Hefty Fees for VA drivers

[Buliwyf]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/22/AR2007062201781.html?hpid=topnews

[Ldsmith104]

extortion?

[SavageParrot]

As far as I am concerned an anytime drunk driver should get his liscence taken away, his car crushed and should be a fucking pedestrian for the rest of his life. Putting the fines for that on the list of complaints really lost my sympathy.

[[ecgn] btt]

extortion?

My thoughts exactly.

Hey Parrot what do you suggest when the person that lost their licences for DWI gets 10 to 15 DWLRs (driving with licence revoked). Here in North Carolina it seems to be the norm to have lost your licence to drinking and driving then rack up the DWLRs then go to jail or pay large fines.

[Cleatus703]

BTT]Hey Parrot what do you suggest when the person that lost their licences for DWI gets 10 to 15 DWLRs (driving with licence revoked). Here in North Carolina it seems to be the norm to have lost your licence to drinking and driving then rack up the DWLRs then go to jail or pay large fines.

1st offense of DWLR, 30 days in the pokey. 2nd offense, 6 months. 3rd offense 1 year. If you're caught DWI and DWLR at the same time, then crucify them.

I live in Virginia and it seems like if someone is concerned about the fines then just don't commit the felony traffic offenses. The huge fines are not going to be tacked on for speeding under 20 mph over the speed limit. But bad drivers are bad drivers and they're likely to continue doing stuff that'll hit them in the pocketbook.

[SavageParrot]

BTT]My thoughts exactly.

Hey Parrot what do you suggest when the person that lost their licences for DWI gets 10 to 15 DWLRs (driving with licence revoked). Here in North Carolina it seems to be the norm to have lost your licence to drinking and driving then rack up the DWLRs then go to jail or pay large fines.

That's why I said crush the fuckers car , even funnier if it's a company car...

If you don't care enough about the lives of everyone else on the road/pavement/storefront you crashed into, to drive sober then you have no place behind the wheel of a car. Cars are a lethal weapon and really ought to be viewed as such

[gowhitesox99]

hey I have a suggestion, don't speed!! I'm no boy scout but I do about 5 over the limit and on the highway i set the cruise at 10 over and I never get hassled, even in the convertible....

[SavageParrot]

Your speed limits are too low and as a measure for saving lives it makes no difference.

Our speed limits are significantly higher than in most places over there and yet our road fatalities are still proportionally lower, about half in fact.

I'm also of the opinion that cruise control is an idiotic invention. Anything that is designed to allow you to pay less attention to what you are doing when what you are doing is driving a few tonnes of metal at high speed seems like a bad idea to me. Did car manufactures not consider that controlling the pedals is part of what keeps you focused on the job at hand and that in addition to that makes it a hell of a lot more likely that you are gonna be able to make the emergency that in all probability will save your life?

Seems like a big risk to me to save just that tiny bit of energy that is the minor lifting of your foot every now and then...

[Cleatus703]

Your speed limits are too low and as a measure for saving lives it makes no difference.

Last time I was over there, the max speed limit on the motorways (your equivalent of our interstates) was 70 mph, which is just a tick faster than the 65 mph that most of our non-urban interstates have (and is the de facto speed limit here).

Our speed limits are significantly higher than in most places over there and yet our road fatalities are still proportionally lower, about half in fact.

So there's a 5 mph difference on interstates/motorways, 5 mph difference on dual carriageways (call them our US highways), and a 5-10 mph difference in urban areas (you have 30 mph, IIRC whereas ours tends to be 25-35 mph, depending on where you are.) Hardly a significant difference.

The biggest problem with speed here in the states seems to be alcohol. Something like 70% of drivers involved in speed-related fatal accidents have a positive blood alcohol reading (they have some alcohol in their system) with
40% having a BAL of 0.08 or higher. If higher fees come about because of felony traffic violations (which, naturally, include execessive (20 mph+) speed and DWI/DWAI), then I'm all for it. Obviously, the current system hasn't done much to deter drunken driving...

