But if a particular person has repeatedly chosen to drive drunk, that behavior is an indicator of what they might do. *Nota bene *that they are not being punished for their potential behavior, but for their actions. If you are talking about a first offence…
Whoops. Just read the rest of the post.
NM
Its asinine, its not rocket science to figure it out. The only way its not asinine in the subject of drunk driving is if a person just spontaneously gets drunk in a few seconds while operating a motor vehicle. Other than that, a person made a choice to get loaded and get in a car and drive. Are you saying that a person should be able to drink a 12 pack and then drive? As long as they don’t hit anyone or anything its okay? Thats a helluva deterrent. How many people do you think might get hurt, injured or killed if the law worked that way?
FTR, I am black. That statistic has nothing to do with drunk driving in its context here.
My white friends, and mostly white in laws don’t share that belief, thankfully. But since its a strawman, lets not waste time on it.
You’re wrong. Its not chest beating, either, its the truth. It won’t bring my friend back, but the truth is a drunk driver killed her. Gee, if only there were, you know, laws against driving drunk…it might stop some people from doing it, and thus save some other life…but thats silly! Why stop somepone’s God given right to get plastered and ram into another car because they were inebriated?
[
Gitmo has nothing to do with this subject and you know it. Its a poor strawman.
I missed the edit window. BTW, having spent the last 19 years in defense of this country I think my commitment to liberty is pretty well established. I just don’t think it includes the right to get wasted and pilot 2 tons on metal on public roads. Call me crazy, but you know, when I go out a’drinkin’ I don’t drive my car. But then, my commitment to liberty includes concern for the welfare for my fellow hiuman beings.
This is only the second thread I’ve seen you participate in, so it’s probably premature to say with conviction that you are the single dumbest person ever to post on this message board.
But there is *no *denying this, my ablutophobic friend: your dumbass star is on the rise!
Comparing Drunk Driving Laws to Gitmo certainly put in the running for the star. The fact that he believes the DUI laws are an affront to liberty in general…well, I’m almost inclined to think that he’s kidding. Shit, I hope he’s kidding. There are enough scary crazy people in the real world.
Gonna go down a fifth of Kamatchka, put some Crass on the stereo of my Land Rover, and run over a few gutter hippies… brb…
Topic for discussion: is ablutophobia the cause or the result of a subpontian lifestyle?
This statement causes me to wonder what the teenagers were out doing. Not on the way to church? Not distracted by each other? Not at fault at all because the other driver had been drinking?
Real world time now. 5 teenagers in a car at any time of the day is a chaos of distractions. “Early Sunday morning” means they have been out all night too. Probably drinking, or something, or just tired. Limited driving skills coupled with yaking, texting, chatty kids.
Disqualify me from the jury. I won’t convict the other driver. The story is a parent’s fairy tale. Because our kids can’t be at fault.
Who gives a shit what the teenagers were doing in the car? The relevant information here is not “five teenagers in a car.” It is:
The teenagers were in their lane, driving the speed limit. Drunken Asshole was NOT in his lane. He’s at fault. I would say the same if the driver of the car that was IN ITS CORRECT LANE was a teenager, a senior citizen, or any other person.
In the article I see no witnesses who saw the accident. You don’t know who was where or how fast they where going. The ‘drunk driver’ had a conviction 8 years ago, so he is a convenient scapegoat. I still call BS. Kids are probably at least partially responsible. No vehicle can be safely operated after midnight with 5 teenagers and no adults in the car.
They were going to a party, apparently. As far as I’m aware there’s no evidence that they were in violation of any traffic laws. Could a less tired/more experienced/less distracted driver perhaps have handled the situation with a different outcome? Maybe, I don’t know.
Does the guy driving on the wrong side of the road and then was caught trying to leave the scene before the police arrived perhaps bear slightly more blame? Well, I’m not an expert, but I’m going to go ahead and say yes.
It is relevant. What were a 15 yr old and 4 16 yr olds doing in a “party train” driving to a party in another town at 12:10 am? Is there no curfew? Where were their parents?
They are being punished for what they do. They’re being punished for using a motor vehicle while under the influence of an intoxicating substance.
I’ll readily agree that perhaps the teenagers might have been guilty of being out past curfew (oh noes) or out late without their parents in the car (oh noes!). The last I checked, neither of those is reason for an oncoming car to swerve across the center lane and cause an accident.
Maybe they were at a Bible study group that went super late! Or hell, maybe they had just knocked over a convenience store (as teenagers do) and were on the lam. Either way, again, it doesn’t mean they were at fault when an oncoming vehicle swerved into their lane.
I agree with the OP’s sentiment, but I don’t think there’s any way in the world this guy will “serve a year or two, get out, get his fucking license back”. Even if he manages to get out in the next couple of decades, elected officials will be lining up to throw themselves between this guy and a driver’s license.
What the hell were they doing going out to a party at that time of night? I don’t know that we have the evidence to say that the other driver was totally at fault. The article doesn’t say if there was any toxicology tests on the kids, but they could well have been drunk themselves. I don’t know who’s at fault, but I don’t see the evidence to conclude that it was necessarily all on the other driver.
I do think those kids had no business being on the road at that time of night. What the hell is wrong with their parents? I don’t understand why minors are allowed to drive at all.
When I was 15, the farthest I ever got was babysitting the next door neighbors’ kids. No party trains, on the highway, past midnight. Yes, Mr. Asshole Drunk should rot in jail, but those parents aren’t blameless, either.
I know. And what is with the laws where you can’t go downtown in a city and start firing a gun in random directions? You aren’t really doing something wrong until you’ve hit someone. Police should have to sit there and watch you and wait until someone goes down before they can arrest you.
So they deserved to have their kids killed?
SmashTheState, by your logic, we shouldn’t outlaw murder, either.
Is it International Dumbass Week or something?
I was often on the road at midnight when I was a teenager. I didn’t drink and didn’t go to parties, so it was usually because I was driving home from a marching band competition that ran late, or coming back from the closing shift at my crappy fast-food job. Occasionally I would be on the road at that hour coming back from hanging out at a friend’s house playing video games.
The assertion that the teenagers in the crash were probably at fault because, you know, they were teenagers and therefore were probably drunk themselves is just bizarre. But not as bizarre as the assertion that teenagers should not even be allowed on the roads at midnight. Or not allowed to drive at all. (Was that a whoosh? If this was a whoosh, I feel embarrassed.)