Jakex1

Before you read this note i am against drunk driving, and i dont drive my car if i know i have had 2+ beers.

I was in a discussion in my law class and drunk driving had come up, I thought about it and i came to the conclusion that it is punished too severely. Yes alcohol impairs your judgment but so does a myriad of things. Eating, Talking to people in the car, smoking, Cellphones, exhaustion, just to name a few. Yet drunk driving can be punished up to jail time while cellphones only get a ticket. Exhaustion in my opinion is even worse than drunk driving cause if you fall asleep at the wheel you have no control over the car as opposed to delayed reactions from drinking. Yet, (correct me if im wrong) a ticket for driving exhausted doesnt even exist. I just think that it is unfair that there is a precise number to determine if someone is drunk and that drunk driving is the most serious impairment to drivers.

That was my little rant, and yes everyone has their own opinions and i would like to hear yours.

plex

iTrader: (11)

Yes I do agree with you that the punishements for drunk driving is severe compare to those other distractions while driving. I guess we need to see more studies that compares drunk driving to other distractions. I know for one that texting and driving is definately becoming a problem. I personally rather drive tipsy than sleepy, in that case the best solution there is to not drive at all but we all know it doesn't always happen that way.

J_RoK

Well, I dont drink alcohol, but this doesnt cloud my judgment.

Being Tired definatly has plays a big role in that. I admit i have driven tired before, and it messes you up. Very foolish i must admit. I've felt drunk being so tired. I dont do that anymore. I think thye do have tickets for that, i remeber a while back on tv i saw things about people killing others from falling asleep at the wheel. How long ago did they put those bumps on the sides of the road?
Talking on the phone, lets try TEXTING on the phone, that is much worse.
They now have BlueTooth headsets, so talking on the phone should not be an excuse.

Driving drunk impares your driving ability for your whole driving time, while these other things (excluding the exhaustion) temp impare your driving. Granted it only takes a second for something to happen. Some people shouldnt be allowed to walk while they are drunk, never mind drive.

I am for maximizing what ever is dangerous. Call me a P*ssy but i dont feel like getting side swiped by an A-Hole.

-J

DJ TANTRA

The punishment is severe...and I think it should be..because the severe punishment should be to detur any1 from driiving like that to begin with....

So before sum1 gets behind teh wheel wen they feel a little tipsy they should think of the possible outcome...which is your life will be ruined...especially if you have a position in finance..or the "corporate world" as these offences come up on background checks..

It just isn't worth it...and the worst thing is people that are drunk usually still feel they can drive.

I learned my lesson the hard way..hopedfully no1 else will..and no i didnt get caught it was worse than that...ever since then I have never drank and drive..

I think drinking and driiving is worse than all those other things you listed...but hten again it depends on how much you have drank and which activity its being compared too (tiredness, texting, etc.)


but in NYC...I'd rather be caught for a billion other things rather than DUI...they give it to you real hard now..def not worth it..

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

Great point!

whoster

yeah...i've had a lot of close encounters driving while i was tired more than anything... these days i know now to take a quick powernap if i have anything more than a 30 minute drive...

uplusd

The best thing to do would be to compare cold hard facts. Number of accidents caused by drunk driving vs. number of accidents caused by the things you mentioned earlier. Then again, it's pretty difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of an accident. Nobody is going to say, "I caused the accident because I was being irresponsible and texting while driving."

Solo_D33A

tried driving on the highway while very tired (coming back from the states at night), I then open all the windows, turned up the music with some songs I can't even sing(Japanese songs) and I try it, it kinda worked, I was awake after since the song was not meant for me to sing :P

another time, I just pulled over wherever safe place I could find and slept.

And yes, drunk driving they can fine you and/or put you to jail, but at least they have a way to measure, unlike other things, like cellphone, text, smoking etc, you could just say your passenger's doing it, not you. thus they can't really have prove to charge you for anything...

Och

iTrader: (3)

Well, drunk driving is punished severely in comparison to other distractions/impairment that you have mentioned, but I don't think the punishment is too severe. Perhaps its the other way, the punishment for other distractions/impairment is too light?

Lil4X

Drunk driving, as opposed to being otherwise impaired is often considered a moral failure, punishable as "sin". It's the same reason we tax alcohol and cigarettes, but not sugar and caffeine. Somehow it plays into our sense of moral superiority to charge those who would partake of certain chemicals. OTOH, the effects of alcohol on driving are well known, and the choice to indulge in adult beverages is a conscious one - therefore it could be argued that the offender made a decision to violate the law, and assume the consequences of potential death and destruction willfully.

It is not a question of degree - the large majority of drunk drivers have no idea they are incapable of safely operating an automobile. You and I are not the best judges of our own levels of intoxication and impairment. You may think you are an excellent driver with a half-dozen drinks or beers under your belt, but years of testing shows a slight improvement in driving performance after the first drink or two (because we are more careful and conscious of our driving), it's all downhill from there. You think you are doing fine, but you may be all over several lanes of traffic, and are very likely to be involved in a serious accident.

