That’s a really great suggestion, but don’t be surprised if you don’t get the reaction that you’re seeking. Not that one bad experience would prevent me from doing it again (because I would call the police again if necessary), but you may find the following story interesting (and frightening).
This occurred when I was living in St. Louis about 7 or 8 years ago. I had gone to pick up lunch and was on my way back to my office when I noticed in the car next to me on the freeway were two young men (boys, really) who were drinking beer. They just so happened to be exiting the freeway we were on, onto the one that went right smack dab in front of the Missouri State Highway Patrol headquarters about a mile down the freeway after the exit.
I had a car phone at the time and I dialed the number for the Highway Patrol. The conversation went something like this…
Me: I’d like to report someone who is drinking and driving. They’re in a dark blue Ford Mustang, license number XXX111, heading south on highway 270 and exiting at this moment onto westbound US40.
Officer: Yeah?
Me: Yeah, what?
Officer: Well what do you want me to do about it?
Me: You’re kidding, right? Not only are these young men clearly underage and drinking, but they’re drinking WHILE driving and you want to know why I’m calling?
Officer: Well there’s really nothing we can do about it.
Me: CLICK!!!
I was so furiously outraged that my whole body was shaking. When I got to the office, I called back to the MSHP and asked to speak to the highest ranking officer in charge. I then proceeded to tell the guy that I was extremely upset at the lack of concern shown me by the officer with whom I’d spoken a few minutes ago about an incident of drinking and driving. Turns out it was the same guy. I then went on to chew him an a$$hole the size of Antarctica and asked him if he’d have preferred I waited to call them until AFTER the driver had KILLED SOMEONE and they had to be called to the scene of a fatal accident!
I got nowhere with this moron and hung up in disgust. Now is that scary, or what?
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” - Anne Frank
My area is running DUI checks. Yesterday they inspected 7,004 people driving and of those, 2 were DUI’s. I don’t think its worth it annoying 7000 people for the sake of 2.
Two comments:
First, I’m moving this back up to the top in case some people read from work and haven’t seen this yet.
Second, handy- they caught two drunk drivers? Well, one of them could have been doing exactly what I described in my OP, and your family could have been in the oncoming lane. Chew on that.
I think it’s worth it. Plus, knowing that there ARE stops out help keep the drunks off the road. (IMHO)
Zette
Love is like popsicles…you get too much you get too high.
Zette, that would be presumptuous. Also, believe it or not plenty of people drive well after having a drink(s), not that I condone that, of course.
Also, the count is now up to 24 DUI. That means more blood alcohol than .08 over 21 years of age & over 00 under 21 I think that is their rule.
On the other hand, think of all the children born, new HIV cases, billions in welfare payments, etc, because the people got drunk, stayed home & engaged in sex (Especially kids)…sigh
How much privacy and convenience are you willing to sacrifice to be safe? That’s the big question. Personally, I don’t see why we don’t outfit cars with transmitters that broadcast the spped the car is moving at at all times… make it easier to catch speeders. And cameras on street corners. Or little microchips…
There’s a line between privacy and safety, somewhere, that we need to find. When it comes to cars and driving, I’m all for putting it all the way to safety. But not at the risk of losing privacy in my home or body.
http://www.madpoet.com
Computers have let mankind make mistakes faster than any other invention, with the possible exception of tequila and handguns.
Handy - in my opinion, yes, it is worth inconveniencing 7000 people to catch 2 drunks. And I’d bet that many of those 7000 would feel the same way. Would you rather be held up for a few minutes, or be the one injured or killed by one of the 2 drunks?
MadPoet - that’s a REALLY bad idea. I’m a total leadfoot. They have radar. Things are nice and even now. I don’t really want my car tattling on me.
