Sorry about your dad's car, J. I fucking hate drunk drivers. They should get their licenses revoked for life as far as I'm concerned.
A
Amaris
Guest
Indeed. I'm glad to hear everyone was safe. That had to be terrifying, for everyone involved.
Amen to that.
I do hope they find her, and I'm going to be concerned if she isn't, because her injuries were reported as severe, and I really don't want anyone to die over this. We haven't heard from any of the authorities as of yet, but that might be because only 2 police officers were on duty when it occurred, so lack of manpower could be a part of it.
Yep. I am a believer in punitive sentences when it comes to accidents involving drunk driving, particularly when it takes place in a residential neighborhood, because the danger of hitting children, particularly in this area where there are dozens of families who live in the apt. complex two houses down, is just way too high. Everybody makes mistakes, and I'd hate for anyone to lose their license over a single mistake, I just wish there were better ways to protect both those who drink and those who are injured or killed by drunk drivers. That one mistake can be fatal.
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^ I feel very strongly about punitive sentencing as well. My parents were almost killed by a drunk driver almost fifteen years ago. Both were in the hospital for a couple of days recovering from their injuries and my mother spent several months in physical therapy regaining the use of her right arm. Their car was nothing but a ball of twisted metal and it was a miracle they both walked away from it. My father still keeps a vile filled with the glass they pulled out of his face and scalp as a reminder that life is fleeting.
And a year later, that same drunk bitch that hit them was back on the road. She later t-boned a minivan and killed the driver. She went to prison for involuntary manslaughter and as far as I know she is still there. But if the system was not so screwed up, she would never have been back behind the wheel to begin with. That woman lost her life going to pick up her kids from school because the state didn't feel it necessary to do anything but slap her on the wrist. That PISSES me off.
And I am sending good thoughts your way Sarek. *squishy hug* I wish there was more I could do babycakes.
And a year later, that same drunk bitch that hit them was back on the road. She later t-boned a minivan and killed the driver. She went to prison for involuntary manslaughter and as far as I know she is still there. But if the system was not so screwed up, she would never have been back behind the wheel to begin with. That woman lost her life going to pick up her kids from school because the state didn't feel it necessary to do anything but slap her on the wrist. That PISSES me off.
And I am sending good thoughts your way Sarek. *squishy hug* I wish there was more I could do babycakes.
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Amaris
Guest
I completely agree and I do feel the same way. It's amazing what people can get away with before the system catches up with them. I'm glad your parents came out of it alive. Wow.
You're a sweetheart, and hug gratefully accepted.
The insurance adjuster will be out today to look at the car. While the police report isn't finished yet, they did tell Dad that the offending vehicle is in the male passenger's name, and now the police are saying that he actually drove the car and that either he and his girlfriend switched places, or the witness was mistaken when he saw the woman running away. Either way, the male was most assuredly intoxicated well above the legal limit. You want to know what burns, though? The guy's not in jail. The police said that he was released to his father, and called the station this morning demanding to know where they took his car.
As for Dad's car, the auto body repair center said that his car will be considered totaled. The frame is bent, and the driveshaft is in the engine block. There is no way to restore or recover. It will be a total loss, and still no one is certain whether the man had insurance on his car.
J
Jetfire
Guest
I have a 93 Thunderbird I got from a family friend for $600...it has gotten me from point A to point B for the past 2 years pretty good.
I have also been hit twice by people who were not drunk...one was the dump truck moved over and didn't see me I guess and I was hit at a light by couple they said when my light went green the reflection and the rain made it look like their light was green.
I hope your dad can get a vehicle for work and stuff...I know it won't replace what he lost.
I have also been hit twice by people who were not drunk...one was the dump truck moved over and didn't see me I guess and I was hit at a light by couple they said when my light went green the reflection and the rain made it look like their light was green.
I hope your dad can get a vehicle for work and stuff...I know it won't replace what he lost.
See, when my brother drives drunk, it's ok, because he's good at drunk driving. Just ask him
That's right, he was always your designated drunk driver.
Seriously, I fucking hate when people say stuff like that. Everyone thinks they drive better when they're drunk. Guess what, fools, alochol sort-of fucks up you senses. That half-woman/half-pterodactyl you almost slept with? Alcohol.
