I almost got hit by one tonight. He didn't have a plate on his car so I couldn't call the cops. Turns out he lives about 20 seconds from my house in the same community. I left a cute note for his parents (hopefully they get it first) on his front door.

I am firmly of the opinion that punishment for any type of drink driving should be severely increased. I was hit by a drunk driver who sped through a red light into my door. Luckily I was in a tank (Rover 820) and she had a Nissan Micra, but I still got pretty bad whiplash and my passenger was laid up for 12 months with injuries.
None of the Micra passengers were wearing seatbelts, so at least the driver got some payback as the girl behind her forcibly pushed her through the steering wheel, dashboard and windscreen.

Now if I see anyone who even looks drunk in charge of a car I phone my friendly local police and get them breathalysed. Caught 5 so far. Just call me El Vigilante!!!

haha, good work. Over here I think you can get life in prison if you kill someone drunk driving. How long did the girl lose her license for? I think you should lose your license for at least 3 years if you get in a wreck drunk.

Now if I see anyone who even looks drunk in charge of a car I phone my friendly local police and get them breathalysed.

You do right, I can walk from my local, but every night I'm amazed by the number of people who are prepared to take the risk - and we've had the breathalyzer since '66.

You list fatherhood in your CV, and it's those that are left behind that suffer for: "it's not far, I'll risk it" - some incredible percentage of all accidents are within 5 miles of home.

I've made dismissal mandatory in my employment contracts, for all my company car drivers.

In the UK the punishment for drink driving is very minor. I have seen some sentences which didn't even involve suspended licences or bans. One of those was a repeat offender - he argued if he lost his licence he would no longer be able to work to support his children and got away with a fine!

The authorities do take a harder stance if people are killed, but it still doesn't seem to be much of a deterrent.

Especially in Scotland, it just isn't seen as that bad. It should be 100% unacceptable. I know if I have a long drive ahead of me I won't have anything to drink, and even if I am in town for a large meal and maybe a film I'll still be in two minds whether to have 1 beer or none. Usually I end up drinking coke, which sucks, but at least I'm not out killing or injuring people.

Whoa. Just getting a fine is stupid! I'm sure his kids will find it even harder if the moron wraps his car around a lamp post.

- Trevor

i got hit by one early this year, while my truck was parked in the front yard. luckily the guy was honest about it and left a note to call him in the morning, I guess so he could have time to sober up before the cops got there. He some how came just enough off the road to wack my truck so good it moved the rear axle 4 inches back on the leafspring.

Here in Georgia the laws are so screwed up. Being under 21...well sucks. At the time I was 19 in college and commuted daily to school well I got a ticket going 81 in a 55. The 55 being I-75 in Atlanta a road which if you actually go 55 in the fast lane you can be given a ticket for impeding traffic. Well if you are under 21 and get caught going 24+ over the speed limit you lose you license for 6 months well luckily not without the help of a lawyer I was able to retain my license so I could commute to school. Well on the same day in the same court room a lady who had 3 previous DUIs and was in AA and had caused an accident because of the DUI she was in court for at the time got off with a 500 fine.

A friend of mine at uni was driving home after going out one night when he met someone going the wrong way round a roundabout. He managed to get out the car and went over to find the guy smacked up to the eyeballs not realising he'd hit anything. The police came out and took the guy away and my friend was left without a car, as the other guy had no insurance and was driving on a suspended licence. A quick jaunt through the courts and the guy got a £200 fine, they couldn't take his licence off him because he hadn't got one in the first place. I think my friend would have opted for public execution if he was the magistrate and I bet that f***er still hasn't paid his fine. Still, mankind will be on to the evolutionary step before he gets his licence back!

I happen to live on a rather narrow, thickly settled residential street. The speed limit here is 25. Drunk or not, everyone comes up this hill at least 10mph over that.

