Hi All,
Check the statistics....America loses more people every year to intoxicated drivers than we lost in the whole Iraq War...Please write your elected representatives and encourage them to push for stronger laws. In Europe, they take this whole issue far more seriously. First, you cannot get a license until you are at least 18 years old. Second, driver's education is mandatory, and costs about $3,000. Maybe we could learn something...
Modnote: I went ahead and moved this thread to the Off Topic/Debate area as its not necessarily about laws in Virginia
How about this. If you want the USA to be more like Europe why not just move there.
the reason drivers training cost so much in europe is because they are only allowed to issue so many drivers licenses in a year. I know a few people from Germany. We have talked about this.
A better solution would be to remove the people drinking and driving from driving all together. In my Walgreen's world if you ever got caught driving drunk your done that is it. I am taking your car and selling it and you are never again allowed to have a lic.
Agreed - I think we give way too many chances to those who are actually 'caught' breaking the law when it comes to impaired driving. Nothing disgusts me more to hear about the DUI accident that reveals the driver had SEVERAL DUI arrests in the past.
Dont we have a new light rail and HRT that would help accommodate these newly stripped drivers?
I just returned from court 15 minutes ago, where I went to support the wife of my retired partner who was killed by a drunk driver a year ago. The idiot has already spent $15,000 in taxpayers' money in order to postpone this trial, and when this didn't work, today the idiot told the jail staff that he was sick, and unable to get on the bus to take him to court. We were all there and because of the suspect's antics, this trial has again been postponed. The wheels of justice are indeed slow!
Sorry to hear about your experience with the courts. It would seem that the accused has a "good" lawyer, and is hoping that some of the key witnesses will die of old age before the trial...Standard defense procedure...
We had a recent case in Annapolis where a man had a number of DUI convictions on his record, and it finally became public knowledge that he was a lobbyist with heavy connections....That sort of abuse of power must simply stop.
Don't really want to move to Europe, thank you. I paid my dues in Viet Nam to prove my love of the good old USA. Having said that, I still think that we could learn a few things from the Europeans now and then....And I agree with mrmurdoc34 about solutions in his Walgreen World where they confiscate your vehicle along with the license... Regardless, we all seem to agree that we need stronger laws and more stringent enforcement. Please convey those feelings to your elected representatives...
I just returned from court 15 minutes ago, where I went to support the wife of my retired partner who was killed by a drunk driver a year ago. The idiot has already spent $15,000 in taxpayers' money in order to postpone this trial, and when this didn't work, today the idiot told the jail staff that he was sick, and unable to get on the bus to take him to court. We were all there and because of the suspect's antics, this trial has again been postponed. The wheels of justice are indeed slow!
Sorry to hear that Mark. I can't imagine the frustration trying to get Justice only to get involved in a bureaucratic system of slow procedures. What are they charging him with? Intoxicated manslaughter?
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Since the suspect had a prior DUI, he was forced to attend the mandatory DUI classes. They are taught that any future DUI collisions can result in a second degree murder conviction. This, along with felony hit and run, for leaving the scene, are his two major charges.