If you should ever doubt this, go out drinking with your usual circle of friends, except stick to nothing more than club soda with a twist of lime. If you make a deal with the bartender beforehand, you don't even have to let your friends know you are not drinking. Just watch what is going on around you. After an hour or so, you will notice your friends beginning to act very foolishly - having difficulty walking, organizing thoughts, even talking coherently. That person you think is such a hardcore party animal begins to get a little boring, and by the end of the evening, that cool person that everybody likes is nothing but a helpless lush. The really hot girl you've wanted to take home on several occasions turns out to be a brainless twit, and worse, a spewing drunk. At this point, how well do you think they can drive? Would you want to be on a dark 2-lane road with this person headed toward you?

This is more than distracted driving; eating, lighting a cigarette, talking on the phone, or playing with the telematics takes the driver away from the primary task of driving, being physically impaired is a condition rather than a moments' distraction. While distraction may be involved, a drunk driver doesn't possess reaction time or the fine motor skills to recover safely. It's something to consider this Holiday season.

toy4two

I know a guy that went to work without any sleep, he wound up crossing three on coming lanes of traffic, plowing into a carl's Jr, and hitting a mom's minivan filled with kids.

Threxx

I personally think drunk driving deserves more graduated punishments.

Right now at .07 you'd walk away free and clear but at .08 you'd be screwed to the wall spending many thousands in lawyers fees and fines at best and spending tens of thousands plus time in jail or without a license at worst (especially for a second offense).

Let's say driving at .06 to .10 is a minor fine, such as speeding 10mph over the limit would be. .11 to .16 is more like reckless driving. Then say .17 and over is where the serious punishments should come into play (taken to jail for the night, suspended license, big fines, etc for the first offense, worse after that)

In my personal experience I can be borderline .08 (I have a BAC meter that I keep for fun and safety) and not even realize it - I think I'm still fine to drive, and honestly I probably am still fine and dandy to drive.

It's just hard to really tell unless you expect everyone to carry around a well calibrated BAC meter.

But on the other hand if you're at .13, for example, you pretty well KNOW you shouldn't be driving. You might mistakenly believe you're at .08-.09 but you still know that's against the law so deciding to drive thinking you were at a lower but still illegal level would be no valid excuse.

Basically I think in the borderline zone it should be a slap on the wrist, but if you KNOW you shouldn't be driving and just don't know quite how much trouble you'd be in, then you deserve to be punished accordingly.

mmarshall

No. Drunk driving is NOT punished too far in relation to cell phone use, reading, etc....and other bad driving habits.

Why?..........Simple.

It is true that cell phones and multi-tasking while driving can be hazardous, but the solution in that case is simple, Simply hang up the cell phone, turn off the laptop, or put the E-Mail receiver back in your pocket, and, instantly, you're back to square one, with no problems. Once again, you are free to concentrate on the road and your driving....and hopefully, you will not have caused an accident in the meantime.

Not so with alcohol. Once you have enough alcohol in your system to impair judgement (and it doesn't take that much, even for large men), you can't just turn it off with an on-off button like you can a machine or a cell phone. No, with alcohol you are stuck with it. You're going to STAY drunk, or at least have some driving impairment, until your body burns the alcohol off naturally, which, for the average adult, is about 1/3 of an ounce an hour. And then, if you were drunk enough, after the alcohol wears off can come the hangover..........which in some ways can be as bad or worse, as it can include severe thirst and headaches.

Nope, When the law says don't drink heavily and drive, it MEANS what it says.....and for a good reason.

Jakex1

Well maybe i phrased the question badly. And there have been many good points. If you are severely intoxicated you should definitely not get behind the wheel of a car. What i mean is like a few beers or 1 or 2 shots. Enough to make you feel good but definitely not enough to make you stupid. As for the cellphone it may be a momentary distraction, but all it takes is 1 wrong move. Also your cellphone conversation is usually not going to be a minute long. I see people who talk for a good 30+ minutes. (when i drive to my moms store, i see the same car same drivers.) And MOST people are give or take 30 minutes from their party/bar/club to their house. Also mmharshall when u say u can turn off the phone or laptop, its the same thing as you should not have drank in the first place. Yet people do drink before driving, and others continue to drive while texting + talking.

I think that the whole hype about how bad drunk driving is, is because of so many reported incidents and groups of people pushing for something to be done. Mind you thats not a bad thing but there probably have been hundreds of accidents due to the other distractions i have mentioned but go unreported because it would be that much harder to prove it.

SLegacy99

There was a person killed here (Penn State) last year and his friend was injured very badly and still cant walk or function because of drunk driving. The student that hit these two men was drunk, underage, speeding, and eating. He was sentenced to 6 years Max. in jail (to short if you ask me) and his lawyer is demanding a new trial because he doesnt feel that the fact that his client was drunk is what caused the crash. Stupid and sad.