harsher penalties for drunk drivers just took effect.. (San Antonio, Anton: crimes, how much)

[DexterCat]

Penalty for drunk driving will double for some - San Antonio Express-News

lets hope they enforce the sh*t out of it and lock those with a 'cultural resistance' to drunk driving up!

[sapphire]

Class A misdemeanor. Big deal. Needs to be a state jail felony. At this rate, we are still going to have huge amounts of repeat offenders. Oh, and someone is going to whine about yet another drunk driving thread. LOL

[DexterCat]

Originally Posted by sapphire

Class A misdemeanor. Big deal. Needs to be a state jail felony. At this rate, we are still going to have huge amounts of repeat offenders. Oh, and someone is going to whine about yet another drunk driving thread. LOL

let em whine. its a step in the right direction.

hopefully this will deter some of those that have a cultural resistance to driving drunk to stay the fark off the road

[rd2007]

You unfortunately can't legislate intelligence, morality, and personal responsibility, so this city is forever doomed..

The only way to get rid of drunk drivers is to physically get rid of them (you can't fix stupid), but too few of us will ever be willing to take it that far.

[Soviet]

Blow 'em all up!!!!!!!

Make 'em blow unto the breathalyzer!!!

[Neshomamench]

Originally Posted by sapphire

Class A misdemeanor. Big deal. Needs to be a state jail felony. At this rate, we are still going to have huge amounts of repeat offenders. Oh, and someone is going to whine about yet another drunk driving thread. LOL

A class A is a fairly big deal.

On another note, for an opinion from the enforcement end, this might help. The problem is, you have to keep in mind who is drinking and driving....everyone (in general, most all demographics)

A lot of crimes are clustered to a certain group of folks (by age, area....) They are not very receptive to education.

So in all honesty, it is one of the few crimes where education can help change the statistics. That is why you have seen an effort as of late to tell people(ads, billboards, radio...) how much money a DWI can cost you. There is a segment that will be receptive to that message.

This can help if they also get the word out and WHY it means something.

[sapphire]

Originally Posted by Neshomamench

A class A is a fairly big deal.

"punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $4,000"

Read more: Penalty for drunk driving will double for some - San Antonio Express-News

They will find a lawyer, pay them a ton of money, and still their fine and jail time will be laughable. I don't think it's a *fairly big deal* at all.

[Proffer]

Don't a lot of DWI offenders have little to lose? Many have children and extended family to pick up the slack for them, and many are on public assistance anyway, so it's not like a criminal record is going to influence their job prospects.

[GEM-Texas]

IIRC, some states immediately seize the car. Do we do that?

Some states do that for Johns also when caught with hookers.

Of course, some will say - then poor old Drunko can't go to work and his family suffers. Tough.

[sleeptech210]

Lol at drunk driving being a cultural thing... It's more like a dumbass thing, and it's a huge problem all over the united states not just in this city. Get off the high hoarse everyone has drove under the influence once in there lifetime.