Mother and Teen Daughter Caught Smuggling Money!

[Coito ergo sum]

Maybe it's different in the states. The checkpoints are random here. There's no way to know where they are unless your mates ring you up and tell you. Are they in a fixed location in the US?

Do you know of any evidence that shows they reduce drunken driving?

[pErvinalia]

No, but I haven't looked. Hermit posted something on the last page.

[Coito ergo sum]

Responding to Hermit's post -- Drunk driving deaths and "accidents related to alcohol OR OTHER DRUGS" are two different things. Not a fair comparison.

This detection method is not employed in the UK,

referring to random sobriety tests, so if the UK's rate is very low, it is for a reason other than random sobriety tests.

The UK has a mandatory imprisonment for first offense, though, which might be an issue.

It could also be that the average drunk walks to the pub in the UK, or takes a bus. Whereas in the US the distances are so great that one doesn't have that option except in dense cities.

[pErvinalia]

It would be interesting to compare the methods and the punishments in the US vs Australia. They are truly random here, and the punishments are VERY harsh. You take a real risk of draining your bank account and losing your license if you drive drunk here.

[Warren Dew]

It would be interesting to compare the methods and the punishments in the US vs Australia. They are truly random here, and the punishments are VERY harsh. You take a real risk of draining your bank account and losing your license if you drive drunk here.

If you're convicted, you have a good chance of losing your license here as well. Anecdotal evidence suggests that convictions are rare, though.

[Collector1337]

Maybe it's different in the states. The checkpoints are random here. There's no way to know where they are unless your mates ring you up and tell you. Are they in a fixed location in the US?

Do you know of any evidence that shows they reduce drunken driving?

We don't have fucking oppressive, tyrannical "checkpoints" where I'm from.

I can't believe you just lay down and take that shit.

Do you really just accept that bullshit as "the way it is?"

[Coito ergo sum]

Maybe it's different in the states. The checkpoints are random here. There's no way to know where they are unless your mates ring you up and tell you. Are they in a fixed location in the US?

Do you know of any evidence that shows they reduce drunken driving?

We don't have fucking oppressive, tyrannical "checkpoints" where I'm from.

I can't believe you just lay down and take that shit.

Do you really just accept that bullshit as "the way it is?"

Are you talking to me?

[MrJonno]

Maybe it's different in the states. The checkpoints are random here. There's no way to know where they are unless your mates ring you up and tell you. Are they in a fixed location in the US?

Do you know of any evidence that shows they reduce drunken driving?

We don't have fucking oppressive, tyrannical "checkpoints" where I'm from.

I can't believe you just lay down and take that shit.

Do you really just accept that bullshit as "the way it is?"

Tyrannical checks for drink driving, next thing they will be marching you of to the concentration camps. Grab your guns and beer!

[Collector1337]

Maybe it's different in the states. The checkpoints are random here. There's no way to know where they are unless your mates ring you up and tell you. Are they in a fixed location in the US?

Do you know of any evidence that shows they reduce drunken driving?

We don't have fucking oppressive, tyrannical "checkpoints" where I'm from.

I can't believe you just lay down and take that shit.

Do you really just accept that bullshit as "the way it is?"

Are you talking to me?

Anyone.

[Collector1337]

Maybe it's different in the states. The checkpoints are random here. There's no way to know where they are unless your mates ring you up and tell you. Are they in a fixed location in the US?

Do you know of any evidence that shows they reduce drunken driving?

We don't have fucking oppressive, tyrannical "checkpoints" where I'm from.

I can't believe you just lay down and take that shit.

Do you really just accept that bullshit as "the way it is?"

Tyrannical checks for drink driving, next thing they will be marching you of to the concentration camps. Grab your guns and beer!

Yup. It's all just for your safety. Nothing to see here.

[Hermit]

Responding to Hermit's post -- Drunk driving deaths and "accidents related to alcohol OR OTHER DRUGS" are two different things. Not a fair comparison.

In the twelve months following the introduction of random breath testing in New South Wales, Australia, there were 18% fewer serious accidents than in the preceding twelve months. Random drug testing was introduced some time later.

[JimC]

I have a big problem with "random" stops. It treats the people as if we're all suspects. The cops ought, in my view, have a good reason to meddle with a person. If they don't, they have no reason to suspect that person or block his or her way. Call me old fashioned.

Random breath tests are for a very definite purpose, and getting drunks off the road is a damned good thing.

Other types of random stops can be problematic, particularly if they involve cops with racist leanings, or simply bored and on a fishing expedition.

At our random breath tests, it's very quick, efficient and polite. You just wind down the window, blow into the tube, and you're on your way very soon after.

I don't think it's right to have to blow into tubes for cops if they don't have a good reason for asking me to do so. Driving down the road on a Saturday night is not a good reason.

That's like allowing cops to check a person's citizenship without a good reason to do so.

The good reason involves the fact that there are a certain number of drunk people on the roads, who need to be taken off them for the good of the community. There may not be any external signs of alcohol-induced impairment, so random checks are the only possible method. Your comparison to citizenship checks is not a useful one. In that case, there is no compelling good reason, as there is no immediate danger to the community.

Now, if random breath checks became extended to "Sir, show me your licence/empty your pockets/open the boot/where have you been and where are you going, then I would very much agree with you. However, I, and the vast majority of the community, are prepared to accept a minor intrusion such as a random breath tests for the benefits they bring.

[Animavore]

Maybe it's different in the states. The checkpoints are random here. There's no way to know where they are unless your mates ring you up and tell you. Are they in a fixed location in the US?

Do you know of any evidence that shows they reduce drunken driving?

We don't have fucking oppressive, tyrannical "checkpoints" where I'm from.

I can't believe you just lay down and take that shit.

Do you really just accept that bullshit as "the way it is?"

Tyrannical checks for drink driving, next thing they will be marching you of to the concentration camps. Grab your guns and beer!

Yup. It's all just for your safety. Nothing to see here.

I'll take that over SWAT teams bursting into my home over a joint all in the name of "The War on Drugs". I can't believe you Yanks lie down and take that shit.

[JimC]

Responding to Hermit's post -- Drunk driving deaths and "accidents related to alcohol OR OTHER DRUGS" are two different things. Not a fair comparison.

In the twelve months following the introduction of random breath testing in New South Wales, Australia, there were 18% fewer serious accidents than in the preceding twelve months. Random drug testing was introduced some time later.

It's good to know that the police are coming down heavily on people who take random drugs. One's choice of drugs should be very deliberate, never random...

[JimC]

Maybe it's different in the states. The checkpoints are random here. There's no way to know where they are unless your mates ring you up and tell you. Are they in a fixed location in the US?

Do you know of any evidence that shows they reduce drunken driving?

We don't have fucking oppressive, tyrannical "checkpoints" where I'm from.

I can't believe you just lay down and take that shit.

Do you really just accept that bullshit as "the way it is?"

Are you talking to me?

I heard that post in the voice of the warthog in the Lion King...