Time to increase penality on drink drivers: disqualfy them
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THEY will drink and they will drive - never mind that they could cause accidents in which people might die.
Concern for others, and for themselves, be dashed.
This despite headlines in the past two weeks alone focusing on at least one woman who was killed in a drink-driving incident and two celebrities landing up in court for driving under the influence.
And on May 1, a 28-year-old suspected of drink driving slammed his car into a bus stop on Penang Road, injuring three women.
This newspaper got a first-hand look at the problem on Friday and Saturday, observing two late-night police roadblocks and conducting breathalyser tests of its own.
At roadblocks in Outram and Tampines roads between 11.30pm on Friday and 4.45am the next day, one in four of the 39 motorists tested were arrested for drink driving.
The roadblocks come after about 60 people were charged with drink driving last week alone.
Till March this year, 914 motorists - 141 of whom were involved in accidents - were held for drink-driving. In the same period last year, 753 people were held, including 134 involved in accidents.
Last year, 25 people died in crashes involving drunk drivers, up from 20 in 2005, and 336 were injured - a 50 per cent jump from the previous year.
Armed with two machines from Draeger Safety Asia, the journalists met sales executive Freddy Tan at around 2am on Saturday at nightspot Zouk.
He agreed to take the test, confident he would be fine - but he failed. He logged 37ug (microgrammes) of alcohol per 100ml of breath, just above the legal limit of 35ug.
Despite having had five mugs of beer, he said: 'I'm driving later tonight, and I can reach home safe and sound. I feel alright.'
He was among 35 motorists tested by the Straits Times at Zouk, Clarke Quay and St James Power Station between midnight and 4am on Saturday. Many who refused staggered into their cars and drove off.
Five people failed the test, including Mr Tan and one Ms Goh, a business development manager partying at St James.
The 29-year-old took the test just as she was about to drive away at about 3am.
The result: 62ug - nearly twice the legal limit.
She said: 'I have never been stopped before at roadblocks even though I drank. Even if I were to be stopped, I think I could wing it.'
But, in the end, a friend drove her home.
While it was not clear if Mr Tan followed through on his intention to drive home, nine others who did ended up being arrested by police.
Current laws state that first-time drink drivers can be fined up to $5,000, jailed for six months and banned from driving for at least a year.
While some have called for jail time and fines to be increased, former district court judge Lee Teck Leng believes that that might not help.
'What may actually be more effective is imposing a significantly higher driving disqualification,' said Mr Lee.
Now a lawyer, Mr Lee sat through more than 100 drink-driving cases in 1995 when he was judge in the Traffic Court.
On May 9, the same court saw ex-show host Benedict Goh, 37, being charged with two counts of drink driving. The next day, actor Christopher Lee, 35, was sentenced to four weeks in jail and fined $4,500 for drink-driving and hit-and-run offences.
Straits Times 14 May -
yes, drinking and driving don't mix.
but do we need to go to extremes whenever we faced a problem??
Just like chewing gum, we already got it banned.
What happened to our famous education system? fine system?
We got good, well paid, leaders, why can't they think of something? -
Well..the TP can't always be having operations every night and everywhere. Just imagine the resources needed to have these Ops.
Hope they just increase on the penalty. Maybe like suspend 5 yrs + 10k for first offence. That will really deter alot of potential drink driver.
Same goes for the rest of the offenses like speeding, reckless driving etc.
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Drink driving: Suspension of license up to 10 years, depending on level of alcoholOriginally posted by drumstick:Well..the TP can't always be having operations every night and everywhere. Just imagine the resources needed to have these Ops.
Hope they just increase on the penalty. Maybe like suspend 5 yrs + 10k for first offence. That will really deter alot of potential drink driver.
Same goes for the rest of the offenses like speeding, reckless driving etc.
Drink driving+ causing injury: Between 3 months to 2 years imprisonment + confiscation of vehicle
Drinking driving + causing grievous hurt (usual legal definition): Minimum 2 years' imprisonment+ confiscation of vehicle
Drink driving + causing death: Manslaughter with minimum 10 years' imprisonment+ confiscation of vehicle -
Many drivers will still drink and drive primarily because they are too reliant on their own transportation. It will be dreadful for them to take public transport. I believe most drivers will share the same sentiments. However, some still drive when they drink because they want to show off, most probably to the chics they pick up from there or their gf.
I think the best way to smack these ppl in the face, is to make sure the message is sent across them everyday, everytime.
1) Make sure companies put up presentations on drink driving to employees.
2) At carparks, place a simple paper on their windscreen (with TP,Police & Government logo)
3) At carpark of nightspots, place the same paper on their windscreen.
4) Use the auxiliary police to conduct road blocks. (AETOS, CISCO)
5) Reward individuals/organisation who inform the authorities of individuals who always drink & drive. (e.g. Bouncer,staff of the club or pub, fellow colleagues, member of public etc. of course, a system have to be drawn out for this.
what do u guys think? -
Never mind the limit on caning, especially a drunk driver who has killed someone.....I'd say 50 strokes of the rotan and 50 years ban on driving should be just about right...
Better yet, allow a family member to cane the S.O.B driver so that it will help relieve the pain the family members went thru -
Education does not work. In the survey conducted by Straits Times, one in 7 drivers tested were over the legal limit. Despite knowing their high alcohol levels, many insisted on driving home.Originally posted by Airborne Guards:Many drivers will still drink and drive primarily because they are too reliant on their own transportation. It will be dreadful for them to take public transport. I believe most drivers will share the same sentiments. However, some still drive when they drink because they want to show off, most probably to the chics they pick up from there or their gf.
I think the best way to smack these ppl in the face, is to make sure the message is sent across them everyday, everytime.
1) Make sure companies put up presentations on drink driving to employees.
