Gotcha, you damn drunk driver

I wouldn't listen to someone I thought was drunk. I knew these guys well and I knew what they're like. As I said, personal breathalyzers weren't an option then. And this wasn't a college-style party, it was a relatively subdued group of friends that one zoned female happened to drop in on. My point is, in the context of the times, I was acting in a manner most people would have considered pretty responsible, and I stepped up to the plate when someone was needed to prevent an alcohol related tragedy. And taking my license would have kept me from averting several other situations, a net negative for society. But we can leave it at that. I'm just presenting the possibility that I may have saved several lives, and your law would have me prevented from doing that, which to me sounds like your law could use a little consideration for circumstance.

She was too much for two cops to put in leg restraints. They called in backup from the front desk. You have no idea.

No problem with you having that opinion. But it's kind of tough to control people who may be acting out of personal or chemical demons without executing them - they tend to just ignore punishment and continue on their destructive path. I mean, HOW do you keep someone from driving, if they are so impaired that sensible fear of punishment doesn't exist? Cars can be stolen, "borrowed" without the owners knowledge, driven off a lot in a road test, you name it. You're going to have to kill them.

Hopefully you will see my real argument, which has nothing to do with alcohol or speed but is strictly about law and how it's applied. Let me try this angle.

1. Are you willing to concede that somewhere there's a person who has lost one or more loved ones due to someones excessive speed thru a residential area?
2. Is it not possible that this person desires a much more severe punishment on the books for speeding? Perhaps even a ten year suspension, automatic, on any speeding offense no matter how trivial?
3. Are you willing to give them the law they want, as you would have others subject to the law you want? Are you willing to lose your license for ten years over a 34 in a 30 because *they* have a strong opinion about it?

Or, as I suspect, would you prefer that their law be considered by a wide range of people, passed by a legislature who would modify and tone it down according to circumstances of the violation, and punish according to the severity of the violation?

Unfortunately, we only get to pick one way and it has to work the same for everyone. (Presidents excluded, of course.)

miker

That is nice that you wouldn't listen to someone who you thought was drunk when you had been drinking yourself. Alcohol doesn't alter your perception or anything like that...

As I said, if you need a personal breathalyzer, you are part of the problem. A book on AA might be a better purchase if you are drinking so often that you need an electronic device to tell you if it is legally ok to drive home.

Haha, a group of drinking college-aged individuals, you happen to be the best designated driver option even though you can't pass a breathalyzer, and it just happens to be the one zoned female causing all the trouble. I smell the excrement of a bull wafting from your post.

Cab drivers could have done what you did. Don't take too much credit.

More parts of the the story yet undisclosed? Do you think that you are the only one who has dealt with a psycho woman? I was married to one. Again, that strong smell of excrement drifts in from your direction.

That is what I wanted to do to the Buick driver. I exercised common sense instead. Considering what I wanted to do, 10 years without a license seems very minor by comparison.

Yes.

Of course.

Nope, just like I don't get what I want. Most of us would like to play God, but only a few people get to. Like I said before, this is the opinion of one individual, I do not speak for others. Nothing is going to change because of me and I know this.

And Senators from MA, of course.

Pat

Some people just make me sick. Miker, are ya an avid drunk driver buddy? Feelin' a little guilty about it? Clean it up before you become a statistic.

Chris

Easily confused. They are both foot pedals, and the manufacturer put them right next to each other to add insult to injury. And now he is saddened because he feels he contributed to the dead of these 10 people.

Why doesn't he sue the manufacturer of his car for it continuing to accelerate even though he had his foot off the accelerator and firmly on the brake? Any US jury would not only award damages for his misery and loss of income, but also large amounts of punitive damages, because them manufacturers should have learned from Audi that they simply cannot do that sort of thing.

Leon

I don't agree with everything that Miker says. However, he is apparently trying to have an honest discussion instead of just pushing emotional buttons.

You all have fun with this thread, I've read more than enough.

Jim

Honest!?!?!?! Did you read the part about his ultra-responsible college drinking buddies and the intrusion of the zoned pyscho-woman who could not be controlled ruining everything? Johnny Cochran couldn't sell that one in court.

If you have read more than enough, that is your fault, nobody is forcing you to read anything. On my newsreader, it is right click, ignore thread, done. I'll bet, however, that you are still reading this, it is like a bad soap opera that won't end. ;-)

Pat

Good post.

I've often wondered whether there's any way for testing for drugs (legal or illegal) on the spot? If a policeman suspects a driver is under some form of narcotic influence, what do they do - haul them in? Can they just do that or do they have to give them some sort of test first? I can imagine that quite a few kids now drive while drugged rather than drunk, and that might be more difficult to determine or prove on the spot.

Eric

To Eric and those who responded to his message: I don't see what all this discussion of DUI's and speeding violations ( and the profanity used to accenuate your feelings) really has to do with Miata issues. Ron

Fair enough; you're at liberty to ignore this thread. It's very neatly self-contained to easy enough to ignore.

