Why?

[peanut44]

What is the name of your state? ga

Why is the DUI punishment so stiff compared to all other traffic offenses? I think the penalties are off the charts, and inconsistant with every other traffic penalty out there.

Surely, driving under the influence is not safe, but neither is driving in general. It's the number 1 killer for more than 1 age group, drunk OR sober. The last I heard, the human body is designed to take a blunt force to the head at roughly running speed. Anything over 20 mph could be a killer and if someone wants to remain SAFE, they should not travel very fast. I agree that DUI is RISKIER than driving sober, but by how much... I don't know. I've looked at data from both sides of the argument, and both seem to be full of crap. I've spent plenty of time working with statistics and I know what to look for when somebody is trying to influence the "results".

Lets say that on any given day your average odds for causing an accident are 1 in a million. Even if I was to concede (which I'm not) that your odds are 1,000 times greater by being DUI, the odds of an accident are still only 1/1000. I'd have to believe that running a red light would surely get you an impact with another vehicle WELL before you were able to run it 1,000 times. Running a red light gets you a ticket while dui gets you MANDATORY jail/comm service/treatment/education.

But everybody tells me that dui accidents are completely avoidable. Well, I'd agree that some, or even MOST are, but not all. In fact, most states will find a dui driver at fault even if the sober driver was the one that caused an accident. The TRUTH is that MOST accidents are avoidable even when the driver was sober. What causes accidents? speed and inattention.... It'd be really hard for me to think of an accident (except for an act of god) that couldn't be avoided by SLOWING DOWN AND PAYING ATTENTION. When a sober driver gets into an accident, it's becasue of speed, wet roads, faulty traffic devices, and an animal that ran out in the road, but when a dui accident occurs, it's simply because the driver was drunk. Could NONE of these mitigating factors been present for the drunk guy?

What's more dangerous? A drunk sleeping it off in his car in the bar parking lot, or somebody who's tired and running 120 up the interstate trying to get home at 5am after getting off his night shift. 120 will get you more than the average speeding ticket, but nowhere near the average dui penalty.

If the speed limit is 75, there aren't many cops that'll write a ticket for 76. The dui limit is .08, but you'll never get let go for being .081. In fact, they'll take you to jail being UNDER the limit. Go straight to jail, do not collect $200.

Alcohol is served legally on just about half of all the intersections in america, Why is DUI one of the only traffic offenses that will actually land you in JAIL?

Why does a murderer have the right to not give up his blood without a warrant, while an adult leaving TGI Fridays does not. Because driving is a privelege? Because he signed a contract with the DMV? Then sue him for breach of contract, impose all of the civil penalties you want, but don't hold him down and jab a vein. That just ain't American.

The point I'm trying to make is not that DUI is okey dokey, but that it is prosecuted and penalized much more than many other crimes. The laws are frequently updated so that it's EASIER for the state to get a conviction.

Why cant DUI penalties be similar to other offenses? Some kind of tiered system. Maybe a .09 would get less of a penalty than a .2? Don't you think a guy who got caught 4 times @ .05 is still safer than a guy who got caught 1 time @ .25.

I guess my main rant is about what happened when I went to court. There was a kid in there for get this... DUI, racing, evading, speeding, and hit and run. He had all of the charges merged into 1 DUI and got the same penalty as me. WTF? I was in my driveway without incident.


For those of you who believe ALL traffic issues should carry stiffer penalties, why do you think the rest of the people who vote don't agree with you?

/end rant

[BigMistakeFl]

Why is the DUI punishment so stiff compared to all other traffic offenses?

Whew! The short answer is because DUI isn't just a traffic offense, it's a criminal arrest that involves a vehicle, unlike traffic offenses.

It's not right that all across America tonight, thousands of people will sit in restaurants and bars, consume drinks and drive home, feeling pretty sure that they are not impaired and under the so-called "legal limit".

[fagettaboutit]

Originally Posted by BigMistakeFl

it's a criminal arrest that involves a vehicle, unlike traffic offenses.

All traffic offenses involve a vehicle.

It's not right that all across America tonight, thousands of people will sit in restaurants and bars, consume drinks and drive home, feeling pretty sure that they are not impaired and under the so-called "legal limit".

So how is it right that thousands of sober people will drive home tonight without any regard to doing so safely? How is it right that thousands of sober people will drive home tonight so exhausted they risk falling asleep at the wheel? How is it right that thousands of sober people will speed home tonight? How is it right that thousands of sober people will run red lights tonight?

How’s it right that any of these drivers will risk another person's life, yet the punishment is nothing more than a ticket? Anyone of those drivers is just as capable of EQUALLY killing someone as the drinking driver. Yet it is the drinking driver only that receives the harsh punishment. How is that right? And don't give me the crap about it being law. Tell me why it is morally right not to punish the drivers equally?

Sorry, but if an ADULT is pretty sure they don't feel impaired, couldn't it mean because they're not? Not every person who consumes drinks feels the same as everyone else. How can you tell a 250 lb man that he's impaired after drinking two beers in a 90 minute timeframe?

I can drink one beer and not feel impaired. Nope, not at all. And quite frankly I'm tired of all this nonsense that claims I would be unsafe to drive. That's pure crap. What's even worse, if I waited an hour to drive there are idiots who actually believe it's still unsafe and would insist I be arrested. Yet if I didn't drink a beer and just drove like a maniac instead, that's okay. And that's right, how?

