are the courts to soft on dangerous drivers,speeders,drink drivers etc?

Question

is it not about time the law was changed to punish these people,get them banned for life,fed up hearing the excuses some of these drivers make.

Answer 1

I agree completely. When you drive, you're in control (or not) of a dangerous, heavy chunk of metal. You have a responsibility to take care of your passengers, pedestrians, other road users and yourself. People who abuse the laws of the road, which are there to prevent serious injury and death, should get the book thrown at them and never drive again.

Answer 2

I believe that the legal limit (of blood-alchohol content) is too strict, and that many people charged with drunk driving are actually far from drunk. I also believe that those who DO drive drunk, especially repeat offenders, are not punished nearly enough.

I know a guy with 3 DWIs, who has never done any jail time or community service, and he has a valid driver's license right now. He still gets Wasted and drives every weekend. He rarely leaves with less than 10 beers in him. It is only a matter of time before he hurts/kills someone.

Conversely, I know a guy, David, who, one night had two beers and was perfectly sober. He was pulled over for having a headlight out on his car. The cop asked if he had anything to drink, and David was honest. The cop gave him a field sobriety test, which David passed with flying colors. However, the cop gave him a breathylizer test anyway, and arrested him for drunk driving. He almost got jail time. He lost his liscence, paid a big fine, had to do community service, and lost his job, not to mention that it is on his permanent record.

There is a guy named Joseph Rodarte who has racked up 20 DWI. For all of these offenses, this menace to society has only been setback $750 in fines and a total of 1,081 days in jail. 20! That isn't even two months per offence!

I don't see why there is no distinguishment, in the eyes of the law, between having a drink-or-two and being totally bombed. That's not justice.

Something needs to change.

Answer 3

Aawwwww, ssiiiggghhhhh!

I can't stand it when someone doesn't like something, and the first response they have is to say, "Their ought to be a law..............."

Doesn't anyone understand that the majority of problems facing ordinary citizens these days, is the fact that laws are written and passed on a daily basis, most of which we never know about. Our government is supposed to be public servents to us - We, the people... they are supposed to protect our rights, freedoms, liberty, etc...

Rather they seem to have waged a war against us, rather than serving us. For decades now, new and many of them bad laws have been appearing on the books, with none of them ever being taken off, or repealed. Instead of passing even more laws, for god's sake, there already are very strict laws regarding drunk driving. Most people who have gotten one, have basically had their quality of life quite reduced - some forever. And many of these people are people who happen to be over the "legal limit", which is a stupid way to judge a person's level of competance anyway.

An alcoholoc, or a heavy drinker can be way over the legal limit, and be in full control of what he/she is doing.

A person who very rarely drinks, can be under the legal limit and be tipsy and it would be much more easy for that person to lose control of their vehicle and cause harm or worse to another driver than the alcoholic who is way over the legal limit.

It is much more about 'tolerance', rather than a person's blood alcohol content.

Just how much stricter do you want the law to be? I don't know if you drink or not. But I bet that you are human, and it's a good chance that you, as just about all of us have at one time or another made a bad decision (not necessarity drinking and driving) but about anything where their actions did or could have caused harm to another's person, property or sense of safety.

Are you perfect? Or can you honestly say that you have never, ever made a bad decision and possibly endangered another in some way? If so, it would be hard to believe.

I'm not trying ot put you down. I don't know you. Just trying to make a point that it is easy to point fingers at others and pass judgement on them. And like I said, it's not like there are not already very strict laws in place all over the country to punish drunk drivers.

Ease up, O.K?

Answer 4

I think there should be some balance in the punishment. Someone just over the DWI limit gets a severe punishment. Someone who uses a cell phone while driving wont even get stopped in most cases. It has been shown that using a cell phone while driving is MORE dangerous than driving under the influence.

Answer 5

the laws need to be up dated cars are dangerous. more so for people who believe its their right to drive. wrong its a privilege that's been extended to far too many. the test is an appalling example and it has nothing to do with road safety. people should have to do a full test encompassing the full rules of the road and the full capabilities of the car then only if they pass the should be allowed to drive it.

off all the above here who just say punish ban and throw the book
who of you would stand up and not drive if u were found to be un fit through a test like that.

Answer 6

I suppose discretion is used so its a tough call.

I think people speeding in built up areas should be dealt with more harshly than people speeding on motorways

Someone slightly over the limit as they had been drinking the night before doesn't desever the harsh punishment someone way over the limit SHOULD get!

Answer 7

I think people who get behind the wheel when drunk should be banned for life, there is no excuse for it, these people are clearly irresponsible. If they kill an innocent child, that family now has a lifetime of mourning, but these irresponsible drivers will be back on the roads in a couple of years. I say ban them for life!!

Answer 8

Absolutely ! I watched one of those traffic cop tv shows, and they chased a 15 year old in a stolen car, and caught him. at the end of the show, they said he got 50 hours community service and a ban from driving fro 1 year. He's not old enough to have a driving license whats the good in banning him from driving for a year ?
What if he had killed someone ? he wouldn't have cared, cos he would have probably just got a few extra hours of community service !

Boot camps i tell ya ! Stick the little sh*ts in boot camps, teach 'em some discipline and respect !

Answer 9

Unfortunately it is not the courts that are to soft, it is the laws that do not have mandatory determinant sentencing penalties that allows lawyers to twist the existing laws in the favor of the accused offenders.

If the laws were written correctly to prevent the lawyers from twisting the law then there would be fewer repeat offenders.

Answer 10

Yes ! on drivers that are drunk or out their face on something & drivers who case death or accidents.. But I think the ordinary Joe doing 100 done the Motorway perfectly sober & in control should be left alone..