"Travellers"

[NewtonTrino]

Opinions noted and dismissed. (Note to self: a possible anarchist zealot)

Anarchist? Nice straw man you've created there. There's an awful lot of distance between not allowing police checkpoints and anarchy. Having been to a few countries with regular checkpoints on major roads I'm quite surprised that anyone would think giving the government such power in non-emergency situations is a good idea. So maybe I should file you under communist totalitarian then? Or is painting with too broad a brush not ok when you're the victim?

 

[Hallo Alfie]

Anarchist? Nice straw man you've created there. There's an awful lot of distance between not allowing police checkpoints and anarchy. Having been to a few countries with regular checkpoints on major roads I'm quite surprised that anyone would think giving the government such power in non-emergency situations is a good idea. So maybe I should file you under communist totalitarian then? Or is painting with too broad a brush not ok when you're the victim?

he he. I'm no victim mate, I don't give you that power.
Communist totalitarian is hilarious too btw. I am an awful lot further to the right than that.

It's about balance son, balance: The greater good against a small loss of liberty; protecting the genuinely innocent against the actions of the absent minded or negligent; a safe environment for the many and protecting people from others and themselves.

 

[EHocking]

Victoria specifically. Some Australian states already have a law against it, if A Current Affair is to be believed.

Certainly when I were a lad and first driving 30+ years ago "it was a known fact"^[TM] that open containers of alcohol were illegal in cars in Victoria.

 

[Sideroxylon]

Many Americans essentially don't trust government. Perhaps it is something to do with the history of escaping religious persecution by some in their early history. We don't have any of parallels with the FEMA camp conspiracies or the expressed need to bear arms as a safeguard against a government gone bad.

We just don't see drink driving laws as a slippery slope to totalitarianism, but as a necessary public safety regulation.

 

[NewtonTrino]

he he. I'm no victim mate, I don't give you that power.
Communist totalitarian is hilarious too btw. I am an awful lot further to the right than that.

It's about balance son, balance: The greater good against a small loss of liberty; protecting the genuinely innocent against the actions of the absent minded or negligent; a safe environment for the many and protecting people from others and themselves.

I think we just put our balance points at different places. To me random police checkpoints are over the line. To you, not so much.

I will fully admit most of my opinions do not fall in the middle of the political spectrum. Small 'l' libertarian describes me fairly well I guess, although I look at every issue individually.

 

[NewtonTrino]

Many Americans essentially don't trust government. Perhaps it is something to do with the history of escaping religious persecution by some in their early history. We don't have any of parallels with the FEMA camp conspiracies or the expressed need to bear arms as a safeguard against a government gone bad.

We just don't see drink driving laws as a slippery slope to totalitarianism, but as a necessary public safety regulation.

It's not about trusting the government. It's about too much of a concentration of power which can then be subverted by others. There are many many examples of this in the usa. Military industrial complex, tons of federal agencies with sketchy agendas (DEA for example), earmarks and special interest spending, public sector unions strangling state governments to death (like in my state) etc. If we keep the amount of power that government has reduced it helps to reduce rent seeking by those in a position to bribe politicos.

I'm not a believer that there is any kind of "conspiracy" or nefarious stuff going on with respect "fema camps" or any other nonsense btw. To me it's just bloated government wasting money.

The militarization of the police around here is particularly alarming. Have you guys paid attention to what's happening here? The police are totally out of control. So yes, I think keeping them in check and not allowing them too many powers is good thing. If the police around here were allowed to stop people without cause (e.g. a checkpoint) you would see racial profiling on a massive scale. Driving while black is already an offense around here, one which can get you killed.

Maybe in Australia the police actually are benevolent and they won't abuse the power given to them.

Trust these guys?
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2017040786_dojmayor18m.html

 

[Hallo Alfie]

A man caught driving at more than four times the legal blood-alcohol limit with three children in the car last night told police he was driving home from a church Christmas party.

The 55-year-old Cranbourne man was stopped as part of a routine booze bus operation on the Princes Highway in Dandenong about 9.30pm.
He blew 0.201 and his licence was suspended for a year.

This is why our booze buses are good. There were four others caught too.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/drinkdrive-blitz-nets-dad-as-five-die-on-roads-20111219-1p161.html

 

[Magenta]

Anarchist? Nice straw man you've created there. There's an awful lot of distance between not allowing police checkpoints and anarchy. Having been to a few countries with regular checkpoints on major roads I'm quite surprised that anyone would think giving the government such power in non-emergency situations is a good idea. So maybe I should file you under communist totalitarian then? Or is painting with too broad a brush not ok when you're the victim?

I presume after 6 pages you understand how RBT is conducted in Australia? Anyhow, the following addresses the highlighted part of your post:

Support among the in-scope population for random breath testing (RBT) was measured by the question:

Do you agree or do you disagree with the random breath testing of drivers?

Figure 3.1a shows 98% support for random breath testing. Overall agreement has not fallen below 96% since 1997. The level of ‘strong’ community support for RBT is also very high and remained consistent at 85% between 2008 and 2009.

Community Attitudes to Road Safety - 2009 survey report (p. 10)

 

[Magenta]

Maybe in Australia the police actually are benevolent and they won't abuse the power given to them.

This is just fanciful speculation. There is, however, strong community support for RBT (see post above).

 

[Robrob]

The militarization of the police around here is particularly alarming. Have you guys paid attention to what's happening here? The police are totally out of control. So yes, I think keeping them in check and not allowing them too many powers is good thing. If the police around here were allowed to stop people without cause (e.g. a checkpoint) you would see racial profiling on a massive scale. Driving while black is already an offense around here, one which can get you killed.

Hyperbole presented as fact.

 

[Hallo Alfie]

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/mother-blows-257-20111225-1p9l0.html

A mother of three has been caught driving with a blood alcohol reading more than five times the limit, police say.

A booze bus operation in Ballarat stopped the 45-year-old driver on Christmas Eve as she was taking a tour of the city's Christmas lights. Her three school-aged children were in the car with her.

Police allege that a roadside breath test recorded a reading of 0.257, or greater than five times the legal limit.

The woman's licence was suspended for a year and she is expected to be charged at a later date.

Kids aside, I wonder how many travellers she had with her?

 

[NewtonTrino]

This is just fanciful speculation. There is, however, strong community support for RBT (see post above).

Hold on, what's speculation? My comment was specifically that the seattle police are out of control. Not just my opinion btw, it's the opinion of the investigators from the department of justice.

 

[KoihimeNakamura]

Seattle != Australia, != Pierce County

 

[Akhenaten]

Seattle != Australia, != Pierce County

As it happens, they're just about antipodal.

Not just geographically, I might add.