Have We No Freedom?
by Big Dog on Mar 11, 2011 at 16:55 Political
A law is being considered that would require that alcohol detection devices be installed on cars to keep people from driving while intoxicated. The interlock devices must be blown into and an alcohol level below a determined limit (the article states 0.03) must register before the vehicle will start. The devices are designed to require the driver to blow at intervals to ensure that a sober person did not initiate the original air that allowed the vehicle to start. If a person is over the limit six times the car will no longer start.
Interlock devices are sometimes court ordered for DWI offenders as a condition of keeping their licenses.
Installing these devices on all vehicles is a bad idea. The nanny state is now trying to force all drivers to prove they are not over the limit before starting a car. This would be another loss of freedom in this country. Forcing the millions of people who do not drive while intoxicated to do this because a relatively small number of people drive drunk is ridiculous and another infringement into our lives. Since the records can be downloaded it is another way for Big Brother to see what you have been up to. I can imagine a future where the records are pulled each time a person goes to renew a driver’s license and that person being denied because they tried to drive after a few too many.
I have no problem with people who have DWIs being required to have one of these on their cars. That would be a condition of their being allowed to continue to drive. They drove drunk and they have to pay the price but why does everyone have to pay the price with preemptive breathalyzer tests before they can operate a vehicle?
These things are not easy to operate and it takes time to get use to them and even then it is time consuming. Suppose some woman is getting into her car late in the evening and she notices a group of nasty looking men heading her way. On any given day she could lock the doors, start the car and leave. If she is delayed because of the device or the device does not work then she will be at the mercy of potential attackers.
Who will be responsible for that?
I am tired of the nanny state. We have laws against driving while intoxicated and we have police officers to look for those who do so. We do not need to infringe on the rest of the driving public to make some do gooder feel good about himself.
We do not need to be told what to do and we do not need to be monitored in all aspects of our lives.
Most of us are smart enough to do the right thing.
And we have laws to take care of those who are not.
But Big Dog, what if this would have saved a family from being killed by a drunk driver. That will be little consolation to the family killed because a person was busy reblowing while driving so the machine could ensure a drunk was not behind the wheel.
And how often are people killed or injured by drunk drivers? The number is small compared to the number of non impaired accidents and other ways people die.
Stay out of our lives you nanny state morons.
As for me, I will rebuild my vehicle from the ground up before I buy a new car that must have one of these and I don’t even drink.
Cave Canem!
Never surrender, never submit.
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Tags: freedom, interlock, law, nanny state
In the movie “The Alamo”, Davy Crockett (John Wayne) is trying to explain to William Barrett Travis, why he came to Texas to fight for the Texan cause. As he said, ” Republic- I like the sound of that word. It means people can live free, talk free- go or come buy or sell, be drunk or sober, however they choose.
Some words give you a feeling- same feeling you get when your boy first shaves, or makes his first sound like a man. Republic is one of those words.”
Or, to put this in another context, “Those who would sacrifice liberty for safety, deserve neither liberty OR safety.”
This is what we have come to in this nanny state, where we are wrapped in governmental bubblewrap to “keep us safe” when in reality, the bubblewrap is a constraint to our natural liberties.
I have a serious problem with DWI laws. They’re based on income and intolerance, not factual information. If they were, the laws would be based on stopping people who are a danger to others — and that doesn’t happen until a BAC level nearer to .17, not .08.