A campaign to create a new category of driving while intoxicated is being promoted at the Capitol as one way to curb growing problems in Texas’ system of punishing drunken drivers.
Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo, among the supporters of the change, said the idea behind a new offense of “driving while ability impaired” — DWAI — would cover drivers whose blood-alcohol content is between 0.05 and 0.07.Of course, this is half the old limit (0.10). It seems that lowering it didn't solve the problem, so he wants to lower it again. Heck, why not save yourself another round of this game, and lower it to 0.00? The punch line, of course, is that nobody knows if the law would even work at all:
Bill Lewis, the legislative director for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, which has led the charge in recent years to toughen Texas DWI laws, said the group has not reviewed or endorsed the proposed new charge of DWAI. He added, “I don’t see how it would hurt.”And that's someone on the Chief's side. Damning with faint praise, right there. So what's driving this? It seems that the current laws aren't working:
The reason is that thousands of drivers arrested for DWI are being allowed to plead guilty to lesser crimes such as reckless driving or obstructing a roadway. Such plea deals allow them to escape alcohol counseling and driver’s license restrictions, according to testimony before the Senate panel in July by police officials, prosecutors and judges.People aren't being prosecuted under the existing laws, so how about a whole new law that will criminalize more people? I guess that this makes some sort of sense in Austin.
Really, this is so much like gun control laws that you'd laugh, except a lot of folks are going to find themselves in handcuffs for driving while
Idiots.
Alcohol counseling? I laugh. Ha! Not everyone who gets nailed for DWI is an alcoholic. Some are just stupid, some are just unable to made decisions while drunk. Why do we not have marijuana counseling for kids busted with a dime bag while in their car?
ReplyDeleteSort of besides the point, but apparently in Texas, justice theatre is catching on.
Hopefully this idea will die a quick death. MADD, while not knowing what the bill provides for, is all for it. MADD has stopped being an advocacy agency for stopping drunk drivers and started to be a temperance zealotry organization.
ReplyDeleteTexas is great for gun ownership but some of our other laws are ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure this will pick up steam, there are too many people here in Texas that enjoy their beer, the voter will have a hay day if this law comes to pass.
Austin has two major universities within a stones throw of each other and happens to be the Liberal magnet of Texas.
ReplyDeleteI thing that has something to do with it.
If you think this is bad, read Texas statutes to see what happens if you attempt to assert your rights and not be compelled to be a witness against yourself. Doing so is an automatic conviction without counsel or jury.
ReplyDeleteI understand what they're trying to do, but intoxicated drivers are discovered after the fact, so I don't understand the need to use a threat of deadly force to illegally compel a citizen to provide evidence against himself from his own body. Isn't speeding while going the wrong way on a one-lane highway cause enough for an arrest, detainment and criminal charges?