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only in australia!
danny_galaga:
well, over the weekend they started random drug-testing of motorists in Victoria. a world first i think. they caught someone after only FOUR cars! :police:
if caught you face a $300 fine and demerit points off your licence. The drugs they are testing for are marijuana and speed. in principal i think it's not a bad idea, but i'd like to see it treated in the same way as alcohol. that is, you only face a fine/loss of licence if you're over some 'limit'. THC stays in the bloodstream quite a while, so that even a day after you've had a smoke and you're not even stoned you could get a fine. but you would probably be a much safer driver than someone who is just under the alcohol limit.
i do a lot of driving in my work and my big worry is that if they introduce it where i live i could lose my licence.
and before anyone says 'well, just don't smoke'- I DONT :angel: but if i go to a friends, or to a party and theres smoking going on so long as i can smell it i'll be getting some THC in my bloodstream.
with regards speed and truck drivers and cab drivers, a zero limit is probably a good idea. one of the target groups of this operation is truck drivers. some take speed to stay awake (and as the US airforce found out, it doesn't work as well as they they'd imagined). there have been some accidents involving really 'wired' drivers.
danny_galaga:
here is an a transcript from a tv report a little while back:
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s838743.htm
i like this bit especially:
"Narration: With the morgue results leaving little room for argument, Katherine Tzambasis and her team at Melbourne
Bones:
Here's the thing....
What do we have in Australia, like 1000 road deaths a year? What percentage of these is caused by the drugs they are referring to? I would say the numbers are less than 50 people. That's a terrible human loss but a small percentage.
So the cops are put out there in high numbers and spend god knows how much money to enforce these new laws. In the mean time, people are getting caught and getting themselves into all sorts of problems financially with loss of license, loss of employment, court defenses and the personal emotional effect of being labeled a "druggie" by family and workers.
From perhaps the 50 people per year who do come to grief on the roads and test positive for drugs (not alcohol), what percentage of these fatalities are caused by the offending drug and not the same thing that caused the other 950 deaths? ???
Typical Australian government stupidity. They WILL catch people, the results WILL be all over the news for weeks on end, and then next year the road death toll will rise higher and at the expense of 1000's of people who have been made an example of the system that failed again.
Here's an idea
etoasty:
--- Quote from: BrokenBones1 on December 13, 2004, 01:03:04 am ---... stop making the lawyers rich ...
As for pot, I reckon 7 out of every 10 potheads would just like to chill at home and watch Jackass for a good laugh rather than go out. Catching and prosecuting them the day after is just bloody criminal.
--- End quote ---
At least here in georgia, it's not only the lawyers who get rich. Like speeding tickets the damn cops are using marijuana as a noticeable source of income. My roommate got caught with just enough to maybe fill a bowl, first time offense, but he's gotten over $2000 in fines and fees. There was the actual fine itself ($1000 i think), DUI school ($600), getting his license reinstated ($300), and then he still had to pay for a new license. There were other hidden fees (sounds like a damn bank), but i can't remember them, and he's on probation for a year to boot.
I love how in the US they have to commercial of a pothead in his car at a drive through suddenly gunning his motor out of the blue and hitting a little girl on a tricycle ... cause you know, that stuff happens all the time. ::)
DrewKaree:
--- Quote from: etoasty on December 13, 2004, 02:08:26 am ---My roommate got caught with just enough to maybe fill a bowl, first time offense,
--- End quote ---
Is the law in Georgia the same as by me? I live in WI, and the law here is that it's illegal to have any, even just enough to fill a bowl.
--- Quote ---I love how in the US they have to commercial of a pothead in his car at a drive through suddenly gunning his motor out of the blue and hitting a little girl on a tricycle ... cause you know, that stuff happens all the time. ::)
--- End quote ---
I hate how they feel the need to use death to sell things too, although the "sale" in your example is a theory, not a product.
I know what you mean, though....what's next, they'll be showing commercials where there's an alcoholic driving along and his redneck buddy hangs his head out the window and beheads himself on a power wire, and the guy doesn't even notice and keeps driving on home and just goes in the house and goes to bed? Sheesh, I'm with ya, man, cause you know, that stuff happens all the time ::)
I'm seriously for abolishing helmet laws because I think it would solve a lot of problems via Darwin's theory. The fact that there are laws on the books and driver education classes and the friggen questions on the test and people STILL drive without them should be proof enough that "driver education" programs and "common" sense won't ever stop a determined fool.
We'd look at an NFL player like he was NUTS if he went out on the field without a helmet, but jump on a motorcycle without one? No problem, man. I'm 10 feet tall and bulletproof.
Driver education is a pretty phrase that makes people feel good. Idiots go through the same classes too, and if they get enough questions right, they are given a license. Did they get the question right about "no, I should NOT run over children in a school zone @ 100 mph" or did they get the "how far do your headlights shine in front of your car at night" question right? Mix 'em up, it's still possible to pass the test.
And sense is far from "common". I know LOTS of people without it. ;)