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From: js2j@mhuxt.UUCP (sonntag)
Newsgroups: net.flame
Subject: Re: DWI crackdowns, BAC, testing
Message-ID: <1028@mhuxt.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 31-Jul-85 14:07:13 EDT
Article-I.D.: mhuxt.1028
Posted: Wed Jul 31 14:07:13 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 2-Aug-85 00:01:19 EDT
References: <2743@harpo.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill
Lines: 41

>      I'm all for removing the drunk driver from the road. However there
> must be a way to know when your are over the legal limit, and should not
> drive. In my case I can have a beer and look and feel wasted, however I
> don't know if I would fail the blow test, since there is no way to tell
> what is in your blood, unless you are pulled over and tested. I would rather
> know before I decide to drive if I am safe from a DWI arrest. What is needed
> is for all states that have DWI harassment policies to also require that any
> bar in the state make avaiable to its patrons the use of a breath-a-lizer
> device of the same type and calibration that the police use. The bar owners
> should be required to have the machine calibrated and serviced at frequent
> intervals. The bar owner could charge a modest fee for its use , say one
> buck, to help offset its cost. The process of obtaining and upkeep of the
> machines could be made part of the liquor service license process. 

     Great idea!  I'd make the use of the machine free, though.

     Another idea is to change the function relating punishment to blood 
alcohol level to more closely approximate the function relating driving
impairment to blood alcohol level.  Currently, everyone over some very low
percentage of BAC gets the same punishment.  Someone just barely over the
legal limit gets the same punishment as the most wasted drunk on the road,
even though the first person is much less dangerous than the second.  What
I'm proposing is that the punishment for someone who is 300% over the limit
should be *much* higher than the punishment for someone who is only slightly
over the limit.  This way, the punishment could fit the crime.
     For example:
  % of legal BAC              Punishment
     100-130                   -license suspended 30 days, monetary fine
     131-160                   -license suspended 1 yr, 30 days in jail
     161-200                   -license syspended 2 yr, 60 days in jail
     201- ...                  -license suspended indefinately, put 'em in jail
     While you may well disagree with the punishment levels listed here, or
the breakpoints chosen, the idea that the punishment for a crime should
correspond to the severity of the crime is an old one which has apparently
been forgotten by writers of drunk driving legislation.  
-- 
Jeff Sonntag
ihnp4!mhuxt!js2j
   "Well I've been burned before, and I know the score,
    so you won't hear me complain.
    Are you willing to risk it all, or is your love in vain?"-Dylan