Cops get tough with women driving drunk

Submitted by Michael on Mon, 2009-08-24 03:38

Story here Excerpt:

'It used to be that a woman caught driving under the influence stood a good chance of getting a break from the police officer.

Not anymore.

Over the past decade, DUI arrests of female drivers have shot up in Chicago, as well as across Illinois and the nation, new government figures show.

That's happened even as the number of men being busted for driving drunk has been steadily dropping in the United States over the last decade.

The rising number of DUI arrests of women probably reflects a change in attitude by police.'

Like0 Dislike0

Comments

... that women are no more or less likely to violate traffic laws or drive drunk than men. But since most cops are men and too many men will, as we know, let women go from responsibility because they are women, they simply haven't been getting in trouble for traffic violations nearly at the same rate as men because they are not getting ticketed. No paper trail, no crime.

Anecdotally I have met several women who say they get pulled over for speeding "all the time" (and they admit it is because they speed) but "never get a ticket" because they flash that pretty smile. Well I could blame the women themselves but I don't. They don't do or say anything other than smile and say "Yes, officer, what's wrong?" Nothing wrong with that. I do the same thing (though to no such effect as getting away with a warning) if I get pulled over, though I haven't in a long time [with age cometh wisdom I guess, or maybe it's just that a speed of 60 or 65 MPH seems fast enough to me now that I am over 40 :)]. It's the cops that are letting them go without ticketing them, so it is their attitudes and behavior that need to change. Glad to see that is happening, at least somewhere.

Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by mcc99 on Mon, 2009-08-24 16:41

This is really not quite in the same category as drunk driving. But I've been thinking lately that making every street race a crime will eliminate another outlet for testosterone, so it will just find an outlet somewhere else - like violence.

I don't really see the big deal of a harmless boulevard spur-of-the-moment race between two guys. As long as it's just an acceleration contest and not a top speed one. So suspend their licenses the first time. Back when I was a teen I witnessed numerous such races, and I don't ever rememeber a story of anyone getting killed or seriously injured, even with motorcycles.

-ax

Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by axolotl on Mon, 2009-08-24 23:29