DWI Insanity

Keith Emerich has bounced in and out of the news in recent weeks. His physician contacted the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to identify Emerich as having a condition that could impair his ability to drive safely. The condition which PA do…

Keith Emerich has bounced in and out of the news in recent weeks. His physician contacted the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) to identify Emerich as having a condition that could impair his ability to drive safely. Radley Balko has…

I have a problem with snoring–my ENT doc sent me to a clinic, where I was wired for the night, and then awakened early–kept awake for 1 hour, and then told to go to sleep, after 10 min I was awakened, kept awake for an hour and then told to go to sleep. This was repeated for several cycles.

The Doc at the clinic, wanted my wife to pick me up, and didn’t want me to drive because I could went to sleep when they told me too.

My ENT doc destroyed the records and never sent another patient to that clinic.

For truck divers, I fully support the limits on the number of consectutive hours of driving. Waiting for a load is NOT driving time. I certainly don’t want a 30 ton truck heading towards me at a stop and go incident on the feeway, with the driver having been at the wheel for 15 hours and having consumed a box of no-doz. yes my surviors have recourse in the courts, but I don’t.

Some people that suffer from seizures can greatly reduce their risk of having a seizure if they take the appropriate medication. After drinking a gallon of beer, it is plausible to reason that the individual who did so might have his judgment sufficiently impaired and might decide to drive home or out to get a burger.

I’m not saying that if I were the judge I would have passed down the same sentence, I am saying that, depending on the details and the court’s reasoning, it might not be so black and white as many here are assuming.

Not all measures need to be taken as a result of a crime or a dangerous situation that has occurred. Not all prevention is a violation of someone’s rights. Maybe in this case it is, but again, I think we need more information before that is decided.

At a minimum, the state should foot the bill for the ignition interlock until it is settled though.

Doug

Because of relatively good gun laws, I considered PA to be a free state. Apparently, it’s not at all….

Higher court judges are in for life, unless they are impeached, which is no doubt a chore. Court of Common Pleas judges are elected to ten year terms after which there is a new vote on retaining him/her or not; only if this fails is there a new election for judge, I believe. Retired president judges of the CCP can serve for life after in an auxiliary function: voir-dire, civil cases, etc. So the long and short of it is that, yes, we’re basically stuck with them.

Scorpio
Eccentricity

So does this mean that if I drink 10 cups of expresso a day, causing atrial fibrillation, the PennDOT will also take away my license forever?

A quickie Friday linkfest:
Dodd Harris is sensing a pattern with the Democrats.
Donald Sensing wonders about selective amnesia in the press.
Michele Catalano dreams about Alan Keyes.
Wretchard has a handy-dandy list of cities that are “holy” to …

Who was being “recklessly endangered” by his heavy drinking?

If he was actually driving drunk, then he clearly would be “recklessly endangering” others. Nobody here would argue that. Nail the guy.

The point is, he was punished because he could recklessly endanger others. There’s a huge difference between actually and potentially doing something. Should I be punished for robbing a convenience store at gunpoint, just because I own a 9mm?

Tonight I think I’ll go home, have a couple of beers, and when I’m really tired and ready to go to sleep, I’ll think about how I am “recklessly endangering” people on the road, despite the fact that my S-10 is in the garage.

You should call the Ohio DOT and warn them. Guys like me shouldn’t even have a license. I’m so evil I should probably already be behind bars.

I don’t know, man. You’ve made plenty of sense here before, but right now you’re just, well, scary.

Having said that, this case is absurd. Bust him for DUI, if appropriate, but not for drinking.

“Most of you are acting as if the guy was pre-emptively punished for a DUI, thus having his driver’s license suspended/revoked.”

We’re not acting like it – he was punished pre-emptively. How on earth could you see it any other way? Being an admittedly heavy drinker is not a crime, but driving while drunk is. The problem is, he was punished for potentially driving while drunk.

Yes, the decision to steal his license was done with the public’s best interest in mind (at least in the minds of the DOT and judge). And yes, it’s still bullshit.

Note: Minority Report was only a movie. It is not real. We should stop behaving like it is.

I’m still wondering whom he recklessly endangered. Himself by drinking and now having an irregular heartbeat.

So what. If he were driving erratically, great, he is recklessly endangering. I just don’t see that evidence.

A seizure is something the individual cannot control. Yes, just because he has not had a seizure while driving does not mean that he won’t, so until the condition causing the seizure has been addressed, they are a danger to themselves and others because of the possibility of a seizure. Similar to narcolepsy.

Drinking is another story. He can be a raving drunk and still never drink and drive. Just because he has a drinking problem does not mean he is getting on the road drunk.