A Breathalyzer in Every Car?

[Riverskier]

Just so you feel better....I'm in 100% agreement with your smoking views.

Nice to know I am not alone!

 

[riverc0il]

This has some good points if the negatives could be addressed. The give negative I see is that everyone at one point or another has probably had "just enough" to put us over the "legal limit" (as if BAM .08 and NOW you are suddenly dangerous... .07 no worries though). As with speeding laws, I think the focus of enforcement (and with this type of legislation if passed, control) should be those that are completely reckless. If someone has two drinks and just tops out at .08, I don't think that is a huge issue personally.

The technology poses some interesting problems such as what if it malfunctions? What if someone needs to move their car because of a parking issue at a friends house but is at the legal limit? What if a car can't be moved and there is an emergency and no one is sober. Etc. I think if this were implemented, it needs to be reasonable that sometimes emergencies happen and someone needs to move a car when they might be right at the limit.

 

[ComeBackMudPuddles]

God forbid you are out somewhere and you've had a beer or 2 and your kid has an emergency... and the car won't start... Or the thing just malfunctions...

what then?

It's a bunch of crap....

hmmm, an impaired driver agitated by a problem concerning his child? you are precisely the type of person that should not be able to start their car and endanger yourself, others and, eventually, your kid (assuming you need to drive him somewhere after).

call a cab. ask a friend to help. call the cops. and, if you are truly the ONLY person that can help your kid, be a responsible adult and don't put yourself in the situation where you've had too much to drink.

and regarding your worry about it malfunctioning, that's just a red herring. there are many things that can go wrong on a car that renders it inoperable.

frankly, this isn't just a matter of opinion. this is a question of right or wrong.

 

[dmc]

hmmm, an impaired driver agitated by a problem concerning his child? you are precisely the type of person that should not be able to start their car and endanger yourself, others and, eventually, your kid (assuming you need to drive him somewhere after).

call a cab. ask a friend to help. call the cops. and, if you are truly the ONLY person that can help your kid, be a responsible adult and don't put yourself in the situation where you've had too much to drink.

and regarding your worry about it malfunctioning, that's just a red herring. there are many things that can go wrong on a car that renders it inoperable.

frankly, this isn't just a matter of opinion. this is a question of right or wrong.

Call a taxi.... Like everyone in the world can just get on the phone a call a taxi...

 

[campgottagopee]

God forbid you are out somewhere and you've had a beer or 2 and your kid has an emergency... and the car won't start... Or the thing just malfunctions...

what then?

It's a bunch of crap....

hmmm, an impaired driver agitated by a problem concerning his child? you are precisely the type of person that should not be able to start their car and endanger yourself, others and, eventually, your kid (assuming you need to drive him somewhere after).

call a cab. ask a friend to help. call the cops. and, if you are truly the ONLY person that can help your kid, be a responsible adult and don't put yourself in the situation where you've had too much to drink.

and regarding your worry about it malfunctioning, that's just a red herring. there are many things that can go wrong on a car that renders it inoperable.

frankly, this isn't just a matter of opinion. this is a question of right or wrong.

That's crap---did you see where he said a beer, or God forbid 2??? Keep it real Puddle

 

[skidbump]

Me thinks you should all check these links out.Been told that DUI,DWI,DUAI are now money making,and promotion getting vehicles.This is straight from local DA's.Local police are looking for and making up reasons to pull you over.

http://www.duiblog.com/

http://www.getmadd.com/index.htm

 

[ComeBackMudPuddles]

That's crap---did you see where he said a beer, or God forbid 2??? Keep it real Puddle

the only thing thats crap, pee pee, are the arguments of the people who are against expanding mandatory breathalyzers from serial DUI offenders to any convicted DUI offender.

yes, dmc said a beer or two, but i ignored it b/c that's not what the proposal targets.....it targets those who have been convicted of a DUI and then drink to the point they are over the legal limit, which, by definition, is more than a beer or two. dmc and you seem to have a knee-jerk "don't tread on me" reaction to any regulation, which is fine, but doesn't really work in the "real" world.

no one is saying if you drink one beer you shouldn't drive. no one is advocating breathalyzers for every car (though i wouldn't be against it). what some people think makes sense is for those who have a DUI (not just those who have several DUIs) to have a hurdle put in place before they can drive drunk at will.

