Recidivist drink drivers

… public humiliation scheme: couple of pages in the paper and some community service tv ads set aside for publishing photos, names, alcohol levels and number of offences, for second and subsequent offences.

*ducks under desk, anticipating incoming human rights/privacy lecture*

shadow boxer said :

You seem to think these are rational, reasonable people who think about the consequences of their actions before they do them.

People who are rational and reasonable generally aren’t recidivists. They might occasionally do the wrong thing, but getting caught multiple times for high range drink driving?

Rawhide Kid Part3 said :

johnboy said :

On the other hand wives might take their husband’s drinking more seriously if it could lost them the car.

Agree

You seem to think these are rational, reasonable people who think about the consequences of their actions before they do them.

The fine for a second or third offence is probably more than the car is worth but that doesn’t stop them. My guess is they do this every week and getting caught occasionaly is just the cost of their lifestyle.

It’s probably only jail that will help but again that’s not a proven deterrent either

johnboy said :

On the other hand wives might take their husband’s drinking more seriously if it could lost them the car.

Agree

pptvb said :

Make them do community service caring for an incapacitated road accident victim for a week.
Having to wipe a 30yr olds bum might get them to see reality.
Oh, and crush their car.

No…. Sell the cars at auction and the money raised can go into driver education or health or something like that.

Spideydog said :

Davo111 said :

Having said that. If you knowingly loan your car to a driver who has no license, then you’re asking for trouble.

Its actually illegal.

True. The owner of the vehicle is responsible for the use of that vehicle unless its is used without their permission.

On the other hand wives might take their husband’s drinking more seriously if it could lost them the car.

screaming banshee said :

Let them keep their car, but take their liver.

It probably isn’t worth taking.

I think that any punishment that involves mandatory confiscation will always end up hurting people other than the intended target.

Instead of taking their cars, take their liberty. Mandatory imprisonment for repeat DUI offenders sounds like a good idea to me – with the length of the sentence increasing for subsequent offences. Just like taking their cars, it might not make them mend their ways in the long term, but at least they can’t drink and drive while in gaol.

For recidivist drivers, probably a regime similar to sports people caught taking drugs. The drunk driver is required to present themselves to a police station on a regular basis for a breath test, at a time when they’re most likely to have been drinking.

Or, implement a targeted breath testing programe, set up breath testing stations near their place of residence, or even target those repeat offender drivers for extra testing.

OpenYourMind said :

If taking the car away penalises the poor more than the rich, then how much more is the ‘poor’ repeat drink driver going to be penalised if he/she totals the car and also does other property and personal damage to him/herself and others? There’s a chance that the ‘poor’ person may well take out another innocent honest hard working but poor person. Also, generally speaking the rich have more expensive cars so the fine is kinda proportional!

For a bloke with a user name open your mind, you need to think a bit more, the impact on the wife and kids of taking away and crushing the family car because the husband is a d#ckhead is far different than taking one of John Laws 55 cars away, he just buys another one.

Crushing works for street offences as the people doing this tend to be young people with a lot invested in the vehicle.

eily said :

And how many were repectable people, caught the next morning over (just) the limit after doing the right thing the night before and not driving but thought themselves right to drive after a good nights sleep?

A respectable person would realise that a couple hours sleep doesn’t sober you up. Time does. I don’t drive the next day if I had a really big one the night before.

If taking the car away penalises the poor more than the rich, then how much more is the ‘poor’ repeat drink driver going to be penalised if he/she totals the car and also does other property and personal damage to him/herself and others? There’s a chance that the ‘poor’ person may well take out another innocent honest hard working but poor person. Also, generally speaking the rich have more expensive cars so the fine is kinda proportional!

0.297 is effectively 6 times the legal limit.

Scumbag murderous bastard piece of filth.

shadow boxer said :

OpenYourMind said :

can someone make one valid argument against taking the cars from repeat offenders.

It’s inequitable ie penalizes the poor more than the rich, it may be the wiifes car should I go on

No, it penalises the stupid. Money isn’t a contributing factor.

Make them do community service caring for an incapacitated road accident victim for a week.
Having to wipe a 30yr olds bum might get them to see reality.
Oh, and crush their car.

But how many were caught over (just) the following morning after doing the right thing the night before, thinking themselves fine to drive after a good nights sleep?

Let them keep their car, but take their liver. Hell, give them a gift voucher for the bottleshop in exchange for it.

Davo111 said :

Having said that. If you knowingly loan your car to a driver who has no license, then you’re asking for trouble.

Its actually illegal.

And how many were repectable people, caught the next morning over (just) the limit after doing the right thing the night before and not driving but thought themselves right to drive after a good nights sleep?

These repeat offenders clearly have drinking problems. So my question is, is there any sort of substance abuse programmes they could be forced to undergo? Is that already happening?

The current approach to drink driving is obviously not working. People have mentioned confiscation of cars. It is an option. There have to be others (breathalyser locks have been mentioned).

Whatever the solution is, drink driving (particularly recidivist drink driving) needs to be dealt with way more harshly than it is.

OpenYourMind said :

can someone make one valid argument against taking the cars from repeat offenders.

It doesn’t stop them from driving.

OpenYourMind said :

can someone make one valid argument against taking the cars from repeat offenders.

It’s inequitable ie penalizes the poor more than the rich, it may be the wiifes car should I go on

OpenYourMind said :

can someone make one valid argument against taking the cars from repeat offenders.

Its the same argument as hoon car confiscation – if the car doesn’t belong to the driver its not fair on the owner.

http://www.caradvice.com.au/91493/lamborghini-gallardo-mechanic-denies-160kmh-road-test-allegation/

Having said that. If you knowingly loan your car to a driver who has no license, then you’re asking for trouble.

Take their cars, take their cars, take their cars…………..

can someone make one valid argument against taking the cars from repeat offenders.

“A 28-year-old man recorded 0.297, the highest recording for the week. The man is restricted to a 0.00 limit.”

Clearly to set that high score he was not “restricted” by anything, or anyone.

“A 25-year-old man, on a 0.05 licence, recorded the next highest reading with 0.231”

This was the same jerk who managed to smash into an occupied stationary vehicle while travelling faster than the speed limit. In this case I think the outcome of his actions are more important than reporting the figure.

0.297… good lord. They probably noticed him by the trail of vomit he was issuing from the driver’s side window.

I am not normally a subscriber to the ‘take their cars away’ point of view, but, I really don’t know what else you do with these recidivists. If you don’t get the message after being caught once, what will make you learn?