FL State Senator proposes pink tags for DUI

Ice · **Joined:** 2002-07-06 11:27pm **Posts:** 151

Quote:

Senator Proposes Pink Tags For DUI
By STEVEN ISBITTS
Published: Nov 15, 2005

CLEARWATER - -- A Bay area senator wants Floridians to think pink before they have a drink.

Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, has filed a bill that would require "bright pink" license plates on vehicles driven by people with restricted driving privileges resulting from a conviction for driving under the influence.

"Maybe it will embarrass people and keep them from drinking and driving," Fasano said. "Maybe they'll think twice."

Filed Nov. 1, Senate Bill 538 calls for the first three characters on the pink license plate to read "DUI." The bill also says police "may stop any vehicle that bears a DUI plate without probable cause to check the driver."

If passed, Florida would join Ohio and Michigan as a state with a punitive license plate law for DUI offenders. Many states have considered similar legislation, including Tennessee this year, but most bills have died after debate about privacy issues.

"Pink plates would hold out individuals for punishment as well as ridicule. We are very opposed to it," said Larry Spalding, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union in Florida.

Nicknamed "scarlet letter plates" in Ohio, the yellow tags with red letters are issued at a judge's discretion to people with multiple DUI convictions and restricted driving privileges, said Fred Stratmann, a spokesman for the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

The Ohio General Assembly passed the license law in 1967. But issuance of the plates has increased dramatically in the past two years after lawmakers approved the tags for two-time offenders, Stratmann said. Before 2003, the plates were issued only to people with five or more convictions.

"We haven't been sued by the ACLU for this yet, which is very encouraging," Stratmann said. "We'll issue about 6,000 plates this year."

In Michigan, a paper tag is issued to people who have been arrested for driving under the influence, if they have a previous DUI conviction. That tag is valid until the criminal case is adjudicated.

It Started With A Phone Call
If passed in Florida, Fasano's bill would affect tens of thousands of drivers.

About 840,000 of Florida's 15 million licensed drivers have an "active DUI sanction" on their driving records. And a small percentage of those have limited driving privileges, such as permission to drive only to and from work.

Exact numbers were unavailable Monday, said Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles spokesman Frank Penela.

"Considering all the education for drunk driving over the years, the numbers are staggering, and they don't improve," Fasano said.

Statewide, there were 45,926 convictions for DUI in 2004, up 9 percent from 2003. Hillsborough County had 4,971 convictions in 2004, a 21 percent increase from the previous year.

Fasano said the genesis of his bill was a call from a resident of his district, which includes parts of Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties.

"I had never heard of anything like this before," he said. "And that's quite simply how it started, with a call from a constituent asking us to look at what's being done in other states."

Fasano said he recently began searching for a House sponsor of the bill and is unsure how the bill might be received by state legislators.

"It could take two years to get the support, but I think it's worth the effort," Fasano said. "If I can't get a House sponsor, then maybe I can get it passed in the Senate and attached to a larger transportation bill.

"If it comes to my attention that the language on probable cause is unconstitutional, then we can pull that out. We'll do what it takes."

Precedent In Sarasota
Florida made national headlines about 20 years ago when Sarasota County judges ordered convicted DUI offenders to place bright red bumper stickers on their vehicles as a term of their probation. The stickers read "Convicted DUI, Restricted License."

In 1986, the practice survived a lawsuit and was upheld by the 2nd District Court of Appeal.

Becky Titus was the Sarasota judge who issued the most bumper stickers. She also helped develop the stickers, which had Velcro patches so that people using the vehicle who were not DUI offenders could cover the sticker.

Titus also was the last to order their use in 1988, before she was elected to the circuit bench and stopped presiding over DUI cases.

She remains a proponent of exposing DUI offenders.

"The number of DUI arrests in Sarasota went way down after we started this," Titus said Monday. "First-time offenders had told us that the worst part of their DUI experience was their names appearing in the newspaper, and that led us to decide to use the bumper sticker as a roving advertisement against DUI ... to get people to worry about it happening to them."

FLORIDA DUI CONVICTIONS
2003

Hillsborough: 4,103

Pasco: 1,240

Pinellas: 3,803

Polk: 1,596

2004

Hillsborough: 4,971

Pasco: 1,097

Pinellas: 3,537

Polk: 1,334

State total

2003: 42,167

2004: 45,926

That's my shitty five second attempt to recreate the image of the tag that I saw on the news. The "000" will obviously get it's own number, but the "DUI" is a part of the tag and won't change. I'm pretty sure the lettering will be a brighter color pink than what I used, but whatever. You get the idea.

Thoughts?

Tsyroc · **Post subject:** **Posted:** 2005-11-16 01:51am

I'm sure there'll be arguments about tagging the car like that when it might be the only means of transportation for a multiple driver family.

Maybe it would be better if they issued DUI drivers licenses to people with DUI's on their records within the last 10 years or so? It more specifically targets the offender and could easilly clue in the police or even bartenders when they check the person's ID.