 

[campgottagopee]

the only thing thats crap, pee pee, are the arguments of the people who are against expanding mandatory breathalyzers from serial DUI offenders to any convicted DUI offender.

yes, dmc said a beer or two, but i ignored it b/c that's not what the proposal targets.....it targets those who have been convicted of a DUI and then drink to the point they are over the legal limit, which, by definition, is more than a beer or two. dmc and you seem to have a knee-jerk "don't tread on me" reaction to any regulation, which is fine, but doesn't really work in the "real" world.

no one is saying if you drink one beer you shouldn't drive. no one is advocating breathalyzers for every car (though i wouldn't be against it). what some people think makes sense is for those who have a DUI (not just those who have several DUIs) to have a hurdle put in place before they can drive drunk at will.

You're entitled to your opionion Pud, just as I am mine, and that's what makes the world go round, no??? As for my knee, I'll kick it in any direction I see fit.

 

[ComeBackMudPuddles]

You're entitled to your opionion Pud, just as I am mine, and that's what makes the world go round, no??? As for my knee, I'll kick it in any direction I see fit.

i know the polite thing to do is to say "yes, everyone is entitled to an opinion", but, in this case, sorry, i don't think so. sometimes there's such a thing as right and wrong.

 

[campgottagopee]

i know the polite thing to do is to say "yes, everyone is entitled to an opinion", but, in this case, sorry, i don't think so. sometimes there's such a thing as right and wrong.

So, bad things don't happen to good people in your world??? I have a hard time with "things" always being black and white. I've found, for me, there are always 2 sides to every story and one needs to listen very closley to each side.

 

[dmc]

So, bad things don't happen to good people in your world??? I have a hard time with "things" always being black and white. I've found, for me, there are always 2 sides to every story and one needs to listen very closley to each side.

Thinking in black and white is only 2 things... Black would be one side of the story - white the other... So... I'm confused by your statement...

Are you binary or not?

 

[mondeo]

the only thing thats crap, pee pee, are the arguments of the people who are against expanding mandatory breathalyzers from serial DUI offenders to any convicted DUI offender.

yes, dmc said a beer or two, but i ignored it b/c that's not what the proposal targets.....it targets those who have been convicted of a DUI and then drink to the point they are over the legal limit, which, by definition, is more than a beer or two. dmc and you seem to have a knee-jerk "don't tread on me" reaction to any regulation, which is fine, but doesn't really work in the "real" world.

no one is saying if you drink one beer you shouldn't drive. no one is advocating breathalyzers for every car (though i wouldn't be against it). what some people think makes sense is for those who have a DUI (not just those who have several DUIs) to have a hurdle put in place before they can drive drunk at will.

What about the guy that screwed up once 7 years ago, got caught, had a couple beers and his kid just fell down a flight of stairs?

What about inaccuracies in breathalyzers?

How about the guy that got up a little late, is trying to get to work, but has mouthwash residue?

There are too many situations where you'd be putting decent people with a single mistake in trouble. Yes, a fair number of drunk driving related incidents are caused by repeat offenders. But they're also probably caused not just by repeat offenders, but serial offenders. What's missing here is the repeat rate for first offenders. What's the likelihood that you'll drive drunk again if you're arrested for it once, unless you're a complete alcoholic?

Beyond that, what's to stop people from arguing for breathalyzers for everyone once first timers get them? You'll get the whole "it's not a problem if you don't drink" crowd in line with you, it's another small step to, say, make it so anyone under the age of 30 needs to have one so the older folks don't care, and then it just unfolds from there. I just don't see the evidence that breathalyzers for first timers actually makes a big enough difference to warrant that additional penalty.

All this is is a witch hunt. People want to feel safer, so they're targeting restrictions that they think won't impact them personally on a section of the population they can paint with a broad brush, despite no actual study of costs or actual effectiveness of the measure.

Heck, while we're at it, let's not allow minorities to buy guns, because we all know minorites have higher conviction rates for violent crimes.

 

[Glenn]

Me thinks you should all check these links out.Been told that DUI,DWI,DUAI are now money making,and promotion getting vehicles.This is straight from local DA's.Local police are looking for and making up reasons to pull you over.

http://www.duiblog.com/

http://www.getmadd.com/index.htm

Interesting links!

