Why isn't drunk driving a bigger offense (in the US)

[jwk94]

Long story short:

I dated this chick who's been arrested for drunk driving three times now. Each time she just got community service and a class she had to take. Meanwhile, employer's acted like it was nothing, like everyone does it. Like wtf is this? You could've killed somebody. I don't understand how the law doesn't make a bigger deal out of this.

Is this just a US thing? Do other countries have bigger penalties for drunk driving?

EDIT:
Just so we're clear: she's black and doesn't have hush money.

 

[Arc]

It's a cliche response at this point but it's the truth...

Because rich white people do it.

 

[WhoaIsThatMars]

this is the same country that has gun shootings at schools and shrugs em off within a month

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

It's a cliche response at this point but it's the truth...

Because rich white people do it.

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I was going to say. I'm assuming she has some money.

 

[Ryuelli]

Most of the US lacks or has abysmal public transportation, so even if you drink and drive you'll still need to get to work at some point.

That would be my guess anyway, because this is news to me. I've always been under the impression that there WAS huge penalties for drinking and driving, especially if you get caught doing it more than once. $10,000+ fees, etc...

This is Texas' system:

 

[Allforce]

Dude 40 years ago it wasn't even a law!

Worst you'd get for driving drunk was a cop would make you sleep it off in the drunk tank at the station for a few hours and then send you on your way, no ticket. Best case he'd just follow you home while you drove your own car.

 

[Deleted member 29195]

Some states have really serious penalties for drunk driving. From my perspective, these are typically the southern and Midwest states.

Honestly if you really care about it, try getting involved enough in your local government to make it more harsh. Seems pretty doable to me. One of those issues no politician can disagree with.

 

[Tbm24]

I'm not familiar with repeated offenses being this lenient. What state are you talking about OP.

 

[jwk94]

I'm not familiar with repeated offenses being this lenient. What state are you talking about OP.

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Indiana.

 

[Z-Beat]

It's a cliche response at this point but it's the truth...

Because rich white people do it.

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Non-white people have been shot for less

and by less I mean nothing

 

[Powdered Egg]

It's a cliche response at this point but it's the truth...

Because rich white people do it.

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this is it and its very common.

 

[TaySan]

Most of the US lacks or has abysmal public transportation, so even if you drink and drive you'll still need to get to work at some point.

That would be my guess anyway, because this is news to me. I've always been under the impression that there WAS huge penalties for drinking and driving, especially if you get caught doing it more than once. $10,000+ fees, etc...

This is Texas' system:

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Yup i have a friend who was on his 3rd DUI and he had a $10,000 fine and a Breathalyzer installed in his car.

 

[Septy]

It depends on the state. Some states have harsher penalties than others.

 

[ZeroX]

As a society we've accepted that the convenience of cars outweighs the cost of human lives. Add to that the normalization of binge drinking. Go figure.

 

[mangopositive]

People I know who've gotten DUI's had to pay a shit-ton of money and do community service to get whole again. It's not financially responsible to get a DUI in the US. That's why everyone has the Uber or Lift app on their phones. I did it a ton back in the day before the apps, but I haven't done it since. I have a kid now and nobody's got time for that shit.

 

[Spenny]

Californian here. Drunk driving rightfully fucks your life here. I had a coworker who had to use a breathalyzer just to start his car.

 

[AstronaughtE]

Wow, you aren't kidding. Compared to Illinois, Indiana DUI punishments are kind of a breeze.

 

[lush]

Most definitely depends on the state. Here in Tennessee on first offense you're looking at serving at least 48 hours in jail, suspension of your license for a year, using/maintaining an ignition interlock device for a year, alcohol/substance abuse class, and all the fees and fines associated with probation until paid in full(may depend on county).

 

[Deleted member 13496]

Dude in Toronto killed two college kids walking home on Sunday night.

I doubt he'll get more than ten years

 

[Fugu]

The answer to this question is a bit complicated. As other people have said, the main reason DUIs aren't a big deal is because this is a white people crime. It's also one of the most common crimes in a lot of places, which means that assigning stiff criminal penalties to DUIs would mean criminalizing a lot of people. This is generally bad, because it is very hard to go back on this and most people are derailed permanently when they get a criminal conviction. It is the same logic that leads people to advocate for decriminalizing drug possession for example.

Some people, including myself, think that DUIs should attract stiff driving penalties in addition to the currently quite moderate criminal penalties, such as by issuing long license suspensions and lifetime bans for repeat offenders. There are two problems with this approach. The first is that it requires the cooperation of two possibly completely independent bodies of the government, although the extent to which this is an obstacle certainly varies by jurisdiction. The second is that preventing someone from driving legally may actually be extremely debilitating depending on where they live.

In short, it's a complex problem compounded greatly by the oddly high degree of acceptance that people have for DUIs.

 

[Tapiozona]

Californian here. Drunk driving rightfully fucks your life here. I had a coworker who had to use a breathalyzer just to start his car.

