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Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch
the intent of what I put up is actually an attempt to reduce jail usage and get people to face what they've done and add an element of showing how unbelievably unacceptable their actions are.
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Nobody thinks killing someone in a drunk driving collision is acceptable. They do it because they don't think they'll have a collision and they don't think they'll get caught in a check stop.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch
There are lots of educational programs out there, there are ads on T.V. every single night about the effects of drinking and driving and nobody pays attention.
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Nobody pays attention? Drink driving is regarded as one of the most contemptible things a person can do in the eyes of most people. It's only notch up from pedophilia in most peoples' eyes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch
Making drunk drivers interact with their victims and society and taking away their ability to drive is the only way in conjunction with education that will get the message across.
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The message has already gotten through to everyone who is capable of understanding the message. But some people just don't give a damn. You can educate them all they want and they won't care because they don't think it will happen to them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch
I think you have to shock the crap out of someone on their first offense and show them the cost of making a selfish decision.
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What is the recidivism rate for drunk driving convictions? I suspect the people capable of reason and thoughtful decisions change their behaviour after a first offense. The rest are probably immune to reason.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch
The only other alternatives to me are to either imprison them or bring back corporal punishment and whip them.
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But that's after the fact. It doesn't undo the damage if they kill someone. It might satisfy the public's appetite for punishment and revenge, but it doesn't stop it from happening in the future.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch
Most people that I've known that have driven drunk and gotten caught and sent to things like driver education laugh it off. Go to court and claim hardship on a license suspension and don't care.
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Wait - you know multiple people who have been convicted of drunk driving, and who laughed it off and continued to drive drunk afterwards? What kind of d-bags do you hang out with?
One of the things that's interesting about the anger that flares up over drunk driving is how there doesn't seem to be comparable outrage over distracted drivers using cellphones, even though that's now responsible for more collisions than impaired driving. Would the public be onboard with public whipping of drivers caught texting in their cars? Probably not. Or not yet, anyway. A couple high-profile fatalities will change attitudes pretty quick, I imagine.