2) At carparks, place a simple paper on their windscreen (with TP,Police & Government logo)
3) At carpark of nightspots, place the same paper on their windscreen.
4) Use the auxiliary police to conduct road blocks. (AETOS, CISCO)
5) Reward individuals/organisation who inform the authorities of individuals who always drink & drive. (e.g. Bouncer,staff of the club or pub, fellow colleagues, member of public etc. of course, a system have to be drawn out for this.
what do u guys think?
The only thing that drivers are worried of is losing their license. Take away their license and remove irresponsible drivers from the roads. There will be less congestion too. -
these buggers may dare to drive w/o a license.
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How about confiscating the keys when they enter the pub? It's better not to let them on the roads in the first place.
There's a bunch of guys who carry foldable scooters around, and they drive the inebriated home in the latter's car when called upon. They were featured in Top Gear. -
Sounds abit violent. Confiscation of vehicle? Where got space to park. But I totally agree that tough measures ought to be taken against drink driving.Originally posted by oxford mushroom:Drink driving: Suspension of license up to 10 years, depending on level of alcohol
Drink driving+ causing injury: Between 3 months to 2 years imprisonment + confiscation of vehicle
Drinking driving + causing grievous hurt (usual legal definition): Minimum 2 years' imprisonment+ confiscation of vehicle
Drink driving + causing death: Manslaughter with minimum 10 years' imprisonment+ confiscation of vehicle
If they crash and kill themselves, I can't really be bothered. But if it endangers others, its really criminal. A serious deterrent must be put up.
But somehow, I feel how they set the alcohol limit needs to be adjusted. Some people have different tolerance level and the alcohol limit is not really a fair judge. -
No need to park...auction the cars off.Originally posted by jianfish9:Sounds abit violent. Confiscation of vehicle? Where got space to park. But I totally agree that tough measures ought to be taken against drink driving.
If they crash and kill themselves, I can't really be bothered. But if it endangers others, its really criminal. A serious deterrent must be put up.
But somehow, I feel how they set the alcohol limit needs to be adjusted. Some people have different tolerance level and the alcohol limit is not really a fair judge.
People have different tolerance level, some can tolerate less alcohol than the legal limit. We should lower the legal limit, like Norway did. Since 1936, Norway had a legal blood alcohol limit of 50mg/100ml (Singapore:80mg/100ml). Since Jan 2001, even that has been reduced to 20mg/100ml, which means essentially that you cannot drink any alcohol at all if you drive.
Incidentally, the normal punishment for exceeding alcohol limit is 3 weeks' imprisonment in Norway.
There is no safe alcohol limit. Moskowitz & Robinson found that impairment of attention occurs below 20mg/100ml and 60% of studies report impairment at or below 50mg/100ml.
Moskowitz, H and Robinson, DC, "Effects of Low Doses of Alcohol on Driving-related Skills: A Review of Evidence," SRA Technologies, Inc., sponsored by U.S. Department of Transportation, Washington, D.C., DOT HS 807 280, July 1988. -
Drivers will not care unless our laws are more stringent. Follow Norway and send them to jail for exceeding the alcohol limit. Getting a criminal record will be a deterrent. The car is a significant investment. Confiscation of the car will cost them more than a fine. For many of them, losing their license will be a greater deterrent than a fine or a short jail sentence. Suspension of license should be made longer. If they killed someone, they should be charged as for manslaughter and sentenced to a minimum of 10 years.Originally posted by Kuali Baba:How about confiscating the keys when they enter the pub? It's better not to let them on the roads in the first place.
There's a bunch of guys who carry foldable scooters around, and they drive the inebriated home in the latter's car when called upon. They were featured in Top Gear. -
They only care about getting home and not about whatever deterrent. They'll take their chances and hope that they won't meet road blocks. So it's better not to let them take the wheel in the first place, before they cause accidents.Originally posted by oxford mushroom:Drivers will not care unless our laws are more stringent. Follow Norway and send them to jail for exceeding the alcohol limit. Getting a criminal record will be a deterrent. The car is a significant investment. Confiscation of the car will cost them more than a fine. For many of them, losing their license will be a greater deterrent than a fine or a short jail sentence. Suspension of license should be made longer. If they killed someone, they should be charged as for manslaughter and sentenced to a minimum of 10 years. -
Tuesday May 22, 10:17 PM
Drink driving cases on the rise
SINGAPORE : In the first quarter of this year, 920 people were arrested for drink driving, a whopping 22 percent increase over the same period last year.
But the uptrend had begun earlier.
Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday, Senior Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee said that in 2004, some 2,900 people were nabbed for drink driving.
In 2005, this went up by 30 percent to more than 3,700.
On average, there were 33 fatal accidents each year in the last three years as a result of drink driving.
Associate Professor Ho said, "All of us can play a part to curb drink driving. So for example, when friends visit a pub, they should designate someone among them to drive. Make this the cool thing to do. Family members can constantly remind their loved ones not to drive when they drink." - CNA/ms -
my opinion
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fatal cases - jail 4 life
non-fatal - ban 4 life
any lesser punishments will not be effective! -
I think the punishment should add on lor.Originally posted by oxford mushroom:Drink driving: Suspension of license up to 10 years, depending on level of alcohol
Drink driving+ causing injury: Between 3 months to 2 years imprisonment + confiscation of vehicle
Drinking driving + causing grievous hurt (usual legal definition): Minimum 2 years' imprisonment+ confiscation of vehicle
Drink driving + causing death: Manslaughter with minimum 10 years' imprisonment+ confiscation of vehicle -
can you explain what is ban 4 life?Originally posted by latte-OO-:my opinion :-
fatal cases - jail 4 life
non-fatal - ban 4 life
any lesser punishments will not be effective!