From: Hermit (hidden@lucifer.com)
Date: Fri Jul 19 2002 - 17:48:12 MDT
[Andy Brice] Are you seriously advocating that we should abolish drink driving laws and trust people to be responsible?
[Hermit] Nope. I have just spent far too much time pointing out that the laws as currently implemented are intrusive and ineffective, in that they intrude on the lives of responsible people, and are ignored by the irresponsible. This perhaps indicates the way to success.
[Hermit] 1 Prevention: Implement performance based testing using something like the system described in "virus: Interesting technology", RavenBlack, 2001-05-01 (http://virus.lucifer.com/bbs/index.php?board=45;action=display;threadid=21108;start=0) as an integral (and continuously operating) component of motor vehicles. [Hermit: Note that the original link in the article no longer functions, but I assume that it relates to the EyeCheck produced by MCJ Inc. of Rockford, Ill.] Such a system could be implemented using perhaps $20 more in components (a video camera and interface) and software over the current cost of a vehicle, i.e. a lower cost than that imposed on society by attempting to enforce the current, ineffective laws and vastly less than the cost imposed by impaired driver related accidents.
[Hermit] If a driver cannot pass a performance-based test, they should not be driving. Period. The cause of impairment is not particularly relevant.
[Hermit] 2 Deterrence: To prevent "cheating," anyone who is detected bypassing or attempting to bypass such a system should receive a severe jail sentence and the vehicle in question confiscated.
[Hermit] Within a short period, the problem should disappear - along with many others (e.g. driver fatigue - a major killer, and the use of other performance reducing drugs). As a side benefit, once such a system were put in place, many existing regulations could be scrapped and the responsible members of society could live with fewer worries about becoming collateral statistics of either incompetent drivers or law enforcement.
Kind Regards
Hermit
---- This message was posted by Hermit to the Virus 2002 board on Church of Virus BBS. <http://virus.lucifer.com/bbs/index.php?board=51;action=display;threadid=25721>
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