🚀 go-pugleaf

woods@claven.ucar.edu (Greg Woods) writes:

->>It's easy enough to get alternative transportation (even in Boulder)
>Ever try to catch a bus back to Louisville at 2AM?

So get a taxi.  Yes, it's expensive; so is drinking.

>I would agree with the latter part of this, but I don't think in a supposedly
>free society that you can be "too concerned" about basic civil rights.
> Is it time to drag out Hitler and the Nazis yet? :-)

Sure, let's do that.  Nazis seem to come up whenever anyone in the US
feels that his/her rights are being violated.  Unlike the Nazis, I'm
interested in prosecuting a group of people that are clearly endangering
our lives.  We have scientific proof that alcohol impairs your abilities,
and this is backed up by statistical evidence.  You do not have the *right*
to operate a vehicle on a public road in the state of Colorado without
being subject to sobriety checks.  I'm not trying to take away your rights
here; you never had that right.
Let's look at the two types of sobriety checks that occur:

1) Sobriety checks when you are pulled over for a traffic violation.
You've already violated a law.  There's no reason why the officer shouldn't
suspect alcohol as a (partial or complete) reason for your violation,
and there is no reason why he shouldn't be able to test that suspicion.

2) "Random" roadside sobriety checks.  These seem to be what's really
upsetting you; you're likening these to the police forcing their way
into your house and searching it without a warrant or probable cause
(forced search and seizure, yes?)  However, as you're operating your 
vehicle on a public road, this is a weak analogy.  The officers do not 
(unless you appear to be impaired) ask you to get out of your car, or 
submit to anything more painful than a few minutes of conversation.   
You're worried about losing your right to privacy... but you never did
have the right to privacy on a public road.  You're taking thousands
of people's lives into your hands every time you drive that car.
I'd liken random roadside checks more to a police officer stopping you
on the street and asking you if you have a permit for that shotgun
you're waving around.
						-Robert.-