"Justice is incidental to law and order."---J. Edgar Hoover
For those non-drinking baby boomers who
think MADD's frenzy for tougher impaired driving laws is no threat to their freedom, THINK
AGAIN.
A new AAA study shows: Drivers 65 years and older are almost twice as likely to
die in car crashes as middle-aged drivers. “As we age, our reaction time and other
cognitive skills can diminish. By age 60 we require 10 times the amount of light necessary
to see an object as when we were 16,” reports AAA's Peter Kissinger.
Many crashes result when seniors don't seeing oncoming traffic or fail to
acknowledge and obey signs. And the older you get the more risky driving becomes. At 85
you are four times more likely to be killed in a crash than middle-aged drivers.
In some states it is a criminal intent to drive after drinking. Your knowledge
that alcohol may affect your driving ability can be used to try you for first degree
murder in North Carolina if there is a vehicular death. Will the same logic make it a
crime to drive "aged"? You know your ability to drive is impaired and yet you
still got behind the wheel?! Will you be the first to be stopped at a "seniority
checkpoint"? Welcome to the future.
~~~~~
More criminal intent: 32% of the people
polled by AAA admitted having "fallen asleep while driving", and 82% admitted to
"driving drowsy" once or twice a year. 47% believe drowsy driving is as serious
as drunk driving, if not more so. Look for the
"sleepalizer" brain wave tester coming to your local police force soon.
Driver's Manuals-When
are you impaired? Pick a number
Even at the department of motor vehicles, responsible adults are being bombarded by
neo-prohibition messages.
Alabama "a blood alcohol concentration of .05 percent impairs the ability of
most individuals"
California "One drink can make you an unsafe driver."
Kentucky "one drink will affect your driving"
Massachusetts "one alcoholic drink in an hour can affect your driving"
Minnesota "The impairment of judgement can begin... as low as .02."
Nebraska "impairment begins at .03% BAC."
Nevada "There is no safe way to drive after drinking."
New Jersey "Although the law refers to a 0.10
percent BAC, you can be convicted of driving while under the influence of intoxicating
liquor even when your BAC is below 0.10 percent."
New York "The effects of alcohol can begin long before you become intoxicated
or even legally impaired."
Oregon "ANY level of alcohol in your blood impairs to some degree your ability
to drive."
Tennessee "driving skills, good judgement and vision are greatly impaired at
BAC levels as low as .03 and .04%"
"Strictly speaking, a driver can register a BAC of .00% and still be convicted of a
DUI.
The level of BAC does not clear a driver when it is below the "presumed level of
intoxication."
Quotes are from the individual state's driving manuals as compiled
on the ABI website.
And Our Federal "LAW":
NHTSA (National Highway Traffic & Safety Administration): "With
two or more drinks in your bloodstream you are impaired and could be arrested."
"It's okay, if we get in a
wreck, we won't die cause we're drunk. Only the sober people will die, like in the TV
commercials."---Katie