Drinking and Driving

[BuffNaked]

How would you stop it?

I think all cars should be equipped with ignition interlock devices.

You can't. You can only look out for your self and your loved ones. That is to say, you can implore your friends and family not to get behind the wheel drunk and you can look out for danger when you are on the roads. That's it.

Seriously though, the way you guys talk, you think it's a huge problem.

 

[a 1 player]

After having lost a couple of my dear friends to impaired drivers, I would say it is.

 

[buckwheat1]

Hoe to stop it? seize and sell teh persons car weather it's $1000 or $100000
just sell the car and put the driver in jail for 1 year, he'd think twice 2nd time round.

 

[fuji]

he'd think twice 2nd time round.

Unless he's drunk, in which case the alcohol might get the better of his judgement.

 

[spankingman]

Fuck that idea. The nanny state is already in our faces enough - we don't need them adding hundreds of dollars to the cost of a car and another hoop to jump through, just to please the rampant lobbiests who think their pet issue should be everyone's pet issue.

Yes D&D is horrible and the waste of life it sometimes causes is appalling, but that's life. Many more people die from smoking, eating poorly, slipping in the bathtub, or just plain old non alcohol-related car accidents. You can't regulate risk out of every facet of life. D&D sucks but having big brother control our lives even more, would suck even more.

And to short circuit the trite response: yes, if the wife or son of somone who died in a D&D related crash got in my face about it, I would say this to their face (although I would try to avoid it, out of sympathy. How horrible to have to face that. But if they started preaching and wouldn't stop, I'd engage in civilized but frank debate, and let them know how I feel).

Thats a great thought you have until someone in YOUR circle of family is KILLED by a drunk driver.How would you feel THEN???????? I would bet you would be calling for a pound of flesh as well.!!!!!!!!!!

 

[y2kmark]

Toughie!

Someone can be well educated and have a perfectly clear understanding of why driving drunk is never, ever a good idea - but as soon as they get drunk enough, all that understanding goes out the window! Not letting any car off the showroom floor without ignition interlock and keep working to improve the effectiveness of that system seems a promising direction - but nothing is foolproof and drunks are just about the biggest fools of all!

 

[Angela@Mirage]

The problem being, we are in a society which believes that things are everyone elses responsibility but theirs.

It's the bars fault for serving me
It's the beer companies fault for not having a warning
It's my friends fault for not taking my keys
It's my mothers fault for being abusive when I was a child
It's the polices fault, they should be going after more dangerous criminals.

Drinking and driving is avoidable in every instance. I say punish to the fullest extent of the law.

Thank you.

 

[CapitalGuy]

Thats a great thought you have until someone in YOUR circle of family is KILLED by a drunk driver.How would you feel THEN???????? I would bet you would be calling for a pound of flesh as well.!!!!!!!!!!

The killer would presumably be charged and jailed. That would be my pound of flesh. Wanting my pound of flesh from a guilty drunk driver is not the same as expecting everyone else in the country to pay for a crime they have not committed.

 

[a 1 player]

The killer would presumably be charged and jailed. That would be my pound of flesh. Wanting my pound of flesh from a guilty drunk driver is not the same as expecting everyone else in the country to pay for a crime they have not committed.

But would you want a pound of flesh for someone running around with a loaded handgun? How about if they were impaired?

The fact of the matter is that impaired driving is a crime whether or not someone gets hurt.

 

[CapitalGuy]

But would you want a pound of flesh for someone running around with a loaded handgun? How about if they were impaired? The fact of the matter is that impaired driving is a crime whether or not someone gets hurt.

player, you're arguing a different point. Not sure where it came from. I do not support the installation of ignition interlock devices in every car in Canada. That was the OP's proposal.

 

[a 1 player]

player, you're arguing a different point.

Oops, my apologies. I must have taken your point out of context.

 

[Moraff]

Someone can be well educated and have a perfectly clear understanding of why driving drunk is never, ever a good idea - but as soon as they get drunk enough, all that understanding goes out the window!

Well when I want to go out drinking I don't take my car... if I do have my car I don't drink. Simple. My parents impressed the stupidity of drinking and driving into me thoroughly while I was growing up. It's so ingrained that if I'm driving I don't even have the desire to drink alcohol.

 

[Hangman]

WASHINGTON—According to a report released Monday by the National Institutes of Health, 93 percent of those who get behind the wheel while intoxicated arrive at their homes safe and sound, just like they told everybody they would. "Most of these people are barely even buzzed, and 87 percent of the time they're driving primarily on back roads for distances of like, eight miles, tops," said the study's lead author, Dr. Henry Tillman, adding that the vast majority of inebriated drivers stuck with only beer all night, so they were totally fine. "Roughly 64 percent of drunk drivers have cousins who are cops anyway, so it's really no big deal." The study concluded that a mere one in 15 drunk drivers end up dying in a cascading torrent of fire, so, you know, odds.