CmdrWilkens · **Post subject:** **Posted:** 2005-11-16 02:57am

If they have restricted driving privledges it should show up somewhere on the liscense. I know there isn't any statement one way or the other in the article but restrictions are suppossed to be noted on a liscense so I would expect its already to that point. That said I like the bumper sticker (which could be covered) idea and one wonders if its still being used and if so how often.

weemadando · **Joined:** 2002-07-28 12:30pm **Posts:** 16003

Both are good ideas. Humiliation in the "macho" culture that tends to surround this shit is far better than a fine.

Anguirus · **Joined:** 2005-09-11 02:36pm **Posts:** 3303

It is public humiliation, which I don't like...but then is isn't far off from making sex offenders register in a database and inform communities that they move into. Since I have very little sympathy for DUIs, I'm cautiously in favor of this. Hell, if it saves one life I'd be glad.

Flagg · **Post subject:** **Posted:** 2005-11-16 02:57pm

I don;t have a problem with it as long as the person getting the tag is the only one who drives it. Except I would make the plate bright orange instead of pink, that was it will stand out better in the sun, and at night.

Edi · **Post subject:** **Posted:** 2005-11-16 03:46pm

If the car is registered in your name and you get two or more DUIs, then that's tough cookies if somebody else also needs to use the car and gets hassled by police. Under normal circumstances, the person whose name is in the vehicle registration papers is the primary driver and if he/she has a record of driving while intoxicated, having a warning label on the vehicle to indicate a safety hazard is entirely appropriate.

I know there's a lot of shit being pushed to unduly restrict privacy on flimsy excuses, but this ain't one of them. Presumably the pink plates would be rescinded if you can stay dry for long enough (e.g. no DUI offenses for two years or something like that).

Edi

Durandal · **Post subject:** **Posted:** 2005-11-16 06:18pm

Yes, good idea. Humiliate anyone else who has to drive the car as well in addition to the drunk driver.

FSTargetDrone · **Post subject:** **Posted:** 2005-11-16 06:18pm

Plates? PLATES? What about a lifetime ban on driving, depending on the severity of any injury to others if someone is driving drunk and causes a wreck? At the very least many years of suspended licenses. Someone being embarrassed about the color of his or her license plateon his/her car is the least of my concerns. Take away the license.

Faram · **Post subject:** **Posted:** 2005-11-16 06:26pm

Well I have stated on this board many times that I would like to see roadside executions of anyone caught drunk driving.

Scumbags and assholes all of them!

This is a step in the right direction and I would love to see it in Sweden

Flagg · **Post subject:** **Posted:** 2005-11-16 06:52pm

Durandal wrote:

Yes, good idea. Humiliate anyone else who has to drive the car as well in addition to the drunk driver.

That's the only problem I really have with it.
I think a solution may be to use magnetic signs that the person who was convicted of DUI must place on the vehicle while they operate it, rather than issueing a pink license plate to the vehicle itself.

Flagg · **Post subject:** **Posted:** 2005-11-16 06:55pm

FSTargetDrone wrote:

Plates? PLATES? What about a lifetime ban on driving, depending on the severity of any injury to others if someone is driving drunk and causes a wreck? At the very least many years of suspended licenses. Someone being embarrassed about the color of his or her license plateon his/her car is the least of my concerns. Take away the license.

Well eventually that will happen if they continue to do it.
But I think they are taking a generally right approach for the wrong reasons. A better argument for doing this would to be warn other drivers of a potential danger. This has the side effect of being humiliating, rather than humiliation being the primary purpose.

Durandal · **Post subject:** **Posted:** 2005-11-16 08:24pm

Flagg wrote:

Durandal wrote:

Yes, good idea. Humiliate anyone else who has to drive the car as well in addition to the drunk driver.

That's the only problem I really have with it.
I think a solution may be to use magnetic signs that the person who was convicted of DUI must place on the vehicle while they operate it, rather than issueing a pink license plate to the vehicle itself.

Yes, socially branding people who could very well be alcoholics is a brilliant solution. All this would do is incite a person who was caught driving drunk to drink even more as he becomes a social pariah.

What honestly makes anyone think these people are responsible and sensible enough to actually learn from public humiliation? Just suspend their licenses or revoke them outright.

aerius · **Post subject:** **Posted:** 2005-11-16 08:39pm

This proposal ain't gonna do much. If they want to drastically reduce drunk driving they can start with the courts & judges, make sure the punishment means something and then give the cops the ability to enforce it. When the system lets people with 10 DUI convictions out on the street where they can run over yet another child and get a slap on the wrist, is it any wonder that people just don't give a fuck about driving around drunk?

They know that the worst thing that'll happen is they'll get a small fine and a possible license suspension, and that no one's going to follow up on them to make sure they're not driving on a suspended license. Fix that and they'll be a lot fewer drunk drivers around.

MKSheppard · **Post subject:** **Posted:** 2005-11-16 08:42pm

Durandal wrote:

What honestly makes anyone think these people are responsible and sensible enough to actually learn from public humiliation?

