Re: Paris: most sensible article I've seen on the whole mess

x-no-archive: yes

On Jun 11, 9:09?am, Cheryl Perkins <cperk...@xxxxxx> wrote:
Janet <boxh...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

<snip details>

And I would venture to guess that such systems would be less expensive than
trials and jail sentences, and more effective in keeping the drunk from
behind the wheel in the long run.

Yes, there are alternatives...although I am constantly astonished at the
ease with which some chronic offenders seem to be able to 'borrow'
vehicles from a friend or relative.

I have a couple of friends who were convicted of DUI in the last couple of
years. In both cases, they were barely over the limit, not driving
erratically, and returning home from a local party. (There is a local cop
who is very assiduous in pulling people over for infractions such as driving
5mph over the speed limit while having a tail light out...especially on
Friday and Saturday night. This means that he "discovers" quite a few
marginal DUIs.) One, definitely NOT an alcoholic, lost her job as a result,
which has caused her quite a lot of hardship and dislocation. And she isn't
even a "poor" person. And she admits that it was her own fault. I have
little sympathy for Paris Hilton, who could have simply used her driver. Not
only that, but the revolting media feeding frenzy only increases the one
thing that Paris has to peddle: celebrity. Boo-hoo.

Well, that's the sort of thing I was thinking about when I wrote my
earlier comment - your friend, not Paris Hilton. There seems to be a
growing hysteria about drinking and driving, fueled by some advocacy
groups, which has had, as an effect, increased restrictions on technical -
although admittedly real - infractions while not actually deterring the
really dangerous hard cases.

Of course, I haven't got a sure-fire way to keep the exceptionally
dangerous drinkers off the road either, but I don't see how laws making
anyone who's barely over the limit a criminal deter the really dangerous
drivers.


Just anecdotal, but here in Illinois it seems like a lot of people
with first-time DUIs wind up going to counseling and classes, maybe
paying a fine, but not losing their license or doing jail time.
Granted, it's not a pleasant experience. I had a friend who had one of
those low-level violations and watching her go through it convinced me
never to drive with a drop of alcohol in me. (Probably a good idea
anyway, since my reactions to alcohol can be more than I expected.) My
friend did seem to find the classes useful and I think she basically
thought what happened to her was fair.

I agree that the really serious drunk drivers are intractable. When I
lived in rural New England, I saw something to scare the crap out of
me pretty much on a weekly basis, whether alcohol related or because
the person couldn't drive. I got the impression that my state
considered certain drivers beneath the law. I hated driving around
there.

.

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