Here's a scary statistic for you...when the DOT broke out the medial BAL by age group and vehicle type involved in fatal accidents for 2004, the lowest median BAL was .12 (50% over the legal limit). When they looked at the 25th percentile BAL for drivers (regardless of age) by vehicle type, the lowest median BAL was 0.09 (just over the legal limit) and the 75th percentile ranged between .19 and .23 (between two and three times the legal limit). There are some seriously drunk people getting involved in fatal accidents.

As for cruise control, yes, it's a bit stupid.

[gowhitesox99]

man I do lots of driving on the highway, 2-3 hours to goto stores for a 1 day trip. I go to the store do some work then drive 2-3 hours back the other way. When other cars are around me, I cover the brake, when I am all alone on the highway then I rest my leg. Believe me, drive that much every day and cruise is your friend.

[CreepingCharlie]

I'm not going to be worried over the hefty fines. Hell I like the idea. I voted to have our roadways improved. If this is how they get the money then so be it. Don't speed then. I'm not an angel but really, going 20 over thats insane. Thats doing 85 on the 81,95(have to go 95 inorder to keep up) and anyother HWs.

[SavageParrot]

man I do lots of driving on the highway, 2-3 hours to goto stores for a 1 day trip. I go to the store do some work then drive 2-3 hours back the other way. When other cars are around me, I cover the brake, when I am all alone on the highway then I rest my leg. Believe me, drive that much every day and cruise is yoru friend.

I'm not saying it's not useful I'm saying it's usefulness is not worth the potential price...

I don't really understand how it is that the car death toll over there is so high. I mean your country has what 6 times the population that we have in the UK but is what 60, 70 times the size in landmass and has much bigger roads (more lanes, wider). Alll that really ought to lead to a lower proportional death toll because the average amount of traffic on each road over there is going to be less than over here.

You all wear seatbelts over there or is that one of those things where jackases like to whine about personal freedom then realise they have been really stupid at the point between flying through the windscreen and slamming into the tree they just hit?

There has to be something more than just drink driving, I mean you can't have that many more retards over there than over here, I mean 6 times as many but in proportion

Out of interest do you get the grim anti drink driving adverts over there like this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX1q66ruuBM&mode=related&search= ?

We have them for speeding too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cvja-PA5Egc&mode=related&search=

I'd assume you have similar ads but I don't really know.

[gowhitesox99]

oh man that one with the kid........ jeezz... well done.

I am all for extra fines or taxes on speeders or on a side note drinkers and smokers (sin tax I believe they call it)

Seeing as I don't smoke, drink, or speed more than 5-8mph I am all for raising the fines, taxes, penalties etc... for those events cuz other than maybe 2 drinks a week, it doesn't cost me NUTTIN!!

Oh yeah or the whole casino tax also. The only place I gamble is VEGAS baby or a card game at a friends house. Local casinos here in Illinois all SUCK!! No $5 BJ tables, but 5 empty 25 or 50 dollar tables.

[gowhitesox99]

this is when I use the cruise... yesterday drove from Schaumburg to Peoria and back all in 1 fun filled 18 hour day....

[cavalierlwt]

I don't really understand how it is that the car death toll over there is so high. I mean your country has what 6 times the population that we have in the UK but is what 60, 70 times the size in landmass and has much bigger roads (more lanes, wider). Alll that really ought to lead to a lower proportional death toll because the average amount of traffic on each road over there is going to be less than over here.

I'll tell you something that should explain a lot of American oddities. America is made up of immigrants, and immigrants are most often impulsive risk takers. I once read that statistically, only 2% of people just get up and leave their home country behind --assuming we're not talking about a group of people being persecuted.

The upshot of all this: an absurdly high number of Americans carry the risk taking gene known as 'D4-7', inherited from our crazy immigrant ancestors. Basically causes us to do some great things, but also some crazy things: drive like maniacs, shoot each other, etc. Lot's of Nobel prize winners, lot's of mass murderers. This doesn't apply to every single American,but enough of us to skew things into insanity.