Continue Efforts to Veto HB 971
FBA needs your help to continue efforts to veto HB 971. A letter was sent to Governor Crist May 17 signed by FBA Board president David Henderson. FBA representatives will be meeting with Chuck Drago, Deputy Chief of Staff to the Governor, later this week to provide supporting arguments and local examples of why HB 971 is unsafe for bicyclists and pedestrians.
Read the FBA announcement here.
Last I heard, the governor had received about half the calls and letters needed to veto this bill. If you have not yet called or written Gov Crist, please do so now!
The Honorable Charlie Crist
Governor of Florida
The Capitol, Suite PL05
400 S. Monroe Street
Tallahassee FL 32399
fax: 850-487-0801
phone: 850-488-7146
email: Charlie.Crist@MyFlorida.com
The FBA announcement does not reference the DUI issue. Frank V has posted a lot of good info about that in the comments of Mighk’s post. Here is a direct link to one of his comments. And a website with more info.
It is also vital to note that HB 971 will allow 4 time convicted drunk drivers to get their drivers licenses back. There is no question that drunk drivers can have deadly consequences for bicyclists: http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2010/01/musician_carlos_bertonatti_cha.php).
Please visit http://www.veto971.com for more information on the provision of HB 971 which deals with serial drunk drivers getting their drivers licenses back and join the Facebook group “Stop Drunk Drivers and Veto House Bill 971″ as a show of support: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=113209808719378&v=info).
Thank you
Was a drunk driver now sober for 7 years and not re-offended for 13 years I have paid the price and I stand on a solid foundation.Yes I will claw and scratch to get my license back if this bill is not passed illegal drivers will double in next 3 years.If somebody is serious about staying clean and proofs it why can’t there be some rewards of that work.Do some research Frank and read the big book (AA)?
How many chances do you think someone should have? Unlimited as long as enough time has passed?
And if people so easily scoff at the law about driving drunk, and keep driving anyway, what other laws do they think they should be exempt from?
When a drunk driver kills an innocent person, that person never gets their life back. That person’s family never gets their loved one back.
When a drunk driver disables an innocent person, that person never gets their mobility back.
In perspective, it’s not so harsh for a recidivist drunk driver to never get the privilege of driving back. Be grateful you’re free to move about the world in other ways and not sentenced to life in prison.
Want to make up your debt to society? Quit whining about having to live out the consequences of your actions and work to make our culture less dependent on automobiles. If we had really useful transit, I bet we’d have fewer drunk drivers. Turn it around. Use your self-created hardship as an opportunity to make the world a better place.
Alcoholism is a disability and I have great admiration for those who can overcome its evils. For you to look down your nose at a disabled person is despicable.
Frank- alcoholism is NOT a disability. It can have debilitating effects on a person, but it has been defined an impairment by ADA. read the abridged article here:
http://www.abanet.org/genpractice/magazine/2006/mar/labor.html
Your mention of alcoholism is the first. No one here has ever mentioned or looked down on anyone with an impairment.
The bottom line is habitual DUI offenders have issues with adhering to state laws. If underlying issues such as alcoholism are at the root, then until these individuals get over their denial and are rehabilitated, they should not be allowed the PRIVILEGE to operate a motor vehicle PERIOD.
We all make mistakes, I understand. But remember, once is a mistake, twice, three, or four times is a HABIT!
If this is someone you know of, please inform them ….Hello, you are the weakest link….Goodbye operating privileges for good. Game Over. You are not as smart as a Fifth Grader! yadda yadda
Please don’t confuse or try to diffuse the issue at hand by going on a wild goose chase with this tangent of alcoholism.
if you wouldve read the bill instead of talking out of your ass you wouldve read the part about this bill only being for people NOT convicted of dui manslaughter
HB 971 was presented toGovernor Crist today, May 21, 2010. So far Governor Crist has received in excess of 1500 calls and email in opposition to this bad bill. At most, we have 15 days to continue making our voices heard. If you haven’t already called and emailed Governor Crist and urged him to Veto HB 971, now is the time to do it!
Phone: 850-488-7146
Email: Charlie.Crist@MyFlorida.com
the only way a 4 time dui convicted person can get his license back with this new bill is that he can not have a dui conviction in the last 10 years, he can have no driving on suspended/revoked license charges and he has to have had a dui class completed within the last six months…..if someone has stayed out of trouble 10 years and wants to pay to beable to have his license with haveing an interlock device in his or her vehicle why not give them another chance….the interlock will not let them drive there vehicle if they have been consuming alcohol…and if they are caught driving a vehicle with out the interlock then they are arrested and pulled off the interlock program and will have no license again…this is a good bill…PASS IT.
Good bill my arse.
If a driver hasn’t changed their behavior by the third DUI, that’s a problem. There is no excuse for a first. Why should we risk everyone’s safety by providing such an individual a privilege they repeatedly abused?