Those checkpoints always bothered me. I know they're "legal", but it seems really Eastern European?USSR to me: "Where were you tonight? What were you doing? Have anything to dink?"

 

[campgottagopee]

Thinking in black and white is only 2 things... Black would be one side of the story - white the other... So... I'm confused by your statement...

Are you binary or not?

LOL---guess I shopuld've read that closer---damn work gets in the way of me making sense. Now my head hurts.

 

[Geoff]

the only thing thats crap, pee pee, are the arguments of the people who are against expanding mandatory breathalyzers from serial DUI offenders to any convicted DUI offender.

yes, dmc said a beer or two, but i ignored it b/c that's not what the proposal targets.....it targets those who have been convicted of a DUI and then drink to the point they are over the legal limit, which, by definition, is more than a beer or two. dmc and you seem to have a knee-jerk "don't tread on me" reaction to any regulation, which is fine, but doesn't really work in the "real" world.

no one is saying if you drink one beer you shouldn't drive. no one is advocating breathalyzers for every car (though i wouldn't be against it). what some people think makes sense is for those who have a DUI (not just those who have several DUIs) to have a hurdle put in place before they can drive drunk at will.

That's completely false. I've been collecting data over the last 6 months since there's no way I'm going to drive within Killington town limits over the limit in an orange car. An arrest, thousands in legal fees, a felony conviction that follows me for life, and huge insurance premiums for life just ain't worth risking. I'm a big guy and most people will be over the limit with less alcohol than me.

The following puts me over 0.08:
A pint of Long Trail Double Bag and a pint of Long Trail Ale consumed over 90 minutes.

One martini at The Garlic (about 2 1/2 shots of vodka)

At 0.08, I'm not even feeling buzzed. I've never seen a bartender cut someone off with one martini at The Garlic or two beers at the Long Trail Brewery. The Vermont State Police pull people on the Killington Access Road over for nothing. I got pulled over for "weaving" going up the hill at exactly 35 mph. That produced a huge argument since I certainly wasn't weaving. I know people who have been pulled over for failing to come to a complete stop pulling out from a parking lot onto the Access Road. I know people who have been pulled over for failing to use a turn signal pulling out from a parking lot onto the Access Road. A friend of mine has a DUI arrest where he got pulled over for a lamp being out on his rear license plate. It's harassment.

 

[tjf67]

Interesting links!

Those checkpoints always bothered me. I know they're "legal", but it seems really Eastern European?USSR to me: "Where were you tonight? What were you doing? Have anything to dink?"

I was over visiting my inlaws officer. They had a bible reading. Absulutely not. I love the people that say I had one or two. Go directly to jail, you lose game over.

 

[Marc]

Interesting links!

Those checkpoints always bothered me. I know they're "legal", but it seems really Eastern European?USSR to me: "Where were you tonight? What were you doing? Have anything to dink?"

Move along citizen, this is none of your concern.

 

[deadheadskier]

What about the guy that screwed up once 7 years ago, got caught, had a couple beers and his kid just fell down a flight of stairs?
.

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.

 

[campgottagopee]

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.

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

 

[deadheadskier]

That's completely false. I've been collecting data over the last 6 months since there's no way I'm going to drive within Killington town limits over the limit in an orange car. An arrest, thousands in legal fees, a felony conviction that follows me for life, and huge insurance premiums for life just ain't worth risking. I'm a big guy and most people will be over the limit with less alcohol than me.

The following puts me over 0.08:
A pint of Long Trail Double Bag and a pint of Long Trail Ale consumed over 90 minutes.

One martini at The Garlic (about 2 1/2 shots of vodka)

At 0.08, I'm not even feeling buzzed. I've never seen a bartender cut someone off with one martini at The Garlic or two beers at the Long Trail Brewery. The Vermont State Police pull people on the Killington Access Road over for nothing. I got pulled over for "weaving" going up the hill at exactly 35 mph. That produced a huge argument since I certainly wasn't weaving. I know people who have been pulled over for failing to come to a complete stop pulling out from a parking lot onto the Access Road. I know people who have been pulled over for failing to use a turn signal pulling out from a parking lot onto the Access Road. A friend of mine has a DUI arrest where he got pulled over for a lamp being out on his rear license plate. It's harassment.

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.