# Should drunk drivers get the death penalty if they kill someone? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 7, 2019, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-drunk-drivers-get-the-death-penalty-if-they-kill-someone/835182 "2019-06-07T20:24:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-drunk-drivers-get-the-death-penalty-if-they-kill-someone/835182/41 "2019-06-13T12:43:04Z")
Capital punishment is nothing more than revenge. Revenge is for children. A society of children is Lord of the Flies. I don’t want to live in a society like that. You like the death penalty so much, go kill yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-drunk-drivers-get-the-death-penalty-if-they-kill-someone/835182/42 "2019-06-13T14:23:47Z")
> [@MeanJoe](#): > > I’d probably fall into the “It Depends” category too. I am not opposed to the death penalty, I believe some crimes are so egregious that one should pay with one’s life. But I also acknowledge the injustice in our justice system and the unfair application of death penalty sentences. But if I take that out of the equation, if you are drunk per the legal blood alcohol limit, and you choose to drive and as a result of that decision you cause an accident that takes the life of an innocent person then the death penalty should be a sentencing option depending upon circumstances - at minimum life in prison with no parole. I do not know if legally this is pre-meditated murder or not, nor what classification this should apply to that includes the death penalty as an option. Not terribly interested in the legal definitions here. To me it is simply the fact that in 2019 there is zero-absolutely-no-one who is not aware that drunk driving is illegal and has not seen in either the news or heard from others that when drunk driving you are impaired and may kill an innocent person(s). You knew it and the consequences, you did it anyway, now you pay for it. I won’t weep if the sentence imposed is the death penalty\*. > > \*Assuming a fair justice system and application of the law. You’d feel the same way about speeders too though right? A person who deliberately speeds over the limit and causes death would be similarly judged right? ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-drunk-drivers-get-the-death-penalty-if-they-kill-someone/835182/43 "2019-06-13T14:28:38Z")
A more informatively worded poll would have been “For those who support the death penalty, etc” ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-drunk-drivers-get-the-death-penalty-if-they-kill-someone/835182/44 "2019-06-13T15:16:34Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > I need a third choice; it depends. No record at all and its the first recorded time you have driven drunk and maybe say 5-10 years? You are a repeat offender, you have several DUIs on record, a couple accidents, and your license is currently revoked and you are fleeing the police; fry them. > > But in the interest of full disclosure I am in general fine with the death penalty. +1 There are people with 10 or more drunk driving offense on their record, who have had their licenses suspended or revoked, and who still drive drunk. Those people are not going t stop and will not be rehabilitated. The only way to stop them is to kill them. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-drunk-drivers-get-the-death-penalty-if-they-kill-someone/835182/45 "2019-06-13T15:21:21Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > +1 > > There are people with 10 or more drunk driving offense on their record, who have had their licenses suspended or revoked, and who still drive drunk. Those people are not going t stop and will not be rehabilitated. The only way to stop them is to kill them. You going to do it? Or are you going to ask someone else to do it? Poking out their eyes or chopping off their hands and feet would keep them from driving, and it’d be even more savage than murdering a defenseless human being. Got anything against those solutions? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2019, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-drunk-drivers-get-the-death-penalty-if-they-kill-someone/835182/46 "2019-06-16T16:44:48Z")
No, I’m not going to do it. Are you going to feed, clothe and house the killer for the rest of their life. Are you willing to take responsibility to see they never drink and/or drive again? ---
**Author:** ![LiveFree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@LiveFree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveFree)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2019, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-drunk-drivers-get-the-death-penalty-if-they-kill-someone/835182/47 "2019-06-16T18:07:54Z")
Death penalty for drunk driving…no. But the penalty should be a LOT MORE HARSH than it currently is. And I believe in the death penalty under certain circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2019, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-drunk-drivers-get-the-death-penalty-if-they-kill-someone/835182/48 "2019-06-16T20:07:34Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Are you going to feed, clothe and house the killer for the rest of their life. So _somebody_ should murder them, just not the people who want them dead. That doesn’t seem right. So yeah, if I think someone is a persistent, irredeemable threat to society I’m willing to do what i must, pay what i must, to maintain the safe quality of life i want. Just as i might pay extra for a safer car, cleaner air and drinking water, and functional roads. I see no point in murdering another person to make any of that happen. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2019, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-drunk-drivers-get-the-death-penalty-if-they-kill-someone/835182/49 "2019-06-16T20:58:59Z")
I don’t support capital punishment, so… No. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-drunk-drivers-get-the-death-penalty-if-they-kill-someone/835182.md?page=2)