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California has laughable drunk driving penalties. Breathalyzer in the steering wheel is common in most states. See above for Texas' DUI penalties, they're multitudes harsher than CA

 

[SupremeWu]

Virginia generally has very harsh driving penalties, I imagine DWI is similar.

Even a non-intoxication reckless driving in VA will fuck you up.

(and keep in mind reckless is anything 20+ mph over the posted limit)

 

[HadesHotgun]

I generally see decently stiff penalties for it, since the US hardly lacks for harsh, punitive laws.

But it is still very socially accepted, presumably because alcohol, alcohol abuse, and alcoholism are pretty universally embraced in American culture.

 

[Angelus Errare]

It depends on your skin color and income level

 

[Deleted member 41502]

Yeah, those penalties sound strange to me. I had a friend who got a DUI in Iowa. Lost his license for awhile and had to hook a breathalyzer up when he got it back. For one offense.

Losing your license in rural America is pretty tough. He didn't do it again.

 

[mintzilla]

Loss of drivers license for a minimum of 5 years should be standard.

Driving without a license afterwards(cause you know these assholes will) should get jail time.

 

[painey]

my friends mother from Wisconsin has 7 DUI's. They stopped giving her a license after 3.

 

[Br3wnor]

NY you're pretty fucked if you get one. Tons of money in fees and lawyers and you still can end up with a suspended license or a breathalyzer thing in your car.

Granted if you have the money you can just pay an expensive lawyer to take care of everything where your only penalty becomes money (talking first offense, multiple offenses get hairy here even if you're rich)

 

[NinjaScooter]

Because the penalties don't reflect what could have happened. A person busted for a DUI is considered lucky. The severity of how easily they couldn't have killed themselves or others doesn't seem to get weighed into the punishment.

 

[vodalus]

Drunk driving isn't great but not sure how increasing punishment for it really helps matters. You just want this black woman you dated to go to jail?

By all means take away someone's license so they can't drive for a year, or more for repeated offenses.

 

[Heshinsi]

Dude in Toronto killed two college kids walking home on Sunday night.

I doubt he'll get more than ten years

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The poster child for this is Affluenza douchebag Ethan Couch. Kills 4, injures 9, and gets 10 year probation with no jail time. A few months later, he breaks his probation rules, flees the US, gets apprehended, and is given 2 years in jail. How does that even work? 🤔

 

[anaa]

IIRC in at least one state you get branded scarlet letter style, on your vehicle/ID. i think can vary significantly from state to state.

 

[Border]

Is this just a US thing? Do other countries have bigger penalties for drunk driving?

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It is more complex than that.

My sense of it is that other countries set their legal limit for Blood Alcohol Content lower than in the US, but the penalties for being caught drunk driving are lower. So consequently you are more likely to get a DUI after just a couple drinks, but the punishment won't be as harsh.

 

[Spenny]

California has laughable drunk driving penalties. Breathalyzer in the steering wheel is common in most states. See above for Texas' DUI penalties, they're multitudes harsher than CA

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Idk. I know people who got absolutely fucked up with fees and the inability to drive. My one friend was hit with almost $15k in fees for his first offense.

 

[THE210]

Things have gotten a lot stricter the last couple of decades. I remember when people use to commit 5 or 6 dwi's before they ever got their first conviction. Groups like MADD have Had a dramatic impact on how drunk driving is viewed. IMO where we need work is explaining to people that even a little drunk is to drunk to drive. So many

 

[RolandGunner]

That's crazy. One of my friends got two DUIs 15 years apart and had to spend 30 days in jail. This was Texas.

 

[Deleted member 36578]

California has laughable drunk driving penalties. Breathalyzer in the steering wheel is common in most states. See above for Texas' DUI penalties, they're multitudes harsher than CA

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Cali here, I know someone who absolutely fucked up their lives from just their first drunk driving incident. Lost their job over it too(which had nothing to do with driving). It really depends on the judge.

 

[Robochimp]

In Wisconsin first offense drunk driving is only a misdemeanor.

 

[Pocky4Th3Win]

I love that MN has Whiskey Plates, basically shames the drivers.

https://brunolaw.com/resources/dui-dwi/whiskey-plates-in-minnesota

By law cops can't just pull drivers over with the plates but they do by just making up another reason. Close friend had them because her dad was on her title and got it on his car. She got pulled over often for very minor infractions and just got warnings.

 

[ThaNotoriousSOD]

I'm a criminal defense attorney. Here's how it is in California in the jurisdiction I practice usually:

1st time DUI: 2 days

2nd time: 10 days

3rd: 120 days

4th: felony, minimum a year.


If you fuck up and injure anybody tho you're looking at a felony and potential years. If you kill someone you're fucked.


It's like this because DUI isn't a crime of poverty. everyone gets them, so they don't give a fuck, they're not a tool to use the system the way it's intended.

