Washington joins the DUI license plate craze

Washington joins the DUI license plate craze

seattletimes.nwsource.com

OLYMPIA — Sen. Mike Carrell wants everyone on the road to know who's been caught driving drunk.

He's sponsoring a bill that would require people convicted of drunken driving to put fluorescent-yellow license plates on their cars for one year — once their driving privileges have been restored.

"I've talked to the law-enforcement agencies and they think it would be an awfully good idea to have a way of visibly telling sheep from goats out on the road," said Carrell, R-Lakewood.

It also could help law-abiding drivers as a signal to give a wider berth to anyone behind the wheel of a car with bright-yellow plates, Carrell said.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Washington State is the latest state to introduce a special DUI license plate bill. I have mixed feelings about it. I think it would be a good deterrent, but not sure about the idea of "labeling" a car. Is this going to become the norm across the country?

seattletimes.nwsource.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Just another version of (said with German Accent) "Show me your papers, please!"

If they REALLY wanted to stop drunken driving, it would be mandatory that EVERY SINGLE CAR ON THE ROAD have an interlink device that tests BAC before starting, and while running.

I agree with the interlock systems for convicted offenders. I think it is a somewhat effective idea. Unless they have a friend dumb enough to lend them their car or blow for them.

I do not think it is a horrible idea. It is only for 1 year much like probation. If this was a life sentence I would have problems with it. People do deserve a second chance but they also have to earn that second chance. I could be wrong but I do not believe these plates will cause street gang vigilantes to stalk and hurt these drivers. I think the only result will be embarrassment for the driver. I guess if you do not want to be embarrassed or have DUI plates on your car for a year there is a simple way to solve that issue: Do not drink and drive.

I can see a problem immediately with this, and that's the deliberate targeting of these drivers by the police. Being stopped on the offchance that they MIGHT have had a drink with the "probable cause " to justify the stop being the yellow number plate.

A simple breath testing device fitted to the car is a simpler solution and one that is available already.

It would also punish the family of the convicted. If I were to be stupid enough to drive drunk and received one of these "special" plates, my family would suffer as well. When my wife or child drove the car, they would get the same scrutiny and distrust as the convicted.

Originally posted by Britguy
I can see a problem immediately with this, and that's the deliberate targeting of these drivers by the police. Being stopped on the offchance that they MIGHT have had a drink with the "probable cause " to justify the stop being the yellow number plate.

Very true. But I'm not so sure that is a bad thing. A lot of DUI drivers are habitual. My aunt was hit by a drunk driver about 10 years ago. The accident was not a terrible one and neither she nor the drunk driver were hurt but it was his 11th drunk driving conviction and he didn't have a drivers license.

Originally posted by Britguy
A simple breath testing device fitted to the car is a simpler solution and one that is available already.

I don't know why more of these are not fitted to the cars of drunk drivers. Maybe the cost is too much? Maybe because someone else can just blow into them? Do they malfunction a lot? I really do not know the reasoning.

Drunken drivers are a danger to society.

This will be great not only for the police, but for other people on the road who have babies and small children in the car. They'll know to avoid the vehicle even if it doesn't appear that the driver is drunk behind the wheel. It makes them that much safer.

Drunk drivers are lucky enough that they still get to drive.

I can see a problem immediately with this, and that's the deliberate targeting of these drivers by the police. Being stopped on the offchance that they MIGHT have had a drink with the "probable cause " to justify the stop being the yellow number plate.

Oh well, they should have thought about that when they liquored up and crashed in your front yard, or in the side of your car.

So what is the point of locking someone up for 1 year? The offhand chance that they MIGHT cause another crime? I'd say it probably is, due to the fact that most convicts get out only to resort to a life of crime yet again.

Drivers who have driven drunk on the road should not be covered by the blanket of anonymity. Neither should child molesters, rapists, felons, or any other deviant so called member of a civilized society.

Just another brilliant idea coming from the good for nothing morons we have in our government.

Don't you know that when you get DUI and driver privilege taken you can not drive!

So the license plate is for the car right?

Morons is what we have for leaders in this nation.

Originally posted by benign.psychosis
Drivers who have driven drunk on the road should not be covered by the blanket of anonymity. Neither should child molesters, rapists, felons, or any other deviant so called member of a civilized society.

I'd hardly put someone with a DUI rap in the same league as a child molester or rapist.

Originally posted by evil gnome
It would also punish the family of the convicted. If I were to be stupid enough to drive drunk and received one of these "special" plates, my family would suffer as well. When my wife or child drove the car, they would get the same scrutiny and distrust as the convicted.

Good point also. I guess there is a lot to think about. Maybe they can be removed if the convicted drunk driver is not behind the wheel.

[edit on 12-2-2008 by zerotime]

Originally posted by Britguy

Originally posted by benign.psychosis
Drivers who have driven drunk on the road should not be covered by the blanket of anonymity. Neither should child molesters, rapists, felons, or any other deviant so called member of a civilized society.

I'd hardly put someone with a DUI rap in the same league as a child molester or rapist.

It's all illegal activity, and it is all dangerous to society.

