Lowering the Drinking Age?

[Frong]

I'm 1000000% with you on that one. It's utterly criminal how many times people who get caught for DUI are legally allowed back behind the wheel of a car. Get caught for DUI once and they should suspend your license for at least a year, or considerably more the further over the legal limit you were. Get caught again after that and they should revoke it permanently. Get caught for DUI at any point in time when your license is suspended or revoked and you should be chucked in jail without bail for a long freakin' time, without exception. That kind of sheer stupidity that endangers everyone around you is unpardonable.

[Nakor]

The rules here are at the moment:

1st offence: One year non-contestable suspension.
2nd offence: Three years non-contestable suspension.
3rd offence: Life time suspension. No chance for reinstatement.

That is in addition to whatever fines and/or jail time you may receive. Also, to regain your licence after the 1st or 2nd offence, you must go through the entire tiered licencing program again (written test for the learner's permit, hold that for twelve months, driving test for the "N" licence, hold that for twenty-four months, then take a driving test for the full class 5).

[KenseidenXL]

Further, many of these drunken arseholes keep driving even after their licence is suspended and only get a slap on the wrist when caught.

[Frong]

Further, many of these drunken arseholes keep driving even after their licence is suspended and only get a slap on the wrist when caught.

That's the part that irks me the most. If you barely even punish the people who flout the system entirely, nobody is going to bother heeding it. On the other hand, if you made an example of the morons who ignored it and got caught, it might deter most of the other potential morons from following suit. Plus it's just a matter of principle. That's why I say the punishment for repeat offenders should be really severe.

Also, it sounds like Canada's approach to this is to use the BMV system (or whatever you call the BMV up there) itself to annoy the crap out of offenders and maybe get them to clean up their act that way.

[Nakor]

I think it's seen as more to get them off the street, now, and for a long time. After losing one's licence for that long, who would want to dream of offending again?

[KenseidenXL]

Where I live, you can't have a valid registration without a valid DL. I wonder why they don't yank the tags when the yank the licence.

[Frong]

Because the entirety of the government that relates to driving and licensing is stupid, that's why. It's also the same reason why the easiest way for an illegal immigrant to get a fake identity in this country is to do so through the BMV. You practically don't even need to provide proof of citizenship in some places, there are so many freakin' holes in the system.

[Nakor]

Because the entirety of the government that relates to driving and licensing is stupid, that's why.

Remove that part.

[Frong]

Believe it or not, there are actually parts of every level of government that aren't stupid. My dad works for the state government, so he's seen it. Some elected officials and lawmakers work their arses off trying to answer all their constituents' questions and requests, and at a local level, virtually none of them are career politicians, anyway. They all have other jobs the rest of the year. The problem is that somehow or another, these honest, hardworking people are never the ones at the top of the pyramid. Haven't quite figured out yet how it continually stays this way.

[Snake]

Lower it to 18. Changing it to 21 didn't change college drinking culture, it just moved it pseudo-underground.

Stupid puritanical laws.

And apparently here in Georgia I can't buy alcohol on Sunday just because it's Sunday. I can't wait to get back to my home country of the United States and away from these Confederate cocks.

[Frong]

And apparently here in Georgia I can't buy alcohol on Sunday just because it's Sunday. I can't wait to get back to my home country of the United States and away from these Confederate cocks.

Err... what? Are you serious? What do they think this country is, an overgrown 18th century Puritan village?

[KenseidenXL]

EVERYBODY at the Mass Bay colony drank beer. It was generally safer than water...

[Frong]

Doesn't necessarily mean they looked favorably upon drunknness. Most people would rather drink beer than get dysentery, though.

[KenseidenXL]

MADD, and other related psychos, are the Carrie Nation's of the modern era...

[Frong]

Er... I don't think telling people not to drive drunk is the same thing as attacking bars with hatchets because you oppose drinking entirely.