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All of the vehicle license plates available in America

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Re: All of the vehicle license plates available in America

#281
post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ruining people’s lives over weed is arguably immoral and not justice. I see no connection between that and penalties for drunk driving, which are necessary. The point is that while a person should lose their driving privileges for driving drunk, we should take seriously the implications of the typical punishment given our car dependent society, and the lack of public transit options in most places that aren’t big cit…

I'd argue that we should ruin people's lives over it. Why stop driving drunk if there are no serious consequences?

Texting while driving (or other similar distractions) results in slower reaction times for drivers than even drunk drivers. Yet it doesn't carry the same stigma. I would even guess a big portion of the people who have absolute disdain for drunk driving are guilty of distracted driving from time to time.

I don't know what the answer to that is, since it's more difficult to catch and prove But at the least we should all call out our friends or family if we see them doing it, the same way we would if they were about to drive while drunk.

Re: All of the vehicle license plates available in America

#282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>so removing one's ability to drive is a seriously major punishment. Being caught drunk driving 3(!!!) times is a seriously major crime. I'm a strong advocate for a complete driving ban after a single drunk driving episode, 3 is just crazy to me. I get the argument that in US that basically makes it impossible to get anywhere without a car but I don't know - get a bicycle or something, literally anything is preferab…

This is going to sound maybe insensitive but I've noticed driving drunk is a cultural thing. I've been with certain groups of people and pretty much it seems everyone and their cousin has a DUI and no one regarded it as a major crime. It sounds crazy but I bet if you were born 40 years earlier, you wouldn't care. Drunk driving wasn't even a thing until Mothers Against Drunk Driving made it a thing in the 80s. I don't…

It's a good point.. furthermore, there have been studies that show texting or other distractions while driving are considerably worse, but you don't see many people arguing for someone to lose their license when they text while driving

Re: All of the vehicle license plates available in America

#283
post #258
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The theory is they'll just drive anyway without a license. Plus in many/most parts of the US, a car is effectively required to live, so removing one's ability to drive is a seriously major punishment. The whiskey plate indicates to other drivers that the car could be more dangerous than expected, and yes, I think the shame is supposed to be a component as well. It's harm reduction, not a perfect solution. I don't kno…

In my country the state now confiscates cars of drunk drivers if their BAC is above 0.15%. And they also get criminally prosecuted - having a criminal record can seriously fuck up their lives. But some people still choose to drive drunk.

Punishments are not an effective deterrent. That is, you could increase the punishment ten fold and people would still do it. What matters is if people think they will get caught. You put up driving check points every weekend around the nightlife areas and you will see a decline, because people will feel more certain they will be caught, even if the punishment is not as bad.

Re: All of the vehicle license plates available in America

#284
post #239
post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being drunk on a bike is probably even more dangerous than drunk driving a car. Unfortunately, one doesn't need a license to use public roads with a bicycle.

More dangerous for whom?

Dangerous for all parties involved. Being out in the open with no safety belt, no crumple zones, a bicyclist can be easily killed in an accident. Drivers attempting to swerve out of the way can cause a greater accident with other vehicles, not to mention the possibility of killing a bicyclist. Add to that, the hypothetical of riding a bicycle while drunk, you've now just worsened the problem.

Moral of the story: don't drive drunk, don't ride a bike drunk. Ideally, don't get drunk at all, but if you do, don't operate any kind of vehicle.

Re: All of the vehicle license plates available in America

#285
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait, is it not possible to get banned from driving in the USA? For comparison the drink driving penalties are here: https://www.gov.uk/drink-driving-penalties

It is practically impossible unless one is in prison or something. In the future it could be enforced with biometrics authentication interlocks.

Hopefully the future will bring autonomous vehicles and drunk driving will simply not be an issue anymore

Re: All of the vehicle license plates available in America

#286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

America literally has an exception for slavery.

People who commit crimes are not entitled to the same rights as everybody else nor ought they to be

So if you want free labor, you just create harsh penalties for minor crimes.

Re: All of the vehicle license plates available in America

#287
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, with hundreds of legal variations, how can the police keep track of them all? Counterfeiting a plate wouldn't require a very exacting match, just close enough to fly under the radar.

Personally, it’s all the other plate readers I care about too. I’m more a privacy nut than trying to evade police detection. I’d imagine, as with so much, cops just outsource it to a data broker type service. They feed the camera footage to a third party API that spits back matched data. Either plate info or human info. My data doesn’t need to go into so many tracking DBs. No way so many small agencies can do anythin…

All the responses seemed to go straight to scanners and such, but I'm just thinking about the cops using their eyes. A fake-looking plate would attract a cop's attention, but with so many real variants, how is a cop going to recognize a fake out of all the possible legal looks?

Re: All of the vehicle license plates available in America

#288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> While "whiskey" plates are on the vehicle police officers can legally stop the driver of the vehicle Not any more. They changed this part of the law a few years ago. Probably around the same time that they (MN) began to implement breathalyzer interlocks where you can't start or drive the car if you're above a certain threshold. However, I think that if you're pulled over and you have an active DUI but are not drivi…

Being unable to rent a car or borrow a car while having a license seems like a weird combination of outcomes, so I looked it up. > What happens if I drive a car without whiskey plates? > It is a misdemeanor to drive a car that should have whiskey plates but doesn't. If you illegally remove whiskey plates from your car and are caught, you will go to jail. > When you register for whiskey plates, you'll need to disclose…

Well, you can do anything as long as you're not caught but the only exception that I'm aware of is if you must drive a vehicle as a part of your job, then it can have regular plates.

Re: All of the vehicle license plates available in America

#289

Too bad the plate cost data wasn't presented. Was wondering which was the most expensive. In Oregon the cost varies pretty wildly, and some don't have a renewal surcharge.

I forget it now, but I believe we pay an extra flat $30/yr for our "NC Aquariums" plate. The price is the same regardless of which optional design you get and the fee goes to the cause on the plate.
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