"Hank" wrote in message
m...

"P. Fritz" wrote in message
...

"Dr. Dr. . R. Name" wrote in message
...
Doug,
It is becoming normal for DUI violators to be charged with murder when a
death is involved. The charge might be murder in the 2nd degree, but
repeat
DUI violators who then have a DUI involving a death are being charged in
the
1st degree. I am aware of one person who received the death penalty for
a
DUI death.

I an not a proponent of the death penalty, but I am glad DUI is not
being
aggressively prosecuted.

But, I wish the pursuit would be of the high offenders, the mindset
here(at least in some communities) seems to be to turn it into another
cash
cow for the guvmint.....with overaggressive enforcement at the lower end
( high fines, "community service" counseling,...which drums up more work
for
the 'connected' while the multiple repeat offenders seem to be able to
get
away with it time and again. (one of my dock neighbors is a cop on a DUI
unit)



"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
This situation won't change until more prosecutors are prepared to
charge
violators with murder instead of manslaughter, and put them away for
LONG
periods of time. I'm aware of one case where this worked (for
automobile
DWI). Just one. I'm sure it's rare.


And your cop buddy, if not him, has innumerable cop-buddies who are the
worst offenders, but they get away with their stupidity. It's usually
along the lines of, "Ok, brother, can you make it home from here?" or
"Just park your car over there and we'll give you a ride home." or "Let's
let your buddy (sometimes less drunk) drive the rest of the way." or "Give
me your keys and sleep it off. I'll be back at the end of my duty with
your keys."

I would love to see a zero tolerance campaign that is well publicized and
strongly enforced on the water. I know that the lakes I frequent don't
even have a sign, let alone one that people will notice, commenting on
drinking and boating. Then there's the good old resorts on the lakes with
their guest docks and the only reason people stop there is to get liquored
up before they get back on the water.

Yeah, stupidity, drinking, and boating put us all at risk, risk of serious
life-changing or life-ending consequences, even those of us who try to
have a safe boating experience. I have no compassion for the drunken fool
who operates a car or boat. But that's just me.

Frankly, I wonder why more drunks don't kill themselves, even with the boat
standing still. Along comes a wake, the boat rocks, off goes the captain
into the water. We can only dream. Personally, I take just one beer with me
when I go fishing, and plan on opening it only if the fishing has been
extraordinary. 99% of the time, that beer comes home unopened. :-(