4 ms·

>The last time I looked, breathalyzers have a ~50% margin of error Source on this? I know the portable ones are like this, but I thought the actual court-admis

by kart23 6y ago

>The last time I looked, breathalyzers have a ~50% margin of error Source on this? I know the portable ones are like this, but I thought the actual court-admissible ones are more accurate, and the calibration procedures need to be followed to get a conviction. Also, FSTs are quite good for preliminary screening, a proper HGN test especially. And if you ask for a blood test, they are required to give you one and consider it in court. Cops have no incentive to make people who aren't drinking take FSTs or the breathalyzer, its just a waste of their time. They don't want to be bothering normal people, they want to be taking real dangerous and irresponsible drivers off the road. You survive by not drinking before driving, or having a DD, its really not that hard. Implied consent is the reason for the tests, and you agree to it when you sign for a license. And I think its a worthwhile tradeoff if it actually works to reduce DUI deaths.

tsimionescu 6y ago
> [Cops] don't want to be bothering normal people, they want to be taking real dangerous and irresponsible drivers off the road. That's the nice theory we all wish we lived in, but the reality all over the world is that police will extremely often do things for their own petty reasons, often systematically. Police departments often have quotas for tickets, they can often extract a bribe by threatening someone with a DUI, they can simply want to scare 'undesirables' out of a 'nice neighborhood'. In general, there are good reasons to be extremely weary of the police and their motives.
- kart23 6y ago
  I agree. The solution is to make people aware of their rights and know what to do when a cop is doing something shady, not weaken the tools that the justice system has for going after things like DUI. Most departments have bodycam requirements now, and citizens have the power to impose steep penalties upon dirty cops. I stand by that statement though, giving bullshit tickets and fines means that cop will likely just have to spend more time in court trying to defend hopeless cases and eventually get investigated for this kind of activity.

by kart23 6y ago

tsimionescu 6y ago

> [Cops] don't want to be bothering normal people, they want to be taking real dangerous and irresponsible drivers off the road. That's the nice theory we all wish we lived in, but the reality all over the world is that police will extremely often do things for their own petty reasons, often systematically. Police departments often have quotas for tickets, they can often extract a bribe by threatening someone with a DUI, they can simply want to scare 'undesirables' out of a 'nice neighborhood'. In general, there are good reasons to be extremely weary of the police and their motives.

kart23 6y ago
I agree. The solution is to make people aware of their rights and know what to do when a cop is doing something shady, not weaken the tools that the justice system has for going after things like DUI. Most departments have bodycam requirements now, and citizens have the power to impose steep penalties upon dirty cops. I stand by that statement though, giving bullshit tickets and fines means that cop will likely just have to spend more time in court trying to defend hopeless cases and eventually get investigated for this kind of activity.