Abolish Drunk Driving Laws?

no

Hell NO make this twice as tough!

He does make a real point.  .08 is a pretty rediculous impairment number for everybody.  I know quite a few folk that would do a lot of things better at .08.  Drunk driving is bad.  Make sure if you drink you don't drive.(That's my disclaimer, thank you.)

Go back to .10 and make the current penalties harsher.

 

Big Rack Said:
Go back to .10 and make the current penalties harsher.

Agree. Make it a felony, and we'll see how many people do it.

I do get the point that this guy is making though. Tired driving is just as bad as drunk driving. However, how would you possibly be able to prove that someone had lack of sleep or that kids screaming in the car was a factor? 

   My name is Tyler. I live in Bismarck, ND. In December of 2003 I was on the phone with my fiance, who was on her way home from work. She was headed down river road and we were planning a day of Christmas shopping. The topic was what to get her older sister when she screamed and the phone went dead. I tried calling her back a couple times but it went to the inbox. I jumped in my Jeep and drove to river road as fast as I could. What I found and what I saw, I still have nightmares about. Her car was no more than a twisted heap of metal, and a truck was on it's top a few dozen yards from that. The driver of the truck was on his hands and knees by the guardrail. My fiancee was somewhere inside the mess. After about 20 minutes of work the firemen managed to cut her free from the BACK SEAT. She had been belted in. It made no difference. She was a tiny person, but I have never seen so much blood come from one body. She had a chunk of metal going in her chest and coming out her back. Her head had been pretty well crushed. She was long gone, and after a night of surgery and life support, her parents asked me if it was OK to take her off life support. How could I say no? The violence of what I saw that day will give me nightmares for years to come. The culprit? Drunk driving. He was over the legal limit by far and came whipping around the corner in the wrong lane straight into my Sarah. People down the road from the accident said he had been seen showboat driving. His penalty? Five years. My Sarah's life was worth five lousy years. He is free today. I don't wish him the worst... hell we ALL do dumb things in this life. But if penalties were far more devastating to the person who drinks and drives, maybe they would think more about calling a friend or a cab. Just my thoughts.

pikemon Said:
   My name is Tyler. I live in Bismarck, ND. In December of 2003 I was on the phone with my fiance, who was on her way home from work. She was headed down river road and we were planning a day of Christmas shopping. The topic was what to get her older sister when she screamed and the phone went dead. I tried calling her back a couple times but it went to the inbox. I jumped in my Jeep and drove to river road as fast as I could. What I found and what I saw, I still have nightmares about. Her car was no more than a twisted heap of metal, and a truck was on it's top a few dozen yards from that. The driver of the truck was on his hands and knees by the guardrail. My fiancee was somewhere inside the mess. After about 20 minutes of work the firemen managed to cut her free from the BACK SEAT. She had been belted in. It made no difference. She was a tiny person, but I have never seen so much blood come from one body. She had a chunk of metal going in her chest and coming out her back. Her head had been pretty well crushed. She was long gone, and after a night of surgery and life support, her parents asked me if it was OK to take her off life support. How could I say no? The violence of what I saw that day will give me nightmares for years to come. The culprit? Drunk driving. He was over the legal limit by far and came whipping around the corner in the wrong lane straight into my Sarah. People down the road from the accident said he had been seen showboat driving. His penalty? Five years. My Sarah's life was worth five lousy years. He is free today. I don't wish him the worst... hell we ALL do dumb things in this life. But if penalties were far more devastating to the person who drinks and drives, maybe they would think more about calling a friend or a cab. Just my thoughts.

I'm sorry for your loss.  They should have thrown the book at him.  I don't know what I would do if someone like that killed someone I loved.  Probably go beserk and get revenge. 

I just read this story about a Washburn couple who had a semi come crashing into their house.  The driver had fallen asleep at the wheel.  People like this should also be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

http://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/recovering-from-a-semi-house-crash-takes-time/article_8518a67c-bf98-11e0-9f6e-001cc4c002e0.html

Ty,

This is James from Kansas.  I 100% agree with you.  I would go as far to say there should be a zero tolerance policy when it comes to alcohol and driving.  If I have one drink, I will not drive.  It does not matter if it was at 5 in the evening and I want to leave at 10.  This policy has caused some minor inconviences, but it is absolutely nothing compared to what could happen.

I don't know what i would of did when the guy was on his hands and knees and i looked over and seen her in the car. I don't know if you could of stopped me from putting my boot in his face.

A friend of the wife's was killed by a drunk driver. It court, his lawyer, the drunk driver, told the jury that him being in jail would be a hardship on his family. The lady that was killed was a daughter, sister, wife, mother of 4 small childern, aunt, cousin and friend to many people. I wonder how much of hardship it is for her to be gone forever?

Goth Said:
A friend of the wife's was killed by a drunk driver. It court, his lawyer, the drunk driver, told the jury that him being in jail would be a hardship on his family. The lady that was killed was a daughter, sister, wife, mother of 4 small childern, aunt, cousin and friend to many people. I wonder how much of hardship it is for her to be gone forever?

