new_pedestrian
Established Member
I've just read this from the comedian Richard Herring's blog. It's about his experience with the speeding rehab course rather than the drink driving one, but I thought I'd post a link to it here regardless just as a general bit of entertaining information about how these things work. It has the added bonus of being funny.
http://www.richardherring.com/warmingup/warmingup.php?id=2907
I find it interesting how speeders are still seen as not having really done anything wrong and anyone can freely admit to having been caught speeding without shame.
As most of us here know to our cost, drink driving is a criminal offence rather than a traffic one, and telling people what we did is a wholly different experience to when people talk about getting speeding tickets.
If speeding and drunk driving are both offences that threaten the safety of ourselves and others, it seems weird that they are handled so differently by the courts and seen so differently by the public in general.
IMHO, drink driving being a criminal offence makes no more or less sense than speeding being in the same bracket. Both are irresponsible decisions and could lead to the same results, e.g. death on the roads.
Personally I think that drink driving should be a traffic offence and not lead to a criminal record, rather than speeding being upgraded to a criminal case.
Surely a ban, a fine, paying for and doing the rehab course plus the social stigma of being a drunk driver is enough punishment without having to encounter problems associated with a criminal record afterwards as well?
Anyway, just my thoughts there, I really posted this as a link to Richard Herring's blog post because of the rehab course theme.
http://www.richardherring.com/warmingup/warmingup.php?id=2907
I find it interesting how speeders are still seen as not having really done anything wrong and anyone can freely admit to having been caught speeding without shame.
As most of us here know to our cost, drink driving is a criminal offence rather than a traffic one, and telling people what we did is a wholly different experience to when people talk about getting speeding tickets.
If speeding and drunk driving are both offences that threaten the safety of ourselves and others, it seems weird that they are handled so differently by the courts and seen so differently by the public in general.
IMHO, drink driving being a criminal offence makes no more or less sense than speeding being in the same bracket. Both are irresponsible decisions and could lead to the same results, e.g. death on the roads.
Personally I think that drink driving should be a traffic offence and not lead to a criminal record, rather than speeding being upgraded to a criminal case.
Surely a ban, a fine, paying for and doing the rehab course plus the social stigma of being a drunk driver is enough punishment without having to encounter problems associated with a criminal record afterwards as well?
Anyway, just my thoughts there, I really posted this as a link to Richard Herring's blog post because of the rehab course theme.