Eric

It is much more difficult to determine, because there is not a breathalyser device for these drugs like there is for the drug alcohol. (Alcohol is an intoxicating drug in case anyone is fooling themselves and feel morally superior to "drug users" when they drink)

The officer has to rely on their own personal observations of smells, dilated eyes, red eyes, slurred speech or continuous rapid speech, all of which can be caused by other factors as well except perhaps the smell if someone has a blunt of the chronic burning in the back seat.

If you fail their sobriety test and they suspect it is for illegal or prescription drugs rather than alcohol, what happens next varies from country to country and probably from state to state here. I do know a person who was pulled over while smoking and was only charged with possession, not with driving under the influence, but this was years ago, things may have changed.

Marijuana can stay in your system for a month or longer, so a person who has used it will show up positive for long after the intoxicating effects have worn off. Most illegal drugs work their way out of detectable levels in your system within 3 days or so. At least that is what I heard.... ;-)

I worked at a police supply store for a while and one thing that they sold was packets of moist wipes that detect cocaine residue. They rub these over your driver's license back at the car if they are suspicious because so many people use their license for crushing up their nose candy and/or splitting it into lines.

The semi-truckers who have been up for three days on meth making their runs scare me more than kids. I don't think that there are a lot more kids driving drugged than there used to be, unless you count the legal prescription drugs that our pharmaceutical industry is shoving down their throats at the first sign of unhappiness at anything.

Pat

Exactly. "I hate this thread, so, so, I'm going to read the whole thing". Makes sense.

Eric hasn't used any profanity that I remember. I have, and if you don't like it, then just drop me into your f****ng killfile and you won't see those awful words anymore. Ron, you have done nothing with your comments but to help continue this thread. A thread, like a troll, can only be killed by starving it, not by complaining about it. Are you a newbie not to realize this?

Miata discussion on this newsgroup has been dying off for a long time now. Maybe half the posts are on-topic, and almost everyone here is guilty of participating in completely off-topic discussions.

Pat

Pat, it was irrelevant to the discussion until for either misdirection or lack of worthwhile response you are bringing it up. Do you think we should start digging into your marriage, just to be sure that your opinion of psycho is adequate to validate your opinions on the personal events I related, at your request I might add? Or should I start accusing you of BSing about your marriage just to give yourself something to oppose me with? What's the point in that kind of exchange?

Ok, that's a different place from where you started and my point is made. And (in case anyone is wondering about relevance to the group) this is why we are not facing lengthy license suspensions for minor speed infractions, based on one individuals strong opinion. Blanket harsh punishments can't be applied fairly, so the law tends to not have them.

Thank you all for your tolerance, my apologies to those who found the thread bothersome.

miker

Man, I hope you apply more perception to your driving than you do to your reading.

miker

Hah, nice one :-) So the officers don't even have to ask them for their credit cards to test them, that's very accommodating of the snorters.

Which reminds me of a cross-country journey in Thailand once... bus... bullet-holes.... Some other time and thread maybe.

In the UK I'd bet there are loads of people driving on drugs instead of drink because they think (rightfully or not, I have no idea) that they're less likely to be caught and prosecuted. The drink driving campaigns here seem to have been moderately effective, but the use of illegal drugs is generally on the increase so I reckon there's more DUI of drugs going on. That'll be the next challenge for the police I guess.

Eric

There is no purpose to any of this. You felt a need to respond to a person's opinion on the law because what I want would have taken your license away since you were stupid anough to drive after drinking your drug. Now you need a device to make sure you stay under the BAL, nice.

You can dig into my marriage all that you want, I have nothing to hide and no lies to tell. I do have some nice physical scars that I can show you. Is that psycho enough for you? I also know that when someone says that the only recourse was to give the girl a ride home after drinking because it was impossible to take her keys away, that I am hearing a load of BS.

Nobody has made a single point except that we are not ever going to agree on this. Have fun blowing into your breathalyser since you need one to figure out if it is ok to drive ot not.....

They bitch and bitch, yet they continue to read and read. We are not all Americans here, but that is very much the American way.

Pat

Pat, do you remember me saying I agree with you on drunk driving, I agree with you on not drinking at all and driving, and I agree that harsher punishments are needed (just not to the extent you are advocating)? If you don't remember, check the archive and then apologize if you're honest enough.

Likewise, I have never said I used a device to test myself. I don't drink and drive, remember? If you don't remember, check the archive and then apologize if you're honest enough.

Me either, and you've done nothing but accuse me of lying. Is that the treatment you want?

We *did* agree, twice. We agree that drunk driving is bad and that current penalties should be harsher. And you said you understood you weren't going to get your way and it was just your opinion, and wasn't going to be law. Do you need the quote from the archive? Don't forget, we are NOT arguing about whether drunk driving is ok or not, we are discussing whether the law should provide blanket harsh punishments for first offenses for violations of the motor vehicle laws.

See above. I don't. You keep saying that because you have no reasonable response except to continue being the kind of person you are.

miker

Ok Miker, I am sorry. Peace and love and all of that. ;-)

Over and out....

Pat

Thank you. BTW, you following that guy to get him nabbed is just what I would have done. Too many people would have just shook their head and continued on their way.

miker