DUI in and of itself is not dangerous if there is no one else on the road and the driver can navigate his way to safety. Unfortunately that is not how the real world always works. Real deaths result. I'd say these deaths are not in the same league as molestation and rape.

Originally posted by benign.psychosis
Drunken drivers are a danger to society.

This will be great not only for the police, but for other people on the road who have babies and small children in the car. They'll know to avoid the vehicle even if it doesn't appear that the driver is drunk behind the wheel. It makes them that much safer.

Drunk drivers are lucky enough that they still get to drive.

I can see a problem immediately with this, and that's the deliberate targeting of these drivers by the police. Being stopped on the offchance that they MIGHT have had a drink with the "probable cause " to justify the stop being the yellow number plate.

Oh well, they should have thought about that when they liquored up and crashed in your front yard, or in the side of your car.

So what is the point of locking someone up for 1 year? The offhand chance that they MIGHT cause another crime? I'd say it probably is, due to the fact that most convicts get out only to resort to a life of crime yet again.

Drivers who have driven drunk on the road should not be covered by the blanket of anonymity. Neither should child molesters, rapists, felons, or any other deviant so called member of a civilized society.

Agreed 100%. I couldn't have said it better myself.

I've been advocating something like this for years.

The idea of a license plate for drunk drivers as being 'cause' for pulling over is no different then what the cops do now in certain states when they see certain vehicles or deadhead stickers on a cadillac. Ya get pulled over. I think the license plate idea is a good one, but I haven't had much time to mull it over. I may change my mind after I think about it for awhile. It would at least give other drivers some protection.

When I see weavers I slow the heck down and having a bright yellow license plate would make it easier for other drivers to know.

maybe it should be a large sticker instead of the whole plate, but I think I do like the idea.

Tela

We all know how labeling people worked out in the past right?

The pink triangle (German: Rosa Winkel) was one of the Nazi concentration camp badges, used by the Nazis to identify male prisoners in concentration camps who were sent there because of their homosexuality. Prior to WWII, pink was historically a male colour as an offshoot of red, and pink was chosen not because it meant the wearer was feminine like, but because they liked other men. Every prisoner had to wear a triangle on his or her jacket, the color of which was to categorize him or her according "to his kind." Jews had to wear the yellow badge, and "anti-social individuals" (which included vagrants, "work shy" individuals and often, but not exclusively, lesbians[citation needed]), the black triangle. The black triangle as a symbol of lesbian or feminist solidarity, a counterpart to the gay pink triangle, probably originated from the Nazi "asocial" black triangle.

The inverted pink triangle, originally intended as a badge of shame, has become an international symbol of gay pride and the gay rights movement, and is second in popularity only to the rainbow flag.

en.wikipedia.org...

Having a best friend smeared by a drunk driver, I have zero sympathy for those convicted of DUI. People do not have a right to drink and drive, or get hopped up on some drug and go drive. Doing so is like randomly emptying a revolver into a stadium full of people, considering the number of people you stand to kill in the process.

As far as I'm concerned, when you choose to drink and drive, you choose to end the lives of any innocents you "accidentally" kill along the way. That's murder. Pure and simple. Maybe it's not premeditated, but it's a damn step worse than "involuntary manslaughter."

Were it up to me, they'd get a lot worse than a yellow license plate for a year. They'd lose an arm. Two violations would ensure you never drove anything ever again. Drunk drivers should probably be thanking God that the worst thing they might face is a year's worth of embarrassment.

I agree, I wish the penalties were much harsher. I lost a good friend to drunk driving as well. I just think the interlock system is way more effective deterrent than this license plate idea.

Sounds nice and all if only the one convicted drives the car.... but then again, when he was convicted he was also fined and most likely lost his license so he paid his debt as far as I'm concerned...


Now if he uses his freedom and it harms another person thats a completely different story...

Does this license plate = probable cause for a search? I'd bet it will which is messed up..

Originally posted by Griff
We all know how labeling people worked out in the past right?

The pink triangle (German: Rosa Winkel) was one of the Nazi concentration camp badges, used by the Nazis to identify male prisoners in concentration camps who were sent there because of their homosexuality. Prior to WWII, pink was historically a male colour as an offshoot of red, and pink was chosen not because it meant the wearer was feminine like, but because they liked other men. Every prisoner had to wear a triangle on his or her jacket, the color of which was to categorize him or her according "to his kind." Jews had to wear the yellow badge, and "anti-social individuals" (which included vagrants, "work shy" individuals and often, but not exclusively, lesbians[citation needed]), the black triangle. The black triangle as a symbol of lesbian or feminist solidarity, a counterpart to the gay pink triangle, probably originated from the Nazi "asocial" black triangle.

The inverted pink triangle, originally intended as a badge of shame, has become an international symbol of gay pride and the gay rights movement, and is second in popularity only to the rainbow flag.

en.wikipedia.org...

What does that have to do with convicted criminals who have posed, and do pose a potential danger to society - such as death, property damage, severe injury, ect... ?

You you really so caught up on the ideology of freedom that you can't apply it to the practical world?