I am the built in designated driver. My friends know that I am DWI psycho - so they know that I will NEVER be impaired. (it kinda sucks sometimes, being the one that is always driving out of the way to get people home - but it’s better than having them on the roads). I have close friends and my sister call me in the wee hours all the time to come pick them up. I also have lots of extra blankets and pillows at my house and everyone knows the rules - you get drunk at my house, you’re staying there.
As for people thinking they drive OK drunk… Ever go to karaoke night? - people think they can sing well when they’re drunk, too. Ever leave the place with a really cute honey only to wake up in the morning to find the honey slipped away in the night and left some bow-wow in his/her place?
This isn’t meant to be a debate on stopping drunks, catching drunks, or anything else like that. If you want to debate that, fine- start another thread. The message here is clear. Please remember this holiday season and always- Don’t drink and drive. Do what you can to stop a drunk driver.
I don’t want to change the whole fucking world here- I just want to help if I can.
Zette
Love is like popsicles…you get too much you get too high.
Wow, what was that??
Zette pops a midol…
ahhh…much better…
Now then, If you would like to debate topics other then “Don’t drink and drive”, kindly start a new thread. Thank you for your cooperation.
Zette
Love is like popsicles…you get too much you get too high.
I can’t tell you how important your message is and I am glad that there are some people who do take this seriously.
I remember as a child having a friends father drive me home and he was drunker and angrier than anyone I had seen, he couldn’t see that there were even others in the car besides him. Since then I have refused point blank to get in a car with anyone who has been drinking, I don’t care if I have to walk 2 hours home. My worst memory is having to fight my father for the keys one night and having to drive him home when I didn’t even have a license, but I figured it was better than him being at the wheel.
I won’t get in a car even if I have had one drink, it’s just a rule. I know one drink doen’t hurt but I don’t want to be playing with other people’s lives.
Please everyone, don’t drive to your office parties if you are going to drink - the price of a cab is much less than that of your life or worse the life of someone you love.
take care
Gotta chime in here on this topic. When I was a young college student (early 80’s), it was nothing for me and my friends to go out drinking, then drive home. This was back in Texas, so home could be 20-25 miles away. At the time it seemed like no big deal; auto-pilot took over and nobody got hurt.
Looking back on it, though, I’m feel retro-actively terrified. I had many nights that I remembered getting in the car, then exiting the car at home, but no memory of the trip. There must be such a thing as guardian angels, because something was protecting my dumb young ass from certain death.
handy, I can tell you from personal experience that impairment really does begin with the first drink. After 20 years of drinking and 20 years of driving, I can feel the difference in my reaction time before and after a drink. I can see myself overcompensating, or just not reacting at all.
Kids, let’s be careful out there. The 21st century is almost here; don’t you want to live to see it?
If you’re going to drink & drive tonight, stay out of Michigan. I’m not drinking tonight, but I will be driving, with my husband and our kids.
I have been the DD more times than I can count. I’ve been puked on, sworn at, and nearly beat up, but I’ll tell you what–those folks lived to apologize for their behavior. And that’s okay with me.
Minx: you forget that handy has a major hard on against the police. Any thing they do is automatically wrong. All this apparently from one traffic ticket in Pacific Grove.
Something that a lot of people seem to forget is that driving is a privilege, not a right, and that those who abuse that privilege will have it taken away from them.
However, one problem with America, drinking, and driving is that so many people live in places where they can’t go to a bar unless they drive. This is not to excuse drunk drivers, but Barcelona, where there are several convivial places within five minutes’ walk of my apartment,
has a major advantage here. People in rural Spain drive drunk, and drive like idiots over 19th century roads, and kill themselves and each other left and right. (The Spanish highway death rate is several times the American.) People in Barcelona do not drive drunk. They walk. They can.
Note: I have some English friends whom I visited recently. They live in a village. The nearest pub is the next village over, about a mile away. They drink a lot. And they do not drive. They walk fifteen minutes through the chilly drizzle. The car park at the pub is almost vacant, and the place is always packed. Everyone else does exactly what my friends do.