[BelizeBreeze]

Originally Posted by peanut44

What is the name of your state? ga

Why is the DUI punishment so stiff compared to all other traffic offenses? I think the penalties are off the charts, and inconsistant with every other traffic penalty out there.

Surely, driving under the influence is not safe, but neither is driving in general. It's the number 1 killer for more than 1 age group, drunk OR sober. The last I heard, the human body is designed to take a blunt force to the head at roughly running speed. Anything over 20 mph could be a killer and if someone wants to remain SAFE, they should not travel very fast. I agree that DUI is RISKIER than driving sober, but by how much... I don't know. I've looked at data from both sides of the argument, and both seem to be full of crap. I've spent plenty of time working with statistics and I know what to look for when somebody is trying to influence the "results".

Lets say that on any given day your average odds for causing an accident are 1 in a million. Even if I was to concede (which I'm not) that your odds are 1,000 times greater by being DUI, the odds of an accident are still only 1/1000. I'd have to believe that running a red light would surely get you an impact with another vehicle WELL before you were able to run it 1,000 times. Running a red light gets you a ticket while dui gets you MANDATORY jail/comm service/treatment/education.

But everybody tells me that dui accidents are completely avoidable. Well, I'd agree that some, or even MOST are, but not all. In fact, most states will find a dui driver at fault even if the sober driver was the one that caused an accident. The TRUTH is that MOST accidents are avoidable even when the driver was sober. What causes accidents? speed and inattention.... It'd be really hard for me to think of an accident (except for an act of god) that couldn't be avoided by SLOWING DOWN AND PAYING ATTENTION. When a sober driver gets into an accident, it's becasue of speed, wet roads, faulty traffic devices, and an animal that ran out in the road, but when a dui accident occurs, it's simply because the driver was drunk. Could NONE of these mitigating factors been present for the drunk guy?

What's more dangerous? A drunk sleeping it off in his car in the bar parking lot, or somebody who's tired and running 120 up the interstate trying to get home at 5am after getting off his night shift. 120 will get you more than the average speeding ticket, but nowhere near the average dui penalty.

If the speed limit is 75, there aren't many cops that'll write a ticket for 76. The dui limit is .08, but you'll never get let go for being .081. In fact, they'll take you to jail being UNDER the limit. Go straight to jail, do not collect $200.

Alcohol is served legally on just about half of all the intersections in america, Why is DUI one of the only traffic offenses that will actually land you in JAIL?

Why does a murderer have the right to not give up his blood without a warrant, while an adult leaving TGI Fridays does not. Because driving is a privelege? Because he signed a contract with the DMV? Then sue him for breach of contract, impose all of the civil penalties you want, but don't hold him down and jab a vein. That just ain't American.

The point I'm trying to make is not that DUI is okey dokey, but that it is prosecuted and penalized much more than many other crimes. The laws are frequently updated so that it's EASIER for the state to get a conviction.

Why cant DUI penalties be similar to other offenses? Some kind of tiered system. Maybe a .09 would get less of a penalty than a .2? Don't you think a guy who got caught 4 times @ .05 is still safer than a guy who got caught 1 time @ .25.

I guess my main rant is about what happened when I went to court. There was a kid in there for get this... DUI, racing, evading, speeding, and hit and run. He had all of the charges merged into 1 DUI and got the same penalty as me. WTF? I was in my driveway without incident.


For those of you who believe ALL traffic issues should carry stiffer penalties, why do you think the rest of the people who vote don't agree with you?

/end rant

You come to a legal site and spew this garbage and think you'll get sympathy? Must be drunk.

[fagettaboutit]

Originally Posted by BelizeBreeze

You come to a legal site and spew this garbage and think you'll get sympathy? Must be drunk.

The OP wasn't looking for sympathy. The OP was asking a question - which was:

For those of you who believe ALL traffic issues should carry stiffer penalties, why do you think the rest of the people who vote don't agree with you?

[janimal]

I'm rolling my eyes all the way through this post.

I am betting the man who was pulled over by the cops for DUI in front if my old building thought he was ok to drive. But when he pulled over, he ran over the bushes in the landscaping. And that's how he pulled over!

More seriously, I bet the man who hit my Mother and put her in a coma thought he was ok to drive too.

The penalties are stiff for a good reason. If you were impaired because of alcohol, then we should all be grateful no one was hurt. It is an expensive lesson - a lesson you hopefully learned.

If it was inexpensive and easy to get away with DUI, I am guessing it would be more common. And that is not a solution I want to live with.

Whine elsewhere.

[fagettaboutit]

Originally Posted by janimal

If it was inexpensive and easy to get away with DUI, I am guessing it would be more common. And that is not a solution I want to live with.

But you live with sober drivers getting away inexpensively with causing serious accidents and driving dangerously. Do those people need to kill someone you love before you're willing to ask for a change? What is it going to take before you get outraged with those drivers enough that you think they deserve the same harsh punishment as drinking drivers?

How many more peoples' lives need to be ruin by people who insist on speeding? As of now, speed kills more people than alcohol does. Yet the punishment for speeding is a ticket. More often committed, yet less penalty. A person who drinks and drives is a criminal, yet it takes a fatality before a speeder is considered a criminal.

Why do drivers who drive reckless get off inexpensively compared to drinking drivers? Are those lives ruined by sober reckless drivers less important?