Reporting DUI's to ISP (vehicle, office, medical)

[Trackwatch]

Originally Posted by fearnofish

We had one fellow figure out we were following him and he stopped in a grocery store parking lot and got out and had a baseball bat but we were two rows over and behind us were two patrol cars.

Try that in a lot of areas and you will end up in the morgue.

[pw72]

I sometimes get scolded on here for "avoidance" as the best policy. But really, your first priority should be to protect yourself. Once you have accomplished this, then report.

[fearnofish]

Originally Posted by pw72

I sometimes get scolded on here for "avoidance" as the best policy. But really, your first priority should be to protect yourself. Once you have accomplished this, then report.

Ill agree with that. You can simply report it and tell the dispatcher you would rather not have your information on file. As long as you are willing to stay on the line and give them updates as to where you are at and the driving behavior a Officer may be able to catch up to you.

Most, if not all, of the time the Officer is going to get his own probable cause to stop the vehicle and you will not even have to stop behind the Officer.

[lovecda]

Once upon a time when I worked at a fast food restaurant, I'd call in to report people who came through the drive-thru who were obviously drunk (breath, ultra-slurred speech, open alcohol in the car, etc). Once one of them called the restaurant a couple of hours later and threatened my crew and I, saying he knew we'd called the police and he'd be coming back to beat the "person" (he had a less-kind term) who reported him. I never saw him in there again, so I presume he sobered up and decided that was not the best way to handle things. I didn't feel the least bit regretful about reporting him though, since he was very drunk and had kids in his truck.

[LS35a]

I'm a big believer in MYOB but if you see someone driving drunk, yes, report it. You could be saving someones life.

[Fish Taco64]

Originally Posted by MysticalDream

While we are it, let's report people talking on cell phone while driving, as they have proven talking on a cell and driving is more dangerous then drinking and driving and has resulted in more deaths..

This comment is absolutely asinine. More people die because of talking on a cell phone while driving because there are a lot more people that are stupid enough to do it, as opposed to a smaller number of people stupid enough to drink and drive.

[Sage of Sagle]

Originally Posted by Fish Taco64

This comment is absolutely asinine. More people die because of talking on a cell phone while driving because there are a lot more people that are stupid enough to do it, as opposed to a smaller number of people stupid enough to drink and drive.

When I was on patrol in Los Angeles County, ANY time a person was talking on a cell phone and involved in an accident, WHETHER OR NOT I felt them talking on the phone contributed to the accident, it wound up listed in statistical data. Same as "HBD" ("Had Been Drinking") on the CHP forms for accident reporting tends to over-report "alcohol-related" collision data.

In my law enforcement career, what I found working quite literally thousands of collisions including hundreds involving people on cellphones was that distracted driving was just as likely to be people NOT on cellphones...and teens were the worst offenders at non-cellphone distracted driving with car stereos/ipods and friends in the car causing distracted attention. Moms with kids in the car were a close second.
Now, I left law enforcement before the texting craze took hold, and I can clearly see that being a huge danger. But cell use for voice communication (with eyes-front driver attention) wouldn't have degraded in a meaningful way, especially with the prevalence of hand-free devices over the years since my day, and in fact should have improved dramatically.

[Reziac]

I feel very strongly about the Constitutional right to face your accuser in court. If that is preserved, fine. If not -- anonymous accusations being allowed as "evidence" are a favored tool of oppressive governments, and I can tell you from firsthand experience, do far more harm than good.

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by Sage of Sagle

Now, I left law enforcement before the texting craze took hold, and I can clearly see that being a huge danger.

I recall reading an interesting study on that... when texting while driving is outlawed, it doesn't stop people from doing it, but it does lead to trying to hide it. So instead of holding the device next to the steering wheel and staying more or less eyes-forward, now they text down in their laps -- eyes down and off the road. So this well-intentioned law actually increased accident risk.

Another State[tm] is considering outlawing eating or drinking (water etc) while driving. How many of us use food and water to stay alert? I know I do. The consequence of such a law is likely more driver fatigue, thus more accidents rather than less.

[VelvetSky]

Hats off to you. Amen. It is scary being on the road with your kids and there is a drunk driver. Worse yet a drunk driver with kids int he back seat. My father was a drunk and would drive around with us in the back seat. Sometimes he would take golf cart paths and fall asleep at the wheel. As kids we thought it was normal for all parents to drive with a drink in hand. We had no one to tell us otherwise. I am so pleased to know that Idaho responds to calls like this. I will deffinately take advantage of this. Some girl in Vegas ran over 8 teenagers while under the influence. She killed all of them. People are selfish when it comes to driving. I get mad when I see people doing wheely's on their bikes at 80 miles per hr. They think they are cool or something. When all I want to do is smack them over the head for being an idiot. I can care less about their life at that point. I care more about the innocent people driving next to them that are in danger because someone is being selfish and wants attention. Loook at me I can do a wheelie on my bike. Just idiots.