Shakaama Live: DUI is a Scam

DUI is a Scam

I'm sure you've heard of the sad stories MAAD [mothers against drunk drivers] tells you of poor little Timmy that was killed by a drunk driver and for poor Timmy's sake we need tougher laws. While I can feel sorry for little Timmy and his family, I'm not so sure about the logic behind tougher DUI laws.

So, I did some checking.

You know me, I have to see the numbers and the facts. Throw some numbers in front of me or some facts and I'll skip meals reading it.

The Facts Behind DUI Arrests

The average American thinks that the police are here to protect us. Surely stopping vehicles that exhibit "signs of erratic driving" is well within the duty of a police officer. But... what if i told you:

• Police get federal funding for every "DUI arrest" they make.
• States get federal funding for every "DUI arrest" made in their state.

Hmmm, are you reconsidering your position yet? Well let's think about those.

Police get federal funding for every DUI arrest - not conviction, they make. That means they get paid to make DUI arrests. Now I'm sure you've seen the policeman's ball, it's held once a year or more to raise funds for the police in the city. I'm sure you've seen cops, once a month, sit at a sweet spot and write ticket after ticket to meet their monthly quota for funds.

Can anyone say that if you knew that you were to get funding for just MAKING a DUI arrest, wouldn't you have a tendency to lean toward making those arrests? Heck, I'm not even a police officer, but i guarantee if someone paid me to do it, I'd park right at the corner of Walgreens at 1 a.m. and go to town arresting people for DUI.

"oh you tripped, clearly a DUI."

"oh you slurred that 'S', clearly a DUI."

"I smell alcohol, clearly a DUI, Calvin Klein perfume, alcohol, whatever, it's a DUI, and don't argue with me."

The state gets federal funding per each DUI arrest made. Now, you're a smart person. Do you think if the state gets federal funds to make DUI arrests, that maybe, just maybe, they might suggest, encourage, DEMAND police officers make DUI arrests?

The number 1 cause of all traffic accidents is "driver inattentiveness". That is: cell phones, noisy kids, putting on make-up, fiddling with he radio. Those, and more, take up the top 10 causes of accidents and vehicle deaths. DUI doesn't even enter the picture until way down the list.

So why do we need these tougher DUI laws? Hmmm, is there something behind that rhetoric? Federal funding! Wait, you mean the U.S. government gives federal funding to MAAD? LOL no, not the U.S. government. That's silly, tin foil hat, stuff there. No it's the states that do. Oh, bet you didn't see that switch. Yes, the states schmooze the organizations like that, and get them all riled up. Why? So the states can get more federal funding.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration - says that the field sobriety says that first of all things like the field sobriety test has to be administered correctly by a police officer. This is usually found to not be doing accurately. Even if they are, they find that only 60% of the time is even suggest a possible DUI. Things like field sobriety tests never take into account that the person taking the test may not be able to do the test, regardless of sobriety.

Finally a breath machine "DOES NOT MEASURE ALCOHOL". It measure the methyl group. It then assumes the methyl group is from alcohol, but you could be diabetic and found to be a DUI.