BoatBanter.com - Legal limits

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
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Doug Kanter wrote:
"Harry Krause" wrote in message
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Doug Kanter wrote:
"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
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On 29 Jan 2006 19:48:56 -0800, wrote:

For those of you boating in Ohio the legal limits is now .08 not .10.
For anyone under the age of 21 the legal limit is .02. Those under 21
caught drinking alcoholic beverages or operating under the influence
have the additional charge of "Underage Consumption".
in my opinion, there should be no limit - you got alcohol on your
breath, you in jail for 30 days, license revoked for a year.

no exceptions.
I second that.
Connecticut used to do that with speeders; that is, you lost your
license for the first offense.

I would set a really low blood-alcohol level for DUI and impose a jail
sentence for conviction about that level. That measurement would not be
tripped for the equivalent of one beer or one cocktail. If your
blood-alcohol level indicates two or three (or more) drinks in a short
period of time, your goose is cooked.

You can get pretty looped on one cocktail if you had an empty stomach
beforehand, and maybe you're tired, too. Some bars pour real drinks, too.

I don't drink on an empty stomach, and I've never gotten "high" on one
drink in my lifetime. But I don't drink much alcohol.

I also see no reason to make the idea of having a drink so onerous that no
one enjoys a beer or a glass of wine with dinner. One drink isn't going to
impair 99.99% of adult drivers, and probably two won't, but we do need to
stop all the drunks driving, and a mandatory period of time in the slam
for those caught DUI wouldn't offend me or my regard for civil liberties.

I'd like to see the elimination of manslaughter charges for people who kill
while driving drunk. Should be murder. Everyone knows what can happen when
you drink and drive, so if you go ahead and do it anyway and you kill
someone, it's premeditated. In one of our neighboring counties, a grand jury
actually went for this idea. The woman was completely tanked, and got on
route 390 (highway) going the wrong way, at night, with her lights off.
Killed 2 people in an oncoming car.

The district attorney was brilliant. Out in the farmlands, they have serious
problems with drunk drivers, so the jury was sympathetic to the murder
charge. But, in the end, they advised the DA that they were afraid the
woman's lawyer would appeal a murder conviction. She ended up getting the
maximum penalty for vehicular manslaughter. When the DA was interviewed
later, he said he expected this, and that's why he went with the murder
charge. He was afraid that if he started with manslaughter, she'd plead
downward from there and end up with just a couple of years in jail. Better
to start high. She got 10 or 15 years - I don't recall the details.