You need to stop looking at other people’s behavior and tend to your own issues, Christopher.
yeah lets let them drive illegally with nothing to keep them off the roads drunk……thats smart. lets do nothing to stop this issue.
Changing the law to accommodate someone who’d otherwise be breaking the law… yeah, that’s smart. Nothing about offering another chance stops the issue.
what dont you understand about an interlock device being in a vehicle? if the person blows a .051 or higher the vehicle will not crank…..i’d feel safer knowing that…wouldnt you?
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/about/profile/rd/210_ignition_interlock_report.pdf
Twenty years of experience in CA says that interlocks are not effective. In particular, mandatory required installation of interlocks is ineffective. There is nothing in the HB 791 that will prevent drivers from avoiding the interlock device. If one is inclined to drive without a license I can’t see what would be compelling about an interlock requirement. A slightly clever person would drive with the interlock disabled in order to minimize the chance of getting caught.
Nothing in HB 791 makes me feel safer and most of it makes compromises to safety to satisfy various interests.
The option for interlocks is already on the books: http://www.flhsmv.gov/ddl/IID.html
I’m with Jayeson, they do not make me feel safer. Someone who repeatedly can’t be trusted to use good self judgment cannot be trusted by simply jamming a tube in their ignition. Interlocks can be bypassed, tricked, or completely avoided by hopping into any one of the countless other cars without them.
Opponents to HB 971 can get used to it being signed by the governor. With all the other good things in it, plus its sponsorship by MADD, Florida DHSMV, etc., it’s a shoo-in.
did either of you read that report…..the interlock works when in use…but if it is not enforced it will not work….”Evaluations of IID programs in Oregon and California did not
find the programs to be effective, while studies of IID in Ohio, Maryland, North
Carolina, Alberta Canada and Sweden do show that IIDs can reduce DUI recidivism” “While the results of these IID studies are somewhat
mixed, the preponderance of evidence suggests that IIDs are effective in reducing DUI
recidivism, by as much as 40-95%, at least as long as they remain installed on vehicles”
oh yeah….i’m done trying to get you to see my point of view…….have a safe and happy memorial day weekend.
Sad cyclist news this morning for the Sunshine State.
Good luck undoing that mess.
—————————————–
Florida Governor Charlie Crist | MEMORANDUM: Governor Crist’s Bill Actions Today, June 4, 2010 – http://www.flgov.com/release/11651
DATE: June 4, 2010
TO: Interested Media
FROM: Sterling Ivey, Governor’s Press Secretary
RE: Governor Crist’s Bill Actions Today, June 4, 2010
Governor Crist signed the following bills today, June 4, 2010: CS/CS HB 971 Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles
Allowing people who have proven themselves to have one last chance at driving again is a great thing. Some of us actually get it! I received my last DUI in 1995 and have not driven a vehicle drunk since then and I had received a lifetime revocation of my driving privileges. I haven’t been able to drive for the past 15 years. I finally decided for reasons not having to do with driving again to stop drinking completely. I have been totally drug and alcohol free for the past almost 8 years. I consider myself an alcoholic in recovery and I feel that I have learned my lesson very well. I can’t speak for all of the people who have had a lifetime revocation as to their current sobriety and I am sure that some of them still drink irresponsibly and would be dangerous to have on the road driving anything, even a bicycle for that matter. In case you don’t know, people can get a DUI while operating a bicycle (No kidding!) The point is that if someone can validate and substantiate there ability to show that they can be responsible then they should after 10 years of a suspension be allowed to drive under the new tough guidelines, that do protect the public, by way of the newly passed bill which is HB 971. M.A.D.D. supported the passing of this bill and you can bet that if they didn’t then Charlie Crist would have not supported it. Thank you M.A.D.D. and Gov. Charlie Crist for allowing only deserving people that have demonstrated they can be law abiding a chance to get their lives back by being able to drive again if they are willing to continue following the rules. This new law is not letting anyone with a lifetime revocation to drive without first showing that it has been 10 years since their last DUI and at least 5 years since any type of moving traffic violation which would include attempting to drive illegally while on previous punishment of permanent lifetime revocation status. They aren’t just saying line up and get your license back. Before anyone moans and groans about how terrible this bill is then why don’t you familiarize yourself with the strict guidelines that make up the bill in regard to the hardship driving license strict requirements. This is a good thing and it will also allow people to again become contributors to society. I would much rather have a person in compliance using an interlock on their car that monitors them than to have thousands of people driving illegally anyway because they have no other hope of ever getting their privilege to drive returned to them if they are willing to follow the rules.
Thank you M.A.D.D. and Gov. Charlie Crist !!!
almost all of you are guilty of DUI you just didn’t get caught period and you have done it numerous times. Drink 2 drinks at dinner and drive you are DUI. If you say you haven’t your kidding yourself.