Comments on: HB 336 - Are you kidding me? http://gaduiblog.com/2007/03/20/hb-336-are-you-kidding-me/ A Guide for Everything Related to DUI in Georgia Mon, 12 May 2008 10:34:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 By: Rob Leonard http://gaduiblog.com/2007/03/20/hb-336-are-you-kidding-me/#comment-49859 Rob Leonard Fri, 07 Dec 2007 14:05:37 +0000 http://gaduiblog.com/2007/03/20/hb-336-are-you-kidding-me/#comment-49859 Drunk driving is bad to be sure. However, you are drinking the cool-aid that MADD and NHTSA want you to drink. When a sober speeder crashes into someone that is positive for alcohol, even though the accident is the caused by the other person, it is recorded as an "alcohol-related" crash. The drunk pedestrian that gets run over is also "alcohol-related." And the BAC used by NHTSA to classify something as caused by alcohol is .01. I am not pro-drinking and driving, but let's have an honest discussion with real numbers. As to your comment about the laws being a slap on the wrist, this is simply not true. Our Judges currently have all the discretion that they need to fashion appropriate sentences. Right now without any changes in the law, a Judge can give someone a year in jail for drinking and driving. I see ignition interlocks ordered all the time. It is required on a second offense in Georgia. Drunk driving is bad to be sure. However, you are drinking the cool-aid that MADD and NHTSA want you to drink. When a sober speeder crashes into someone that is positive for alcohol, even though the accident is the caused by the other person, it is recorded as an “alcohol-related” crash. The drunk pedestrian that gets run over is also “alcohol-related.” And the BAC used by NHTSA to classify something as caused by alcohol is .01. I am not pro-drinking and driving, but let’s have an honest discussion with real numbers.

As to your comment about the laws being a slap on the wrist, this is simply not true. Our Judges currently have all the discretion that they need to fashion appropriate sentences. Right now without any changes in the law, a Judge can give someone a year in jail for drinking and driving. I see ignition interlocks ordered all the time. It is required on a second offense in Georgia.

]]> By: TSD1 http://gaduiblog.com/2007/03/20/hb-336-are-you-kidding-me/#comment-49781 TSD1 Tue, 04 Dec 2007 00:24:53 +0000 http://gaduiblog.com/2007/03/20/hb-336-are-you-kidding-me/#comment-49781 I am a student from the University of Georgia that has spent a good part of the semester studying drunk driving, and drunk driving laws. These laws, to me, seem like a mere slap on the wrist. With almost 20,000 deaths related to drunk driving annually, its clear that these laws do not prevent people from making a destructive decision to drink and drive. States need to pass a law that requires ignition interlock systems to be installed (at the expense of the offender) after a persons first DUI. Installing these would decrease the amount of drunk drivers on the road drastically! We need a change for the greater good of society. I am a student from the University of Georgia that has spent a good part of the semester studying drunk driving, and drunk driving laws. These laws, to me, seem like a mere slap on the wrist. With almost 20,000 deaths related to drunk driving annually, its clear that these laws do not prevent people from making a destructive decision to drink and drive. States need to pass a law that requires ignition interlock systems to be installed (at the expense of the offender) after a persons first DUI. Installing these would decrease the amount of drunk drivers on the road drastically! We need a change for the greater good of society.

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