| THE DRUNK-DRIVING LAWS: PUNISHMENT OR CASH COW? |
| It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to know that we must keep drunk drivers off our streets but it does take a brain surgeons salary to pay up if you happen to be so unfortunate as to get caught in the web of drunk driving laws. I think today’s approach to the drunk driving problem has very little to do with removing the drunk driver from the road as it does with removing cash from his pocket. In the beginning I think honest and sincere people pushed to do something about what they perceived to be the lack of drunk driving laws and then the politicians and the bureaucrats saw the light of financial reward yet the latest form of highway robbery. It used to be that when a policeman on duty was out patrolling and he saw the car in front of him weaving, or at the very least doing something real dumb like gliding through a stop sign or speeding, he would pull him or her over. Lo and behold, a drunk driver. This is my first puzzlement. Does this mean that the people backing the new drunk driving laws found the police remiss in their duties, lacking in their vigilance, or just letting people go, or even worse, taking bribes. I for one thought the police were doing an excellent job and if you look at the whole picture in the old days the major blame for putting drunk drivers back on the roads squarely falls on the court system. I wonder how many small towns faithfully calibrate their breathalyzer? I’m sure they send it in every time they send in their radar detectors. Yeah, right. We seem to never have enough laws to attack the drunken foe. Did I mention that in some states they ask you to take the breathalyzer test even if you're not driving, and if you refuse, you still loose your license. You can’t ever do enough to keep the potential drunk drivers down, and don’t forget you can be arrest riding a bicycle drunk, the number one road killer of all times. The BICYCLE! And it applies to your driver's license as if you were driving your car. You would think that this would be enough, but no, let us add a special license plate that stands out in traffic, so your wife and kids can be branded evil as well. I’m sure I don’t know why they did this one, but I do know it costs more money than a regular plate can you imagine that.. Now that you have the whole picture on the war against drunk drivers let me express my thoughts on the real reasons for the palfrey of laws, I calls 'em the dead presidents, and the government calls it revenue. Yes, I think money is behind this whole thing. In the beginning, I believe some well meaning people who lost friends and relatives to drunk drivers had a noble cause and it got away from them. A guy gets a DUI, and instead of a comprehensive program of state supported classes to determine his needs to solve the problem (if he has one), and, if I were king, seven days in a real jail. He gets to choose to go play reforming drunk for people running a program that does no one any good except the people running it. $$$$$ The man then pays money to the judge, and then he pays money to the program, and then he pays money to his insurance, and then he pays to get his license back, and, oh yes, money to his lawyer. If it happens again it’s more of the same, adding multiple visits to a physiologist who you pay direct, and, get this, he determines whether you need more treatments for your cure. I’ll bet I know the outcome of that moneymaker. And if your are so stupid to get caught the third time, well more jail, more money, and no license. Now I want you to understand that this is my own interpretation of the system I think I’m close but this is not an exposé, so let me state clearly what my personal observations are when it comes to the drunk driving laws. 1. I BELIEVE THAT THE ORIGINAL SUPPORTERS OF THE LAW MEANT WELL. 2. I BELIEVE THAT WE NEED DRUNK DRIVING LAWS THAT DO NOT ENTRAP THE DRINKER THAT HAS NOT MADE A DRIVING ERROR AND DO CATCH IMPAIRED DRIVER WHAT EVER HE IS ON. 3. I BELIEVE THE MAJORITY OF POLICE ARE PRESSURED INTO THE OVERZEALOUS DRAGNETS ON DRUNK DRIVING AND ARE BASICALLY THE PROTECT AND SERVE GUYS WE USED TO KNOW AND ADMIRE. 4. I BELIEVE THAT ALMOST NO ONE IN GOVERNMENT WANTS TO HELP THE DRUNK DRIVER HE IS AN INCREDIBLE CASH COW ESPECIALLY THE SECOND TIME AROUND. 5. I BELIEVE IT HASN’T STOPPED THE TRUE DRUNK, THE HARD CORE DRUNK, FROM GETTING BEHIND THE WHEEL. 6. I BELIEVE THAT IT HAS MADE INSURANCE COMPANIES FORTUNES 7. I BELIEVE THAT MORE FAMILIES HAVE BEEN TORN APART, MORE FAMILIES FINICALLY RUINED, MORE MEN DESTROYED BY THE NEW DRUNK DRIVING LAWS THEN WERE EVER HURT BY REAL DRUNK DRIVING TRAGEDIES, AS HORRENDOUS AS THOSE TRAGEDIES ARE. 8. I BELIEVE THEY SHOULD PASS A LAW STOPPING EMPLOYERS FROM FIRING EMPLOYEES IF THEY ARE CONVICTED OF DRUNK DRIVING THAT OCCURS OFF THE COMPANY CLOCK. 9. I BELIEVE THIS IS PERHAPS THE MOST OVER KILL TO BE PUT INTO ONE SINGLE OFFENCE I’VE EVER SEEN. AND NOT ONLY DOES IT NOT STOP THE HARD CORE DRUNK FROM DRIVING, IT GENERATES A GREATER DISTRUST OF THE POLICE BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC, AND IS QUICKLY CRIMINALIZING A VAST MAJORITY OF THE PUBLIC. I MIGHT ADD, A BITTER RESENTFUL GROUP, THAT, IF THEY FOLLOW THE RULES AND DON’T DRIVE, WILL MORE THAN LIKELY BE ON WELFARE ALONG WITH THEIR FAMILIES. SO I HOPE THE DO GOODERS ENJOY THE EXPENSE. IT WILL BE MUCH HIGHER THAN THE FINES THEY COLLECTED. PS As I have had e-mail assuming my position is based on me having received a DUI sorry no drunk driving for Evildene and just for the record if you read my other articles I have never been a COP, an Indian fighter, or a member of the Teamsters. Remember the police are only doing their job (some with more fervor than their fellow officers) enforcing the law. If you don’t like the drunk driving law as it stands in your state lobby your state representatives to get the law repealed. Also educate yourself so you know what your rights are before you get stopped and that takes a LAWYER not the guy next to you at the bar. IF YOU NEED HELP TRY THIS LINK |