Report Drunk Drivers

[daepp]

Report Drunk Drivers - Call 911

It started here with the electronic message boards - and it bothered me then. Now, it's billboards and highway signs galore. I can't help but think of the stories I used to hear about life behind the Iron Curtain, where everyone lived in fear of unknown snitches. People having conversations in their bathrooms so as to not be overheard. And snitches turning in the innocent for their own reasons/advantages.

And what's next? Why not:

- Report tax evaders
- Report illegal tuning
- Report bad drivers
- Report large collections of guns
- Report speeders
- Report shady looking dudes - maybe they're pedophiles
- Report excessive water usage
- Report smokers who smoke around children or in their cars

Are any of these that far away? Why just drunk drivers? And what is the cost to those reported on who are innocent? What happens to their reputations (and their wallets) when they have to defend themselves?

Is this the world we want to live in? Don't we have enough law enforcement in most cases? Aren't they the professionals in this arena? How did the American population survive all these years without encouraging narcs?

[speedracing944]

I have 0 tolerance for drunk drivers who put other peoples lives in danger. I have reported 3, all who have been arrested and found to be WAY over the limit. It would get my blood boiling driving behind these A-holes who are swerving all over the road, crossing the yellow line and traveling halfway into the lane of oncoming traffic.

How is this behavior excusable?

Speedy

[dhoward]

You missed his point.

[fingpilot]

Actually, no he didn't.

Someone that is a suicide in progress needs to be removed from society.

[dhoward]

Yes. He did.

And what's next? Why not:

- Report tax evaders
- Report illegal tuning
- Report bad drivers
- Report large collections of guns
- Report speeders
- Report shady looking dudes - maybe they're pedophiles
- Report excessive water usage
- Report smokers who smoke around children or in their cars

Get it?
Sheesh...

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by fingpilot

Actually, no he didn't.

Someone that is a suicide in progress needs to be removed from society.

That's the best we could hope for.

Unfortunately the drunks usually live, not the case for the family simply coming home from a day out that are unlucky enough to encounter the drunk ass POS.

I report em every time I see em.

[dhoward]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

That's the best we could hope for.

Unfortunately the drunks usually live, not the case for the family simply coming home from a day out that are unlucky enough to encounter the drunk ass POS.

I report em every time I see em.

Source?
Or is this just a feeling?

Obviously you should do what you can to prevent any crime.

What happens when we are incented?

[Jims5543]

[HardDrive]

I appreciate the sentiment, but drunk drivers are an immediate threat to the life and limb of the public.

If a person is grossly endangering the public, then yes, citizens should call the police. And I think drunk driving/wreckless driving fit the bill as gross endangerment.

[daepp]

Whether you report them or not is your prerogative - I am questioning whether our government/Caltrans/MADD should be encouraging snitching.

[daepp]

Originally Posted by speedracing944

I have reported 3, all who have been arrested and found to be WAY over the limit.

Absolutely no offense intended, but how did you know how their situation turned out? Again no offense, but how do make certain, as a civilian, that they are drunk? Might they be on a cell phone, or applying makeup? Do you similarly turn in inattentive drivers?

[JayG]

Originally Posted by daepp

- Report excessive water usage

We have that in GA. I mean there is a drought after all.

[Wickd89]

I think everyone gets the police-state inference.

Anything that is "truly" dangerous to the general public should be reported. It is our civic duty. It also does not bother me to see Meagan Law post of abducted kids.

[speeder]

I don't buy the argument that Americans will turn into snitches for every possible minor infraction of the law if they are encouraged to report drunk drivers. It's a facile argument, and I consider myself a lot more libertarian than the average person.

Reporting reckless, out-of-control and/or murderous drivers is a no-brainer, they may or may not be drunk. If you saw someone going the wrong way on the freeway, would you have a problem w/ people calling 911? Where exactly do you draw your line? (This happens all the time, BTW).

Sorry, this is a libertarian argument for idiots. The mark of any thinking person is their ability to choose their battles, this is a dumb one and a loser, IMO. Last weekend, a guy was spotted driving at high speed down Highland by the Hollywood Bowl on the wrong side of the road, don't know how many people called 911 but cops tried to pull him over and he ran. Less than 5 minutes later he ran a red light on crowded Hollywood Blvd. and killed 2 pedestrians, then tried to escape on foot. Bystanders held him for police for a minute until they caught-up, (I suppose you object to this, too), , he was so drunk that he had to be hospitalized before being booked into jail for murder times 2.

I think that any decent person on earth will report serious crimes to the cops when they endanger innocent people, encouraging 911 calls for obviously impaired and/or dangerous drivers is a good campaign, in my and the vast majority of Americans' opinions.

Has the licensing of dogs or cars led to a reduction in freedom? Some things are common sense, which unfortunately is not very common anymore.

[Mule]

Originally Posted by daepp

Whether you report them or not is your prerogative - I am questioning whether our government/Caltrans/MADD should be encouraging snitching.

Had an exchange with the local Madd leader on the radio in Chatt one day. I told her that they should come out of the closet & say what they really mean. They don't care one wit about dangerous driving. You can be as unsafe as you want, just don't drink. I challenged her to a driving contest with me at .08 and her sober. She declined.

[Jeff Higgins]

It is the behavior we should be reporting; we should not be speculating on the cause of that behavior. Bad driving kills people. It comes in many forms. Drunk, on the phone, aggressive, not wearing their glasses, too old to drive safely; it doesn't matter. What really chaps my ass is the notion that I could call in such a menace, and have them get off with nary a warning because they are, say, 95 years old and stone cold sober. They are just as big of a threat as any drunk; probably more so. The drunk will likely sober up and drive better next time. The senile old fart won't get any younger...

And yes, I get the police state inference. It bothers me, too. I just think there are cases where the behavior is so dangerous that it becomes our duty to report it. Hell, at some point it becomes our duty to stop it, like a mugging in process or something. Believe me, if I had a way to safely pull over an out of control driver and hold them for the police, I would consider it. Now reporting my neighbor for watering too much, the neighbor for smoking in their car with their kids, some one for disconnecting smog equipment on their car? Probably not.

[speedracing944]

Originally Posted by daepp

Absolutely no offense intended, but how did you know how their situation turned out? Again no offense, but how do make certain, as a civilian, that they are drunk? Might they be on a cell phone, or applying makeup? Do you similarly turn in inattentive drivers?

If someone is swerving over the road, going into oncoming traffic to the point where the traffic has to swerve to avoid an accident you better bet your bottom dollar I am going to call. I make the call and let the cops assess the reason behind the swerving. One guy was doing all this at 9:00 am during morning rush hour traffic on a busy 2 lane road. Later inquiring I heard he blew a 0.26.

Speedy

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by Jims5543

LOL, Pwned. :-P

PS: All the commercials and billboards encouraging snitching for stuff like Insurance fraud are what really annoy the piss out of me.

[3.2 CAB]

As far as I know, all of those items on the list are already in use, in many places in the U.S. in some form or another, to varying degrees. All of those are, and have been being reported for quite some time. Nothing new. Tony.

[targa911S]

If he were on the highway waving a gun, would you report him? Same same in my book.