It's ok, alcohol makes me say stupid things, unable to walk, likely to sleep with ugly women and behave like an asshole. But it makes you a great driver!
Agreed with the sentiment, to a degree, that people who drive drunk need the licenses taken away for life.
For repeat offenders, three words:
The Hellgramite Method
The Hellgramite Method
I don't necessarily agree with this for first-time offenders (assuming they don't cause an accident or harm another person). If you drive drunk, get picked up for crossing the center line (or some other violation), and get probation or court supervision, I don't have a problem with this (although I do have a problem with court-mandated AA attendance for drunk drivers on supervision / probation). A yearlong license suspension, I think, is a pretty big deterrent to people facing that first conviction.
Given the generally shitty quality of public transportation in the United States outside of large metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston or New York City, an automatic lifelong revocation of driving privileges for a first-offense DUI seems excessive to me. Given how difficult it is to be a productive member of society when one doesn't have a driver's license in a city that doesn't have a large metropolitan downtown area, it just doesn't make sense -- and probably encourages recidivism and further substance abuse -- to yank someone's driving rights away forever for the initial crime.
For repeat offenders, I have no problem with yanking their licenses away forever. In the State of Illinois, for example, a third-offense DUI is a Class 3 felony, carrying with it a minimum 10-year license suspension and up to seven years in state prison. On the other hand, you have hilariously lax laws in states such as Wisconsin, wherein DUI doesn't become a crime until the second offense (the first is an ordinance violation, no different than being cited for jaywalking), doesn't become a felony until the fourth offense (it used to be the fifth, until July 1 of this year), and the soonest you'll face four years in prison is after ten offenses.
Drunk driving sucks, and it carries with it the potential to harm a lot of people. But unless harm is actually done, it strikes me as overly punitive to have lifelong license revocations and long jail terms for non-recidivist offenders.
Alcoholics are like child molesters. They don't fix their shit. Fuck 'em. Yeah, you don't have to be an alcoholic to drive drunk.
Tough shit that it's hard to be a productive member in American society if you don't have a driver's license. That kind of thinking is part of the problem, when you start thinking of driving as some kind of fundamental right. It's not. If you prove yourself too dangerous to drive you shouldn't be allowed on the road.
Maybe you could do something like after the one year revocation (let's up that to 3 years first of all, 1 year isn't jack shit), put them on some sort of limited driving program.... you know, like they do with teens. Maybe only let them drive to and from work. Make sure they have special plates that say "I'm a worthless drunk" and have 'em subject to random fucking stops.
Tough shit that it's hard to be a productive member in American society if you don't have a driver's license. That kind of thinking is part of the problem, when you start thinking of driving as some kind of fundamental right. It's not. If you prove yourself too dangerous to drive you shouldn't be allowed on the road.
Maybe you could do something like after the one year revocation (let's up that to 3 years first of all, 1 year isn't jack shit), put them on some sort of limited driving program.... you know, like they do with teens. Maybe only let them drive to and from work. Make sure they have special plates that say "I'm a worthless drunk" and have 'em subject to random fucking stops.
Some do. I don't believe in taking the right away for life after one offense, because realistically then they'll just drive without a license rather than make any attempt to better their lives. I think a year and some sort of probation is definitely required with a first offense.
Damn, hate to see a well kept car like that completely smashed up. Glad no one was in it, J.
A
Amaris
Guest
^ Me too. A quick update for anyone interested; they did find the woman who was in the car with the driver. They didn't say where they found her, but they did, and she's alive and getting medical attention. We're still waiting on the claims adjustor to contact us.
Yeah, the AA thing I don't agree with either, it's pretty much forcing the person to practice religion (as part of AA is accepting a higher power is in control of your life.)
Now, barring the situation causing someone's death or injury (other than the DD) I don't really think someone's first offense calls for the yanking of a license, hell not even the second offense I think really calls for it. But at somepoint something has to be done to stop it. And, yes, a person can still drive without a DL but then if you get caught in a DUI we give the person some serious jail time. Not a 30-days bullshit, I mean serious time.
