cct@rruxp.UUCP (C Todd) (01/02/86)
The government, news media, etc. have been discussing the percentage of "alcohol-related" auto accidents a lot lately. Does anyone know the definition of "alcohol-related" that is being used when these statistics are compiled? Chuck Todd ihnp4!pyuxa!rruxp!cct
bill@sigma.UUCP (Bill Swan) (01/10/86)
In article <127@rruxp.UUCP> cct@rruxp.UUCP (C Todd) writes: >The government, news media, etc. have been discussing the percentage >of "alcohol-related" auto accidents a lot lately. Does anyone >know the definition of "alcohol-related" that is being used >when these statistics are compiled? Yeah. It's like anything else that it's faddish to rail against: it means that alcohol was "involved" in the accident. It doesn't have to be a contributing factor, it merely needs to be there to be counted. (Save your flames, I do _not_ support drunken driving!) -- William Swan {ihnp4,decvax,allegra,...}!uw-beaver!tikal!sigma!bill
rcj@burl.UUCP (Curtis Jackson) (01/12/86)
In article <582@sigma.UUCP> bill@sigma.UUCP (William Swan) writes: >Yeah. It's like anything else that it's faddish to rail against: it means >that alcohol was "involved" in the accident. It doesn't have to be a >contributing factor, it merely needs to be there to be counted. Yes, indeed. In fact, if a drunk is walking down the sidewalk and a car runs up onto the sidewalk and kills him, it is officially listed as an "alcohol-related death". Along the same lines, I guess these days when we have lost our policemen (serve and protect) and replaced them with law enforcement officers (uphold the law), if a car rams into your living room where you are sitting getting pleasantly soused, the cops will probably arrest you for public drunkenness when they show up. Disclaimer: I don't believe in drunken driving, either; and I support most of the efforts of the incredibly underpaid police departments of our great country. The above sarcasm results from the sour taste still in my mouth over the NJ state patrolman who towed my rental car for a supposedly-expired registration (turns out later it wasn't), left four of us on the Garden State Parkway at night with the window down (electric window, he took the keys) for about 20 minutes, then forced two of us to ride in the car *while it was being towed* by threatening me with physical arrest if I didn't comply with "a direct order from a police officer". I'll leave out the rest of the horror story, leave it to say that our car was towed at 8pm and we didn't get back to the hotel until 4am after spending, among other things, two hours on a sidewalk in the middle of nowhere and $85 cab fare. I was not impressed -- I'll cool off sooner or later. Thanks for listening, -- The MAD Programmer -- 919-228-3313 (Cornet 291) alias: Curtis Jackson ...![ ihnp4 ulysses cbosgd mgnetp ]!burl!rcj ...![ ihnp4 cbosgd akgua masscomp ]!clyde!rcj
doug@terak.UUCP (Doug Pardee) (01/16/86)
> Yes, indeed. In fact, if a drunk is walking down the sidewalk and a car > runs up onto the sidewalk and kills him, it is officially listed as an > "alcohol-related death". If it happened in California, the drunk was probably guilty of being drunk "in or about an automobile". Yup, it isn't legal to take a taxi home or even to go near a parked car if you're drunk in California. The *intent* of the law was to allow officers investigating a traffic accident to arrest a drunk person that they suspected was driving, even though they couldn't be sure (perhaps he was found staggering around the accident scene). [This law was on the books around 1970. I presume that it hasn't been repealed since then, but I don't know.] -- Doug Pardee -- CalComp -- {hardy,savax,seismo,decvax,ihnp4}!terak!doug
jeff@rtech.UUCP (Jeff Lichtman) (01/20/86)
> > Yes, indeed. In fact, if a drunk is walking down the sidewalk and a car > > runs up onto the sidewalk and kills him, it is officially listed as an > > "alcohol-related death". > > If it happened in California, the drunk was probably guilty of being > drunk "in or about an automobile". Yup, it isn't legal to take a taxi > home or even to go near a parked car if you're drunk in California. > > -- > Doug Pardee -- CalComp -- {hardy,savax,seismo,decvax,ihnp4}!terak!doug False. Not only is there no law prohibiting intoxication in or about an automobile in California, but the laws against carrying an open container or drinking in a moving vehicle specifically except passengers in taxis. -- Jeff Lichtman at rtech (Relational Technology, Inc.) "Saints should always be judged guilty until they are proved innocent..." {amdahl, sun}!rtech!jeff {ucbvax, decvax}!mtxinu!rtech!jeff