Public Humilation is how things used to be in the old days.

weemadando · **Joined:** 2002-07-28 12:30pm **Posts:** 16003

I heartily endorse much heavier penalties for DUI. Complete license removal for a year for the first offense. 5 years for second offense. And lifetime driving ban if they do it a third time.

SCRawl · **Post subject:** **Posted:** 2005-11-16 09:25pm

weemadando wrote:

I heartily endorse much heavier penalties for DUI. Complete license removal for a year for the first offense. 5 years for second offense. And lifetime driving ban if they do it a third time.

That's something like what we have in Canada. According the the Criminal Code of Canada, the first offence is a one-year license suspension, second offence is two years (plus possible jail time), third and subsequent offences are three years plus three months in the slammer.

(Provinces tend to have more stringent penalties -- in Ontario, a third offence mandates a lifetime driving ban, which is reducible to a ten-year ban under certain conditions.)

All of this is great and all, but while offenders are prohibited from driving by law, they aren't prohibited from driving by anything very meaningful. I've heard stories of people driving to the courthouse, going in to receive their sentence (which includes an immediate license suspension) and then driving home. Or to a bar. An acquaintance of mine, whom I knew through my job several years ago, had a one year driving suspension, which he completely ignored. It could be argued that an easily identifiable license plate on his vehicle might have made him think twice about this sort of behaviour.

Of course, the collateral damage here is done to the family members of those DUI offenders who have to use the same car with the scarlet letter on it. Well, sucks to be you.

All of this, unfortunately, is still meaingless in a pretty large percentage of cases, specifically the alcoholics. If you're an alcoholic who drinks, you're probably going to be driving drunk. Consequences schmonsequences, you won't crack that nut until you fix the drinking part, and a pink license plate won't help a guy stop drinking.

In case anyone cares where I stand, I would support such a measure. The cost is minimal (or it should be), the downside is regrettable, but manageable, and it might stop a few people from driving drunk a year. But it won't fix the problem, not by a longshot.

The Dark · **Post subject:** **Posted:** 2005-11-16 11:23pm

Durandal wrote:

Just suspend their licenses or revoke them outright.

Which does precisely jack shit. We have 1.4 million people with suspended licenses, and it doesn't stop them from driving. Rural counties average one arrest per week of people driving on a suspended license. My personal choice would be confiscation of the motor vehicle without the option to buy it back before auction, but I doubt most people would go for that.

Flagg · **Post subject:** **Posted:** 2005-11-17 03:29pm

Durandal wrote:

Flagg wrote:

Durandal wrote:

Yes, good idea. Humiliate anyone else who has to drive the car as well in addition to the drunk driver.

That's the only problem I really have with it.
I think a solution may be to use magnetic signs that the person who was convicted of DUI must place on the vehicle while they operate it, rather than issueing a pink license plate to the vehicle itself.

Yes, socially branding people who could very well be alcoholics is a brilliant solution. All this would do is incite a person who was caught driving drunk to drink even more as he becomes a social pariah.

What honestly makes anyone think these people are responsible and sensible enough to actually learn from public humiliation? Just suspend their licenses or revoke them outright.

I'm looking at it as more of a safety issue than a public humiliation issue. I wouldn't be adverse to requiring that similar signs be placed on people with a bad driving record as well.

Keevan_Colton · **Post subject:** **Posted:** 2005-11-17 03:31pm

The Dark wrote:

Durandal wrote:

Just suspend their licenses or revoke them outright.

Which does precisely jack shit. We have 1.4 million people with suspended licenses, and it doesn't stop them from driving. Rural counties average one arrest per week of people driving on a suspended license. My personal choice would be confiscation of the motor vehicle without the option to buy it back before auction, but I doubt most people would go for that.

Simple solution, people drive on a suspended license, send them to jail.
Send the fuckers actually presenting a risk to the saftey of others and a disregard of the law down.

FSTargetDrone · **Post subject:** **Posted:** 2005-11-17 04:15pm

The Dark wrote:

Durandal wrote:

Just suspend their licenses or revoke them outright.

Which does precisely jack shit. We have 1.4 million people with suspended licenses, and it doesn't stop them from driving. Rural counties average one arrest per week of people driving on a suspended license. My personal choice would be confiscation of the motor vehicle without the option to buy it back before auction, but I doubt most people would go for that.

Absolutely confiscate the vehicle. I'm all for that. Sell it and use the proceeds to go toward helping the people affected by drunk drivers.

WyrdNyrd · **Joined:** 2005-02-01 06:02am **Posts:** 693

Confication of cars? It's happenning in South Africa, although there are legal challenges to the idea.

Some claim the cops are going well beyond thier mandate with this and other strict anti-crime measures. It's a tough one - On the one hand, we have runaway crime, and any solution would be good. On the other hand, nothing good can come from cops making up their own laws if they don't like the ones already in place.

FL State Senator proposes pink tags for DUI

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