DWI - how to stop it?

MrBishop said:
maxshot7.jpg
Click to expand...

That's a way to stop the boozers from driving, blow their cars up...
 
highwayman said:
The repeat offenders are more then likely lower income people that don't have anything and more then likely do not have enough cash in the bank to buy a diferent car.
Click to expand...

That is not exactly true. Unfortunately Alcoholism strikes people of all races, size, and income levels. It even strikes the people you might think have the greatest potential and love dearly. Someone who is a repeat DUI offender is most likely someone who has a problem with alcohol. In Louisiana, a first time DUI offender is forced to seek treatment for alcoholism, attend MADD meetings, fined out the ying yang, and does mandatory jail time. An employer can fire an individual who receives a DUI whether it happened on company time or not. This makes it very rough on the family of a member who will have to pay such fees, and be out of work for the duration of treatment, and jail time. This has brought our DUI rates down dramatically though our homeless rates are skyrocketing.
 
You really want to stop them?

First offense: execution... right there on the side of the road.

Second offense: a modest fine.
 
What I truly feel is that there is little all-encompassing cureall. Fines and incarceration of the individual doing the DUI never truly punish that person. The fallout goes back to the family that didn't do anything wrong. The soft approach doesn't work. The sledgehammer approach doesn't work. Perhaps something from a vanity standpoint might do better.

Couseling, meetings, interval drug checks, community service, and being forced to drive a hot pink Volkswagen with DUI printed on all sides might embarass the offender into change... or at least give everyone else a red flag that this guy needs to be watched... especially from a cop. Heck... make it so a cop can pull such a vehicle over at any time to do an instant sobriety check.
 
i've always kind of thought the punishment should be way more serious than it currently is. i think that if someone drives under the influence and doesn't kill somebody or themselves, that's just dumb luck. i often find in court that people don't realize how serious driving drunk is, because a lot of the time, no one gets hurt. they don't seem to consider what it would be like if they had hurt somene. therefore, i kind of feel that drunk driving should always be punished as though the drunk driver had killed someone.

but i agree there is no hard and fast. that's the problem with law in general.
 
simplyred said:
That is not exactly true. Unfortunately Alcoholism strikes people of all races, size, and income levels.
Click to expand...

I am familiar with the addiction, what I had in mind when posting the original is that after long term abuse the person tends to give up what had been at hand, high income or not. Fortunatly the higher income people realize what is going on and are more motivated to seek treatment then the lower income. In some cases to maintain their status and or income level...
 
highwayman said:
I am familiar with the addiction, what I had in mind when posting the original is that after long term abuse the person tends to give up what had been at hand, high income or not. Fortunatly the higher income people realize what is going on and are more motivated to seek treatment then the lower income. In some cases to maintain their status and or income level...
Click to expand...

Quite often what I see in the area of my work (I work for the Administrator of the Drug Court Program in our area) is that lower income people do want help. Unfortunately, aid for these high priced rehab programs is just not available. It is quite hard for a lower income individual to afford some $40,000 for rehababilitation. They start to think their system is failing them and they dive deeper into their addiciton. It is a mean circle.

I see what you are saying. Thanks for clearifing your point of view.
 
simplyred said:
I see what you are saying. Thanks for clearifing your point of view.
Click to expand...

I realize I am not clear in what I say at most times...With subjects such as addictions it is needed to be quite specific in a lot of areas and I had not realized what your area of work is...
 
as a former booze hound, i dont subscribe to the disease theory.
its bad choices, poor decision making and maybe some self medicating that leads to a physical addiction.
 
Gonz said:
It's really simple. Plus, it helps with our problem with oil dependency.

50-35%20Amish%20Co.%20horse%20&%20buggy%20rear.jpg
Click to expand...

Yeah ,but its still illegal to operate a horse and buggy while under the influence.

Horsing around in Georgia– A Rabun County woman faces one count of DWI for riding a horse while drunk. Heather Darnell, 22, attempted to cross a heavily trafficked road around 10:30 pm and was struck by a motorist. The horse apparently survived though Darnell, according to police records, was ‘ejected’ and ended up in a nearby intensive care unit.
Click to expand...
http://www.dwi.com/blog/2006-November/this-weeks-dwi-really-odd-news
 
I say let 'em continue to drive drunk
and kill tens of thousands of our loved ones
each year

its worked so far...
 
I tend to believe the disease isn't with alcohol. Sure it has physical withdrawal symptoms but I think the real issues are mental.
I have never known an "alcoholic" that didn't have deep rooted psychological issues and found an escape in alcohol. And when the alcohol becomes a problem they are either unable or unwilling to let go of their escape because it's the only thing they understand or the only thing that makes them feel better. The problem is is that they get help for the alcohol but not the underlying issue and they never truly recover.
It's the old band-aid on the bullet hole :shrug:
 
tonksy said:
I tend to believe the disease isn't with alcohol. Sure it has physical withdrawal symptoms but I think the real issues are mental.
I have never known an "alcoholic" that didn't have deep rooted psychological issues and found an escape in alcohol. And when the alcohol becomes a problem they are either unable or unwilling to let go of their escape because it's the only thing they understand or the only thing that makes them feel better. The problem is is that they get help for the alcohol but not the underlying issue and they never truly recover.
It's the old band-aid on the bullet hole :shrug:
Click to expand...

I agree. I think first you have to be psychologically predisposed to becoming addicted to something, then it probably doesn't matter what the something is. OTOH, while there are certainly those who are addicted, I think there are a fair few "alcoholics" who could quit anytime but just won't. Just an opinion...

[RANT]Of course, alcohol and tobacco are "legal" addictive drugs, as opposed to some others that are demonstrably less addictive and yet illegal.[/RANT]
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top