Last year, someone was going down the hill well over the speed limit. The official told me he was going at least 55. The reason we know is because he was very drunk. On this narrow street, he managed to miss at least 6 other cars before plowing into mine. I had an '89 Civic; he was driving an '89 extended Ford van. That van went airborne after hitting my car, was deflected off a tree, and landed in the street, on its side, with the driver under it. They say he died instantly. I don't think he would have felt anything anyway, being that drunk.

This all happened around 11pm on a Tuesday, a time when I could very well have just been getting home and stepping out of my car. I was severely inconvenienced by losing my car. But I eventually bought another.

This, by the way, is the only accident I've ever heard of where only the drunk driver got hurt. After that incident, I've been very conscientious about speeding and drunk drivers, especially here at home.

The one DUI accident I've witnessed involved a small sports car (Honda, Toyota, don't remember) smacking into the rear of a big old 4 door piece of American Iron (a late 70's Impala or the like) at about 70mph. The four girls in the Impala were ok save for sore necks. The drunk was saved by his airbag but there were no discernable engine parts left on his car. His only injury was a cut on his hand where he had crushed his Budweiser can. The back of his car went 7 feet in the air as he hit the Impala.

It was OK though because the Impala had a bumper sticker that said 'Hit me, I need the money!'.

Mind you this was about 11 AM on a Saturday morning.

-Zeke

About a year ago, a drunk driver ran over and killed a pedestrian in Anchorage. I was astonished to find that this cretin had five previous drunk driving arrests on his record. When I corralled one of my State Senators and asked how was it even possible that someone with 5 DWI arrests wasn't already and permanently in jail, he had no good answer.

Recently Alaska has "gotten tough" on drunk drivers by reducing the legal limit from .10% to .08%. BFD. Test after test has shown that most drivers are significantly impaired at .05% and higher.

I think a person convicted of driving drunk should receive the same sentence that would be handed down to someone who put on a blindfold, then took out a rifle and started firing randomly in an urban environment. They would each be (IMHO) about equally dangerous.

And heck, as long as I am ranting... how about this for bureaucratic lunacy: There is a railroad crossing on the four-lane divided highway that leads into Fairbanks. This crossing is equipped with flashing lights and big crossing arms that swing down and block the road when a train is coming. This rail spur serves three outlets: the town dump (where compacted bales of solid trash are picked up); an auto wrecking yard (where compacted bales of wrecked cars are picked up); and a lumber yard which receives lumber. No more than three trains a month ever use the spur, and I have never seen a train use it during "business hours" -- say between 6am and 6pm.

So what's the big deal? Alaska state law requires all school buses and all trucks carrying flammable cargo to come to a complete stop at all railroad crossings, regardless of whether there is a train anywhere in the vicinity. Better safe than sorry, right? I don't think so. This is Alaska. That crossing is located near a coal-fired power plant that in the winter time can lay down a dense ice fog greatly reducing visibility. So how would you like to be coming into town on that freeway in heavy traffic, maybe going 45 MPH on an icy, slippery road in the dark and the fog -- and guess what? There's a school bus or fuel tanker truck stopped dead in the middle of the damned freeway. Too late to stop now -- the roads are especially slippery just because of all the traffic that starts and stops there -- so you take your choice: Run into the back of the tanker truck; swing over into the left lane and run the poor guy there off the road; or head for the ditch on the right side of the road and if you're really lucky take out the flashing RR lights and stuff along the way.

I have seen numerous accidents at that crossing in exactly that scenario. The chances of a school bus getting hit by a train at that crossing are so low as to approach zero. The chances of a stopped bus getting hit by a car are unity -- happens three or four times a year.

I tell you, when I get to be King of the World, there'll be some changes made, just you wait!

tanstaafl.

I think there' s a guy in Australia who gets repeatedly pulled over for ddbut due to some loophole he manages to get away with a fine which he repeatedly defaults on. He claims that he needs his licence for work and gets it back each time. One of the Current Affair programs chased him once about it.

Unfortunately the loophole seems to be that for that kind of charge, none of the previous offences can be counted in the case against him.

That's the kind of person who should be banned for life from driving.