Drunk sends young girl to hospital

[ukcanuck]

As a cop I'm surprised that you think filling the jails is a solution.
....

I don't recall Trunk-Monkey saying that.

he's arguing that we all have a choice so the penalty doesnt matter
look, all I'm saying is prosecute drunk drivers to the full extent of the law. No problem as long as its fair an even handed I am all for it! but lets not get carried away with ridiculous notions about extreme penalties that are beyond justifiable. This is still a humane and tolerant society, even drunk drivers need mercy and compassion once they have paid their debt. lets not make the penalty so un-payable that it creates more problems than it solves..

[Roadster]

Read in the Times Colonist out of Victoria the other day that drivers on perscription opiates kill just as many innocent people as drunks.....

Waiting for the up roar....One beer won't kill any one , but one dilaudid for pain in the emergency room after a work place accident will..

I have to say, last time they gave me any pain stuff in ER they wouldnt let me leave till my ride showed up, not sure if that policy has changed or not since. They made me sit in a wheelchair and wait and I was only about five blocks away from home at that time and was happy,,, really happy to wander on home on foot but No way would they let me go.

[ukcanuck]

I think anyone who drinks is a potential drunk driver and I believe that a lot of sober drivers are worse dangers on the road than some drunks. so you see I think it might be you in the docket one day and I would have compassion even for you too.

You'd be wrong, I know many drinkers including myself who would never, just because today we know we should plan before we get drunk so we have a place to stay or a safe ride home, sure some knucleheads will but they are not Just drinkers, they are idiots, a whole different type of people.
Are there non drinkers ho could be a worse threat? Not the point here but ya, there could be,,, see the many threads on those issues, "Yer an idiot", "Gotcha, talking on your cell phone" and likely many more. All being discussed there in them threads.

i think that is the point though, you think you would never... Check that, you Believe in your heart, that you will never be the one in font of a judge wrongly accused of killing an innocent by driving drunk, so it doesn't matter if the penalty is so severe it was automatic execution. "what the hell they deserve it they are baby killers themselves, the worst kind really, they did it out of blind stupidity...

Except as sure as Christ was a cowboy, there have been people wrongly accused of all sorts of things in the past and I am not crazy to doubt that it couldn't happen again so if you don't mind, I'd like to stick with to the laws we got, they seem to be working anyway the numbers are going down.

[Roadster]

You say I thnk I wont,,, I know I wont, havent since my stupid attempt at it when I was a young driver, been on the road just over 30 years now, I know better and you do too so there is no excuse. You can give it up now unless you are trying to say you might cos yer not sure,,, so if you and me wouldnt no one else needs to.

Its a darn good thing I am not a judge, every drunk would go in for the max I could send em for. If I was a cop I would be as passionate as them who are and I am glad they make it a goal to get those idiots off the road.

[ukcanuck]

You say I thnk I wont,,, I know I wont, havent since my stupid attempt at it when I was a young driver, been on the road just over 30 years now, I know better and you do too so there is no excuse. You can give it up now unless you are trying to say you might cos yer not sure,,, so if you and me wouldnt no one else needs to.

Its a darn good thing I am not a judge, every drunk would go in for the max I could send em for. If I was a cop I would be as passionate as them who are and I am glad they make it a goal to get those idiots off the road.

Give up what? sanity and logic? no i think that there needs to be a balance against all of you in a blind rush to throw away the baby with the bath water.

but we agree on one thing, I too am glad you aren't a judge too. a good judge is going to treat each case on its merits, be harsh when it calls for it and lenient when it calls for that. Hanging judges need not apply.

[ukcanuck]

double post

[Roadster]

Give up what? sanity and logic? no i think that there needs to be a balance against all of you in a blind rush to throw away the baby with the bath water.

but we agree on one thing, I too am glad you aren't a judge too. a good judge is going to treat each case on its merits, be harsh when it calls for it and lenient when it calls for that. Hanging judges need not apply.

See thats the thing,,, the only babies here would be them innocent ones hit on the road by a drunk driver when least expected like that little Six year old,,, we would not want to throw them babies out with other peoples carelessness. Lets save the babies.

[ukcanuck]

Give up what? sanity and logic? no i think that there needs to be a balance against all of you in a blind rush to throw away the baby with the bath water.

but we agree on one thing, I too am glad you aren't a judge too. a good judge is going to treat each case on its merits, be harsh when it calls for it and lenient when it calls for that. Hanging judges need not apply.

See thats the thing,,, the only babies here would be them innocent ones hit on the road by a drunk driver when least expected like that little Six year old,,, we would not want to throw them babies out with other peoples carelessness. Lets save the babies.

Lol I just knew you would jump on that, it's a figure of speech and in this case the baby would be due process and compassion for all. ... But hey if you want to save that then cool I'm with ya

[Roadster]

Of course I would jump on that, do you know how many kids have died because an adult had a great night and then got stupid? How many teens and adults have died for the same reason? Everyone is someone's Baby, we have to make the crime pay for a life taken and for a life times worth of injuries if they are inflicted.

And we have to catch all DUIs and make them think before doing it again so they dont kill someone, problem is those charges are way too light,,, they need to stiffen em up so there is a really good reason not to do it again. If that driver continues the best move then is to take his priviliange away.