The drunk should have been exacuted just like anyother murder.    

Tyler I am sorry for your loss. It is things like this that need someone with common sense to take over the sentencing in my mind if you kill some one while driving under the influence your life should be over and you should only be given two choices a bullet or a rope.

Tyler,

I am sorry for your loss.

Many things cause people to be killed with autos.

I had a family member die because a Semi hit them trying to avoid a weight station.

People have died when things fell off of a semi.

The only way to avoid death is to go back to the horse.

I am not advocating drinking and driving beyond the limit.  I feel .10 is fine.

Trying to stop people from drinking and driving is like trying to stop criminals from getting guns.

No matter what laws you put in place, it will not stop it.

That being said, I think more people are drinking and driving than they have before.

I meant less people are drinking and driving that are over the limit of .10.

  While I can appreciate the kind words from you guys, asking for execution was not the point I was going for. Many of us in our younger days did wild or daring things that may have gotten us hurt or killed, as well as put others in dangers way. My point was to put a more human face on this thread by sharing a very personal story of how drunk driving has affected my life and memories. I don't wish (name withheld) to be dead.... he has a family too and I am honestly hoping he has remorse for what happened. I am just wanting the actual punishment to be more than a few years in jail... to hopefully give pause to the folks who come stumbling out of TGI's or your establishment of choice. This goes for more than drunk driving, yes there are lots of ways vehicles have killed people.... but the direction of this thread was the subject of drunken driving, so that is why I spoke up with my experience.

I am pretty sure we all think the punishment should be more severe.

I hate to ask this, but what would you feel if the driver wasn't drunk but fell asleep at the wheel?

Recently, a farmer driving a pickup truck fell asleep at the wheel around 10am and hit a semi around a curve.  Let's say he didn't hit a semi, but a smaller car. It would have been worse for the smaller car. 

I guess what I am trying to say is that the Government even putting the limit to zero will not help.  I will say living in the Dakotas, we put up with less death than anywhere else in this Country.

pikemon Said:
  While I can appreciate the kind words from you guys, asking for executionI  was not the point I was going for. Many of us in our younger days did wild or daring things that may have gotten us hurt or killed, as well as put others in dangers way. My point was to put a more human face on this thread by sharing a very personal story of how drunk driving has affected my life and memories. I don't wish (name withheld) to be dead.... he has a family too and I am honestly hoping he has remorse for what happened. I am just wanting the actual punishment to be more than a few years in jail... to hopefully give pause to the folks who come stumbling out of TGI's or your establishment of choice. This goes for more than drunk driving, yes there are lots of ways vehicles have killed people.... but the direction of this thread was the subject of drunken driving, so that is why I spoke up with my experience.

Forget the BS about tired driving, etc.  It is all a smokescreen and an excuse for people who drive Drunk.  Get real.  Things falling off semis are ACCIDENTS.

Getting behind the wheel impaired by alcohol is NOT an Accident.  It is a conscious choice and you should pay the ultimate price if somebody else dies as a result of your stupid and inexcusable choice.

Drunk driving that results in a death should result in LIFE SEENTENCE with No chance of parole.  A life for a life.  Your's deserves to effectively end also.

We won't go there though.  Accountability for our actions is not a big thing to most people.  Right or left wing, it doesn't matter.

I ws comming back from Casselton last night and going by the homesteaders cafe and behms a chey pu crossed the center line 7 times and it is a 4 lane road so i called 911 with the plate number I stopped at Behms to fill with gas and before I got to Burlington he was stopped and in the back of the HP car    pickup was pulled off the road.
I hope everyone will call in all impared drivers weather it be drugs, sleep, or alcohol.  I have lost 2 members of my family from impared drivers one was sleep impared and the other one alcohol impared.
Stopping by for one is a lot different than til 1. I don't agree with plea agreement if the test is at or over the limit then the charge sticks.
Instead of loosing the license I would rather see them spend everynight in jail after work at their expense for 30 to 90 days.depending on test results.  at least then they would be off the road for a given time.  They can still hold a job, pay bills. If someone gets caught impared on june 1 and served 30 days including weekends til July 1 with no wife, fishing, or social activities that would be a lesson for a lot of people

Farnorth said:



We won't go there though.  Accountability for our actions is not a big thing to most people.  Right or left wing, it doesn't matter.

It does seem people are aften given an excuse for their behavior.  it is someone else's fault.   I was brought up under the old school of "you live with the choices you make" thus pay when you did wrong.  no blaming someone else. 

I think there should be an attempted involuntary manslaughter law for DUI.  I know the terms don't go together but the penalties should be higher.  Getting behind the wheel drunk has the potential for making that vehicle a deadly weapon.  I know, a person carrying a gun makes the gun a deadly weapon, no, a gun is a deadly weapon, a hehicle is not supposed to be one.