Pa. Lawmakers Weigh DUI Crackdown (Pittsburgh, Harrisburg: condo, hotel, homes)

[eaglesfly]

Pa. Lawmakers Weigh DUI Crackdown - Pittsburgh News Story - WTAE Pittsburgh (http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/19013774/detail.html - broken link)

Honestly how far are we going to go as a society with the drunk driving laws in this country? I understand thousands of people are being killed due to DUI. I understand there is a need for tough laws BUT when is enough ENOUGH?

We just went through a ton of DUI law changes that made penalties stiffer. Judging on the number of arrests still being made it isn't working. People need to realize you can't have your cake and eat it too. You can't have the number of bars and subsequent liquor licenses in this state and expect people not to go to one and have 3 beers. Seems to me we have a double standard. Put all these licenses out there for bars and then tell people if you drive out of one after 3 beers we'll wreck your life!

There are thousands of people every day that make a conscious decision to go 90 MPH down the road while texting and eating breakfast. They are risking my life just as much as a drunk driver. Are we installing roadside sensors with cameras that mail you a ticket if you go over 55 MPH? Are we requiring governers be added to the vehicles of those that speed on their first offense????? What makes speeding any different? It's still a conscious decision to violate the law which puts other's lives at risk.

If we get real about it isn't DUI considered much worse than speeding because some people don't drink? BUT EVERYONE SPEEDS so that's ok! Right?!

We have no text message law in PA. We have no cell phone law in PA. Yet we have lawmakers worried about this particular issue. It just reeks of special interest group pressure (MADD). How about the teenager that plows into the family of 4 on their way back from a great day at Hershey park because they have their head shoved in a cell phone screen texting their buddies? Anyone in Harrisburg care to attack that? Or are we SO fixated on DUI offenders that we can't move on to other important issues?

I would challenge MADD and anybody else that supports this level of punishment for 1st time DUI offenders that you ought not cast the first stone when I am willing to bet you have pushed your own vehicle past the speed limit monthly, weekly if not DAILY and you violate the law and risk lives each time you do it. You make the choice to hit that pedal just as a bar patron makes the choice to have that 3rd or 4th beer before heading home.

I don't condone DUI but this society is going way beyond ridiculous with this issue. Fix public transportation so people have alternative means. Work with local cab companies so it doesn't cost $40 to get a one way trip home from a bar only 15 minutes from your house. Do something other than make the penalties stiffer because IT SIMPLY IS NOT WORKING.

Want to help deter DUI? Check out sites like [url=http://www.DUISPY.com]DUI Spy: Home[/url] and help spread the news of DUI checkpoints in the area you live. See how many people stay off the road if they know there are roving DUI checkpoints in your county. Don't simply wait for them to drive through so you can nail them. Advertise it to the hilt. Get it on the news, internet and news papers that roving checkpoints will be in the area. Send it out via text to everyone you know. People will simply stay home. That eliminates the issue rather than tying up our courts with thousands of DUI cases.

[wanneroo]

I believe in strong DUI laws as the threat to public safety is so high.

I don't believe in big guvment but in order for that to work there has to be an element of personal responsibility involved. Personally people can do whatever they want but once it imposes on other peoples personal space or life, then I take issue with it. People out boozing and then driving impinges on other citizens and their health and safety.

Basically as you describe it the people going out getting drunk and then driving, it is us other people that need to take responsibility for them by providing transportation or other BS out of our pocket. Be responsible and sort that out yourself. Go have a field party or do like two friends do and get a hotel room next to the bar and crash for the night. Go and have a designated driver or call a friend to drive you home.

Stop making it everyone elses problem.

I think the first offense should be heavy fines and loss of licence with jail time. Second offense should be several years of jail and heavy fines. Third offense should be public execution and heavy fines before you get the noose. Any accidents that result from DUI that involve fatalities should put the DUI driver under public execution.

[lititzman2003]

As long as ONE person in this country is killed by a drunk driver the laws don't go far enough. I have physical scars from someone who had two prior DUI convictions and still decided to push his luck. His alcohol issue became mine and several others issues. Drinking a beverage that contains alcohol is a choice, not a mandate. If a person doesn't know his or hers limitations then they should stay away from alcohol, or experiment with it at home where they can't harm anyone. Bars and beer distributors aren't the problem; it's the person who purchases the products and abuses them that are the problem. What's the saying? Guns don't kill people, people do. Alcohol doesn't kill people; people do.

Personally, if I had to, I'd rather deal with a sober speeder then a drunk one. I've never heard of a law-abiding drunk, whether he's driving or not! And no, not everybody speeds.

There are cameras placed on Roosevelt Blvd. in Philly that catch speeders, red light runners, etc so yes, there is an effort to crack down on drivers who break the law, regardless of what they had to drink prior to getting behind the wheel of a car. Violators are mailed a ticket. Oh, and trust me, the laws concerning text messaging and cell phone use are coming very soon to PA.

So you think by telling everyone where the DUI checkpoints are will reduce the amount of drunk drivers on the road? Does that really solved the problem? What if a friend of yours is already getting hammered at a bar and you find out about a Checkpoint on a road that your buddy would normally take home? Maybe he has enough control to avoid that road but what about the innocent people on the alternate that he decided to take home instead? Then what? Do we listen to scanners and tip off our robber friend so he knows what place he knock off and not worry about getting caught?

People can drink AND drive without reaching the point where he/she can't control their faculities and create havoc for themselves and others. I'd rather see the courts tied up with DUI cases then the funerals homes.

[PeterRabbit]

When you go to a bar you turn over your car keys. In order to get them back you have to pass a breathalyzer test before you leave. Make the bars more responsible.

[susquehannock]

Last summer, while I was mowing my yard, I almost get got hit by a woman talking on a cell phone and eating at the same time. I was at least ten feet off the side of the road and she came right into my yard. I saw her out of the corner of my eye and was able to jump out of the way.

Not only did she almost kill me, she also ripped up my yard. All she did was apologize and drove away laughing.

It's OK though....everything she did was legal. Now, if she would have had one beer, she would have lost her license.

I agree with the editorial.

[KingMouse]

Originally Posted by susquehannock

................It's OK though....everything she did was legal. Now, if she would have had one beer, she would have lost her license..........

Everything she did was NOT legal. She could have been given a traffic citation for leaving the roadway. Shame on you for not contacting the police and providing them with her information. The police do not have to witness the infraction as long as there is evidence to support it, and a person who did witness it is willing to testify to the fact that the violation did occur.

I have never heard of a person loosing their license for one beer. Now someone may have said that they only had one beer, but we all know that is just wishful thinking on the part of a drunk that has been caught.

[KevinE]

Make sure your papers are in order for when you get caught up at a DUI checkpoint.