The Rights of Drunk Drivers
The province has decided to do one small good thing.
We are going to get tougher with drunk drivers.
Various offences will now result in your having a pricey ignition control installed in your car. The thing just won't start until you pass a breath test.
So far so good.
Cut down the carnage, right?
No.
Not so fast says the BC Civil Liberties Association.
You might have these restrictions placed on you without ever having appeared in court.
Yah?
So all problems have to be solved in court?
Rob Holmes is the BC Civil Liberties president.
Here's his solution, and he emphasizes that it is simple:
"Let's hope nobody gets drunk and gets behind the wheel."
In case you thought you misread that, let's say it again.
Here is the simple solution to the problem according to the president of the BC Civil Liberties Association.
"Let's hope nobody gets drunk and gets behind the wheel."
Question.
When people get these kinds of jobs - presidents of significant agencies in the community - do they have to pass any test to see if they are in touch with reality or suffering from some dissociative mental state?
Maybe this would be a plan.
4 comments:
By the way, will RCMP vehicles be automatically equipped with these devices?
The right to be tried in front of a jury of my peers, or at minimum a judge is a pretty basic tenant of our democracy, it is a right given to people suspected of most crimes and should not be taken away lightly, or we risk becoming a police state of some degree. When police act as police, judge, jury and executioner we enter a dangerous realm, one I would not be happy in.
Hello Ernest,
You are absolutely right and I was not unaware of this important central issue when I wrote the post this morning.
But the Solicitor-General is not suggesting that people be casually "judged" about anything.
The "penalty" of having this breathalizer device installed in cars would come only after several convictions or infractions already recorded.
Yes, " a slippery slope" may be lurking here.
So, we have to make a difficult choice between evils.
Thanks for your input.
David
"So, we have to make a difficult choice between evils".
The first funeral I ever attended was for my Aunt, Uncle, and two nieces. They were eradicated by an impaired driver.
I've made my choice........
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