Driving under the Influence of alcohol can have huge consequences, among them are, legal, emotional, and financial, possible loss of your job, not to mention the embarassment of being locked up over nite (or longer) in a nasty jail cell. Alcohol is a factor in traffic accidents if you believe what the insurance industry, and MADD say.

The definition of drunk driving is consistent throughout the United States. Every state defines impairment as driving with a blood alcohol content at or above 0.08. The penalties have increased for drinking and driving due to constant political lobbying by political groups such as MADD, the Insurance industry, and trial lawyers. For repeat offenders, the effects can truly be devastating, and can lead to even more problems.

Many state legislatures have passed laws requiring mandatory, serious prison time for repeat DUI convictions, in general, this is the third conviction, and is considered a felony, creating additional problems, like getting a job. The fines have gotten larger, the length of license suspension has been made longer, and getting a “hardship” license just to go back and forth to work is getting more difficult, and in some states this provision is just not possible. In many states, after a felony conviction, drivers licenses are permanently revoked.

The statistics vary wildly across the Internet, and there is no doubt that this is a serious problem, but even the state of California's statistics show that fatalities, and accidents have been decreasing since 1986(1), which is sure to be a direct effect of enforcement, education, and awareness.


So, why do we have such a big push to increase penalties, fines, cost of rehabilitation programs, and revocations if the problem is diminishing? I don't have answers, but I do have some notions and opinions. Plain and simply; its the money generated by the fines (revenue) for the government, the increased premiums for the Insurance industry, the guaranteed income for the industry of mandatory treatment programs, and the income of trial lawyers, who stand to gain the most. Lobbying from all these groups on this subject is constant and contributions from the lobbyists, is public record.

Lets have some rational conversation about all this stuff, you are encouraged to express your opinion here, but there are some simple ground rules;



(1)
http://www.adp.cahwnet.gov/FactSheet...Statistics.pdf
Document dated October 2002
www.adp.ca.gov

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http://www.duiattorneytab.com

Not sure what the debate is about. I haven't see too many drunk people that can drive well, which means they could end up killing me on the road. If you don't want to suffer all the consequences from getting a DUI, don't drive after drinking. And if you get caught 3 times or more I have no sympathy for what happens to you regarding your job or driver's license. Tough crap.

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Where are we going? And why am I in this handbasket?

What he said.

I don't think there's anything to be said about this one. If an insurance provider thinks you're at risk, they'll charge you more. If it's not fair, the invisible hand should sort it out since it's a free market.

Let me provide another theory. Despite the fact that DUI is illegal and there are penalties for it, it's still among the most common of crimes. Millions are doing it daily. Most everyone has done it at least once. Most people far more than once. Few get caught, but they are doing it just the same. Most people can agree that drunk people are a menace on the streets. Therefore, it's not at all a positive thing that millions are doing it every day. So the question becomes, "what can we do to deter drunk people from getting behind the wheel of a big steel thing traveling at high speeds?" One possible solution is to make the penalites and fines, etc. serious enough that people really don't want to get caught. For instance, if we said that starting tomorrow anyone caught with a BAC above .08 will be hanged in front of City Hall, I guarantee you the number of people getting DUI's would fall dramatically really quickly. So maybe it's not a conspiracy, but rather a case of the government trying to prevent drunks from killing other people on the highway. The fact a few people get to line their pockets is merely a bonus for those people.

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Where are we going? And why am I in this handbasket?

The insurance rates go up, if the company thinks it's more likely you will get in a accident. That happens if you get a ticket for anything, not just DUI. It's just so if they think they're going to have to make a pay out to you, they charge you extra every month, to try and cover it in advace.

Obviously, the government and the prosecution lawyers, get money from the fines, that again, happns in all traffic related prosecutions. Pay more attention, and you'll realise this conspiracy you are seeing with DUI prosecutions, happens when peope run red lights or park in handicapped spots, aswell.

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We sell alcohol on roadsides in restaurants and stores. It makes no sense.

We say it is against the law to drive drunk, yet many people say do not drink and drive. IS drinking not getting drunk? Isn't one drink too much and if so why not make the law...one drink while driving is a crime?

Operating a motor vehicle on public roads is not a right. It is a privilege.

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When a true genius appears in the world, you may know them by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against them.
-Jonathan Swift

---"Thoughts On Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting."

People will drive while drinking.

the law should be "Do not drink and drive" not "do not drive drunk"

there are too many loopholes. everyone knows people who drink and drive. it's the ultimate hypocrisy to only want to penalize the few who happen to get caught. people who do not 'get caught' act as if they are better than the habitual offenders who keep getting caught. they are only in the sense of degrees. a thief is a thief and drinking and driving is drinking and driving no matter the amount of alcohol consumed

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When a true genius appears in the world, you may know them by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against them.
-Jonathan Swift

---"Thoughts On Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting."

There's other people in the car, besides the driver. If the driver can't go half an hour without stopping for a drink, he has a serioous problem, and would probably have his car full of alcohol, anyway.

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