 

[Jogi]

Californian here. Drunk driving rightfully fucks your life here. I had a coworker who had to use a breathalyzer just to start his car.

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Does it really though? I just had jury duty and during the interview section at least 15 mentioned they had a dui within the past 3 years and seemed to be getting along just fine. It's unbelievable, really.

 

[SapientWolf]

Does it really though? I just had jury duty and during the interview section at least 15 mentioned they had a dui within the past 3 years and seemed to be getting along just fine. It's unbelievable, really.

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I'm guessing they didn't actually injure anyone. You can get murder charges for killing someone while driving drunk in Cali.

 

[Spenny]

Does it really though? I just had jury duty and during the interview section at least 15 mentioned they had a dui within the past 3 years and seemed to be getting along just fine. It's unbelievable, really.

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As I said in an above post it cost my friend nearly $15k when it was all said and done. It was his first offense.

 

[TaterTots]

It should be. It's Christmas Eve here and we had to go out earlier. I've never seen so many cars swerving and going off the road before. It was clear people were hitting the sauce. Made us stressed the fuck out. Even now, I've been seeing people on my street stumble around and are getting in their cars.

 

[TheMango55]

I don't really know the exact DUI laws in NC, but there are tons of people I know of who can only drive mopeds now (AKA "liquorcycles (pronounced "lickersickles")) because of DUI's.

 

[EYEL1NER]

I don't really know the exact DUI laws in NC, but there are tons of people I know of who can only drive mopeds now (AKA "liquorcycles (pronounced "lickersickles")) because of DUI's.

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Same in SC and I hate it. I mean, I kind of get that people around here absolutely have to have some form of transportation to get to work and stuff to be able to survive. Public transportation isn't available and distances are too far to walk. Drunk driving is horrible and I have zero tolerance for it but it's hard to figure out ways to penalize people that don't wind up with situations like a parent losing their way to get to work and being unable to provide for their family or something. But the mopeds are terrible. A person driving their moped drunk down the poorly-lit highway in the middle of the night here while I'm doing 60 on my way to work is just as capable of causing an accident. Like, the moped travels a lot slower than a car but everyone takes them on the highway or main roads that have high speed limits, and I feel like most of the people on them here are reckless af and don't pay attention to their surroundings. I feel like the rides on most of them after it gets so late at night here are probably hammered.

 

[Deleted member 11413]

The US has absolutely abysmal public transit and a very unhealthy drinking culture. That means DUIs are incredibly common and thus having extremely severe penalties for them would lead to a ballooning of our already massive prison industrial complex and massively fuck over entire communities.

Many states DO have pretty significant penalties for drunk driving, your anecdotal evidence (like most anecdotal evidence) is not representative of the reality.

Like most topics on criminal justice on this forum, the responses here betray just how unprogressive this place can be. If you think every instance of drunk driving should be treated by the justice system as something akin to attempted murder or carry mandatory penalties of 1+ year in prison then you are being blind to the devastating reality such a practice would have on society. If first or even second offense DUIs went to prison we'd have like 2 or 3 times the number of people in prison than we do currently and we already have way, way more people in prison than we should.

 

[AstronaughtE]

As I said in an above post it cost my friend nearly $15k when it was all said and done. It was his first offense.

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In Indiana where OP is from it's only UP to $500 for each offense.

 

[hateradio]

It's like this because DUI isn't a crime of poverty. everyone gets them, so they don't give a fuck, they're not a tool to use the system the way it's intended.

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I was going to say that being "rich" doesn't matter, besides being able to pay the fees. However, the fact that there are fees does affect lower-income people more in some way.

 

[Lucreto]

Here are the penalties in Ireland

Penalties for drink driving

• Penalties for drink driving offences, range from disqualification periods from 3 months to 6 years depending on the classification of driver (learner, novice, professional) level of alcohol detected, and whether it is a first or subsequent offence.
• The offence of refusing to provide a sample of blood, urine, or breath for evidential purposes will attract an automatic disqualification of 4 years for a first offence and 6 years for a second or subsequent offence.
• If the driver is a learner, novice or professional driver they are tested at the 20mg limit. If a driver is tested and they are above this limit, they are served with an on the spot fixed penalty notice and receive a fine of €200 and the person will be disqualified from holding a driving licence for a period of 3 months.
• If an ordinary driver is tested at the 50mg limit and they are over the limit they will be disqualified from driving for 3 months and receive a fine of €200.
• Penalties on conviction for drink driving vary depending on the amount of alcohol that has been detected in your system. Another factor the court will take account of is whether the offence is your first offence or otherwise.

More information on the site about different penalties depending on blood alcohol level https://www.drinkdriversdestroylives.ie/drink-driving-fast-facts/


Edit: From the above the 20mg would convert to less one US standard glass of beer. So you are over the limit after one drink and would have to wait 90 minute or so for your body to metabolize it.