure they have all seen the results of these kinds of crashes.

Back in my hotel work days, the most rowdy patrons were cops at conventions and weddings.

 

[Geoff]

Convicted felons can vote if they are not in prison or on parole.

That just ain't true.

The states that deny the right to vote for convicted felons are: Alabama, Arizona, Deleware, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming. In many of those states, you get it back eventually but you often have to lawyer up to do it. Recall the number of people denied their right to vote in Florida in the two Dubya elections. It made national news.

 

[ed-drum]

Sorry, but it is true. Go to felonvoting.procon.org. Their are restrictions, but voting privileges are restored in most cases. And a gun and a firearm are not the same thing. You can run for President if you are a felon. Cops have a hard job, but they have no right to get drunk and drive around. They covered up the fact that a Trooper smashed into a tree on main street in Hunter and died a while back. You can still see the scars on the tree.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

I want to get a personal breathilizer. The last sobriety checkpoint i went through was in rutland a few years back. I had two whisky cokes over the course of an hour at charitys. I blew a point zero two six. So i could have had five although that is more booze than i am cpmfortable driving on and at seven bucks a piece more Than i would normally spend. I would not be opposed to breathilizers on all cars but i dont see it happening. Drunk driving arrests bring in alot of revenues plus lawyers get mad loot.

 

[thorski]

I want to get a personal breathilizer. The last sobriety checkpoint i went through was in rutland a few years back. I had two whisky cokes over the course of an hour at charitys. I blew a point zero two six. So i could have had five although that is more booze than i am cpmfortable driving on and at seven bucks a piece more Than i would normally spend. I would not be opposed to breathilizers on all cars but i dont see it happening. Drunk driving arrests bring in alot of revenues plus lawyers get mad loot.

Sounds like the bartender didn't like you to much.

 

[Geoff]

Sounds like the bartender didn't like you to much.

I'll say. If I only blew 0.025 after two cocktails on the Access Road, I'd leave zero tip, tell the bartender he was an asshole, and get the bar owner to explain why I'm never coming in again and why I'll be telling everyone I know to avoid the place.

 

[deadheadskier]

I retract my statement. No breathalyzers. I'm all for encouraging DUI's to increase revenue after today.

7 windows at the DMW, only 3 in use with 60 people in front of me in line. Took an hour and a half for my turn. sucked