[goatboy]

Read in the Times Colonist out of Victoria the other day that drivers on perscription opiates kill just as many innocent people as drunks.....

Waiting for the up roar....One beer won't kill any one , but one dilaudid for pain in the emergency room after a work place accident will..

I have to say, last time they gave me any pain stuff in ER they wouldnt let me leave till my ride showed up, not sure if that policy has changed or not since. They made me sit in a wheelchair and wait and I was only about five blocks away from home at that time and was happy,,, really happy to wander on home on foot but No way would they let me go.

It's irrelevant as Ma's post was not correct.

[ukcanuck]

Of course I would jump on that, do you know how many kids have died because an adult had a great night and then got stupid? How many teens and adults have died for the same reason? Everyone is someone's Baby, we have to make the crime pay for a life taken and for a life times worth of injuries if they are inflicted.

And we have to catch all DUIs and make them think before doing it again so they dont kill someone, problem is those charges are way too light,,, they need to stiffen em up so there is a really good reason not to do it again. If that driver continues the best move then is to take his priviliange away.

According to the RCMP, 124 people died last year, that's how many. I don't know why you keep up with the rhetoric no one is arguing about getting DUI's off the road. no one is a saying dont punish them, no one is saying dont take their privileges away.
All I'm saying is make sure you don't make it unreasonable, which most of the ideas put forward here have been, it's not that they are too lenient in every case, it's that most are unworkable. You can't confiscate a persons wages and prevent them from earning it at the same time. You can't throw every drunk driver in jail for attempted murder because the jails are full now.
You can't take someone's Liscense away and make them display a D on the car they arent supposed to drive at the same time...
Do you understand?

[Roadster]

See all that you posted there are ideas,,, not that all would work at the same time but people are coming up with some smart ideas, you might disagree with them all but some of them are great. I'd be for huge fines, temp loss of car according to their stupidity like smashing a fencing or a house (property damage) or just being pulled over, being pulled over more then once, then hurting or killing someone but at the same time I am all for preventative measures.
So when you were in school did your teacher ever make people in your class wear a dunce cap? Mine, ya she liked that in one grade I was in,,, I made sure not to go there but some got to shape that cap to their own heads and become quite familiar with it,,, drunks the same make em stick a D on their car? Ya sure why not. No one will beat them but if they are being an idiot on the road and the public feels they need to be called in a D would give em reason to, see how that could work?
So lets say you know you will own a D,,,, bet you think twice before working for it. We have Ns for new drivers and it lets us know we should be cautious with them and give em a break right? I thought that was a great idea. It also lets the police know a little about them if something looks odd in their actions I am sure. Its just a marker,,, whats the big deal? And truthfully if that was a new rule bets are you dont see many of them because people wont want one.
I see they can order a known drunken driver to buy and service and use a breathalizer in their vehicle,,, one great step for man, we can still do more,,,, cos this aint over. What you say,,,, 124 people dead? Thats 124 too many over parties and carelessness and very bad decisions where education is provided and cops are well seen out there making the threat loud and clear.
Its nearing Christmas,,, wouldnt it be nice this year if no one died because of a bad choice on our roads?
Ya know, the more I talk about this D thing, the more I like it,,, gonna write it in and suggest it, I hope the original poster of that thought wont mind,,,

[Trunk-Monkey]

So to wrap it up...drunk driving is a bad thing because it causes people to die, get injured or at the very least...its just plain old against the law.
Is that too hard for people to understand. Cops do not make the rules or the laws. Is that too hard to understand? If not then what the hell is the problem?
Dont drink and drive....no problem. Yes people it is a CHOICE.

[goatboy]

You can't confiscate a persons wages and prevent them from earning it at the same time. You can't throw every drunk driver in jail for attempted murder because the jails are full now.
You can't take someone's Liscense away and make them display a D on the car they arent supposed to drive at the same time...
Do you understand?

With the exception of throwing every drunk driver in jail ( which I don't think anyone is suggesting), why can't we do the other things? Drinking and driving is a 100%, totally preventable crime, why not have a stiff penalty for breaking it? As you stated 124 people died last year and every single one of them was preventable. The only difference between impaired driving and impaired driving causing death is whether you hit someone. You're BAC will still be the same in either case, so the only way to prevent theses deaths is to curb the act of driving drunk in the first place and one way to do that is with stiff penalties with consequences that will actually have an effect on someone's life so they will think twice about putting themselves in a position where those consequences may happen to them.

[Trunk-Monkey]

he's arguing that we all have a choice so the penalty doesnt matter
look, all I'm saying is prosecute drunk drivers to the full extent of the law. No problem as long as its fair an even handed I am all for it! but lets not get carried away with ridiculous notions about extreme penalties that are beyond justifiable. This is still a humane and tolerant society, even drunk drivers need mercy and compassion once they have paid their debt. lets not make the penalty so un-payable that it creates more problems than it solves..

I never said or argued the penalty for driving drunk doesnt matter. What I have said is simply this, to drive a motorized vehicle while drunk or impaired by drugs is a CHOICE. One that can be avoided if people who drink or get high simply choose not to drive after doing so.
Pretty simple eh? Not rocket science.
So once again, please do not put words into my mouth.