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From: hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath)
Newsgroups: net.flame,net.auto,net.legal
Subject: Re: DWI Crackdowns and Car Confiscation
Message-ID: <675@ttidcc.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 13-Aug-85 19:09:13 EDT
Article-I.D.: ttidcc.675
Posted: Tue Aug 13 19:09:13 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 15-Aug-85 00:01:00 EDT
References: <264@SCIRTP.UUCP> <624@ttidcc.UUCP> <123@unc.unc.UUCP>
Reply-To: hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath)
Organization: The Cat Factory
Lines: 34
Xref: linus net.flame:10631 net.auto:6593 net.legal:1681
Summary: 

In article <123@unc.unc.UUCP> fsks@unc.UUCP (Frank Silbermann) writes:
>Confiscating cars used by drunk drivers only complicates matters.
>Just fine the driver $5,000.  If he can't pay, then sell the dept
>to a collection agency, or require him to work it off in community
>service (ideally including all Friday and Saturday evenings).

I think it simplifies matters.  No jails to build, no new taxes to  impose,
the impound facilities and auctions are already in place and the program is
self-supporting through the sale of confiscated vehicles.

Fines and community service have failed to work to date.

>If you want to punish someone for lending a car to a driver
>who turns out to be so irresponsible as to drive drunk,
>then this could warrant a more reasonable fine of about $200.

The object is not to punish but to deter.  A $200 fine isn't enough to keep
some people from littering let alone loaning a car to a friend.

>By the way, drunk driving, with all its dangers, has been around for decades.
>Why did everybody wait till the last couple of years to jump on the
>anti-drunk-driving bandwagon?  Is this the new fad of the year?

People have been complaining about drunk driving  for  decades.  It's  only
recently  that  groups  like  MADD have managed to get the attention of the
media and raise enough cash to counter the liquor lobbies.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe)
Citicorp TTI                      Common Sense is what tells you that a ten
3100 Ocean Park Blvd.             pound weight falls ten times as fast as a
Santa Monica, CA  90405           one pound weight.
(213) 450-9111, ext. 2483
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