 

[KBear]

Leading cause of accidents

http://caaneo.ca/about/blog/driving/10-leading-causes-of-car-accidents-and-tips-to-avoid-them

When people are drunk, they sometimes drive too fast, which is real danger. Enforcing speed limits would certainly reduce deaths. Could install gps units in all cars that track the speed on given roads, and bill the driver automatically for speeding, or just shut the car down. Would be more effective in reducing deaths then the breathalyzer interlock.

As the leading cause of accidents, should talking on the cell phone be banned, or the person punished as would a drunk driver?

 

[Asterix]

Ignition interlocks won't do it; they'll just get a buddy to start the car for them.

I doubt they would need a buddy to do it for them. I think I could virtually guarantee that if ignition interlocks were required there would be some company that would sell a device to blow into it for you.

 

[alexmst]

It seems everyone on Terb has a cause celeb they want people damned for. The drunk drivers, illegal-type pornographers, road racers, cell phone users, speeders, being Ted Rogers (oh wait, he's already dead now can't rant about him anymore), getting pregers on purpose to trap a guy into child support, etc, etc. Crap, we should maybe revert to the Middle Ages and just have every crime punished by the death penalty and not have jails.

Am I annoyed tonight ? Yes. I usually drive downtown to work Thursdays, but I had a hot civilian dinner date tonight and was going to be drinking so I left my car at home and took the TTC. My cell phone I accidentally left in my car, seeing as I usually have my car downtown and keep it in it. Didin't think it would matter since the time and place of the date had already been set. However, she texted me to change the place of meeting, and I didn't get the text. So I went to the previously agreed to place. Drank alone waiting for an hour and a half, waiters snickering, then left. Couldn't phone her as her number was only in my cell phone directory and was unlisted. Got back home to find multiple texts on my cell saying where was I, why did I stand her up, and that she is mad at me big time for ruining her night and causing her to miss her dinner. I felt bad. If I hadn't been so paranoid about the possibility that I might have more than 2 drinks, and had driven my f***** car downtown like I usually do, this mess would have been avoided and I'd have had a great night. I didn't even have more than 2 drinks anyway as it tunred out. I'm annoyed as H*** - partly at myself for leaving the phone in the car, and partly at myself for being such a good little conformist to the MADD drink and drive lobby. The F****** cab drivers downtown drive worse when sober than I would with 3 drinks in me. I took a cab home and the cabbie went through 2 red lights, almost ran down three pedestrians in a legal crosswalk, and was lane-changing like he was a stock car racer. All rthe while asking me what I thought an average penis size was, as he thinks his is too small. Now my night was ruined, girl is mad at me (I did go to the agreed to place and the agreed to time though...what is with the younger cell phone generation girls and the need to confirm and change plans with text messages? In my day you made a plan and just did it.) and now that I'm home I'm going to have a big drink and cuss. F***!

 

[pencilneckgeek2]

Seriously though, the way you guys talk, you think it's a huge problem.

815 Canadians killed by drunk drivers in 2004, that's about one victim every 10.75 hours. That's ~2.23 Canadians killed by drunk drivers every day, approximately 15.63 slain every week, ~67.92 Canadians dead monthly by impaired drivers.


Yeah, I'd say it's a huge problem.

Source: TRIF Traffic Injury Research Foundation

 

[Angela@Mirage]

Thats way too harsh if the drunk driver has not caused a crash or bodily harm onto others. Ontario laws are strict already IMO.

I don't think harsh penalties are the answer. When the person decides to get behind the wheel under the influence he/she does not think about what the consequences or penalties will be. They usually believe they are not under the influence and can therefore drive safely.

Ontario's laws suck when it comes to drinking and driving. Sit in a courtroom for an eight hours day. You would laugh. Just like i do.

 

[Angela@Mirage]

Well when I want to go out drinking I don't take my car... if I do have my car I don't drink. Simple. My parents impressed the stupidity of drinking and driving into me thoroughly while I was growing up. It's so ingrained that if I'm driving I don't even have the desire to drink alcohol.

Likewise, since a family member of mine was murdered by a drunk driver.

 

[DayDreamer1]

Ontario's laws suck when it comes to drinking and driving. Sit in a courtroom for an eight hours day. You would laugh. Just like i do.

so what would you suggest a sentence for a first time offender should be? (assuming no aggravating factors or injuries to anyone)