Right now, in Kansas, I know two people who got put on diversion, spent a year with their license taken away and then has to have a year with a breathalyzer-lockout on their ignition that costs somewhere around $120 a month to "maintain" (and cost about twice as much to install.)
Another guy I know spent around a month in jail for a multiple DUI, diversion the first couple of times and the final DUI happened while he was on diversion which, of course, reactivated that second DUI and resulted in jail time followed by a year without a DL and a year with the lockout. Another guy I know had a second DUI while on diversion and got pretty much the same penalties only without the in-jail time and was just on "house arrest."
So, it seems, Kansas has some pretty strict laws regarding DUIs and from the few people I know who've had them it's hard if not impossible to get around the penalties for them. And the guy who got his first one, which mostly occured from him moving a car out of his driveway and minor mistake he wasn't really... "driving", has pretty much said he'll never drive drunk again because the experience he's had has just been too much of pain in the ass, that and he knows it is wrong.
Perhaps more states need to be as strict as Kansas seems to be or stricter?
Some child molesters do too. But not enough of them. They're basically not worth it. They're not worth more people being sexually abused, and drunks aren't worth more people dying in horrifying car wrecks. Fuck 'em!
And when you catch them for driving without a license after getting the thing revoked for drunk driving, that's when you toss em in the can for 15 years!
J
Jetfire
Guest
One of my friends got a DUI a few years back and had to go to "drunk school". He said I should have been there because the class was so full of people that I graduated high school with that it looked like my high school reunion. I have been lucky and I know my limit, but I know there were a few times I could have been caught when I was younger, but then when you drink you are more paranoid about your driving unless you are an idiot. I think, in the US that a lack of transport choice leads to a lot of this. A person goes some place for a meal and a couple beers and ends up having too many, do you leave your car and walk the 10 miles to home? Lots of people are going to chance it and that is a fact. I have seen cops watch a drunk get in a car so they can pull him over down the street, rather than offering the guy a ride home and avoiding the situation all together. I have a 94 super cab ranger pickup that looks and still smells like new with 70,000 miles on it. I drive it on vacations mostly. Not worth a whole lot but its my baby and I can sure relate to the thunderbird. I keep full coverage on the Ranger even though it spends 99.9% of its time in my garage. Plus, I carry uninsured motorist insurance, in case I get hit by one of the illegals around here with no insurance or a situation like yours.
In EMS we have a saying "God protects babies and drunks"
Drunk people are more likely to survive and receive fewer injuries than a sober person in the exact same car accident.
Drunk people are more likely to survive and receive fewer injuries than a sober person in the exact same car accident.
If you get caught in AZ....
1st offense - $1460 in fines
1-10 days in jail
90 day suspension of license
May require ignition interlock
2nd offense - $2410 in fines
30 - 90 days in jail
30 days of community restitution
1 year license suspension
Ignition interlock device
Complete drug screening and/or treatment program
3rd offense within 84 months of a previous DUI
Fine $4610
4 months in jail
1 year license suspension
Ignition interlock device
Complete drug screening or treatment program.
I would like to see more states this strict.
I forgto to add - in Arizona, if you are convicted of Extreme DUI (0.15 or above), the base fines go up by 80%
1st offense - $1460 in fines
1-10 days in jail
90 day suspension of license
May require ignition interlock
2nd offense - $2410 in fines
30 - 90 days in jail
30 days of community restitution
1 year license suspension
Ignition interlock device
Complete drug screening and/or treatment program
3rd offense within 84 months of a previous DUI
Fine $4610
4 months in jail
1 year license suspension
Ignition interlock device
Complete drug screening or treatment program.
I would like to see more states this strict.
I forgto to add - in Arizona, if you are convicted of Extreme DUI (0.15 or above), the base fines go up by 80%
I'm sorry, I can't have a discussion with someone who either does not understand or will not acknowledge the distinctions between those who sexually abuse children, those who choose to get behind the wheel of a car when their blood alcohol level is over the legal limit, and those who have experienced alcohol dependence. Your willingness to combine these individuals into one group and dismiss their worth is quite clear, don't worry.
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