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The Kids Safety Smart Drunk Driving Bill, May 21, 2007.
Fatal crashes occurring from midnight to 3:00 AM, 77% involved alcohol in 2003.
The next most dangerous time period for alcohol-related crash deaths were 9 PM to midnight (64% of fatal crashes involved alcohol), followed by 3 AM to 6 AM (60% of fatal crashes involved alcohol). (Source - NHTSA, 2004)
In the year 2000 there were 16,653 alcohol-related fatalities in the United States,
2001 - 17,448, 2002 - 17,419, 2003 - 17,013, 2004 - 16,694, 2005 - 16,885.
Each year over five times the amount of people who were lost in the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001, are needlessly killed by drunk drivers and this tragedy losing thousands of lives continues year after year.
In the last 6 years 102,112 people lost their lives to alcohol related deaths and each year over 1.5 million arrests are made for DUI. An estimated 250,000 people are seriously injured each year as a result of drunk driving.
According to these statistics concerning drinking and driving, the road at night between 9PM and 6AM belongs to drunk drivers. The majority of these drivers are intoxicated past the legal limit after leaving a bar or nightclub.
It's time to put a STOP to it NOW.
Year after year congress passes one law after another to penalize drunk drivers with heavy fines and jail time to the tune of an estimated 15 Billion dollars annually.
The majority of those drunk drivers are repeat offenders only proving that penalties alone do not work.
With 1.5 million DUI arrests being made every year someone should have noticed a long time ago that penalty alone does not work. It does however make a lot of money for lawyers and revenue for the court system and maybe that’s why no one ever cared to notice. Seems like when politicians need more money all they have to do is stiffen the drunk driving laws by increasing the fines, telling the American people they're going to get tough on drunk driving when in fact they know they have a huge customer base of 1.5 million people each year who are going to drink and drive regardless guaranteeing the revenues they seek.
This is going to be a major fight with all the special interest groups who make money off people who drink and drive. It's time to tell congress to stop putting a price tag on our lives with drunk drivers.
If a person is caught drinking and driving of course they should be penalized to the full measure of the law. However, we want to stop drunk drivers BEFORE they get behind the wheel of a car, not later after they have already killed or seriously injured someone.
Think of it this way. Those 1.5 million arrests last year for DUI are only the ones who got caught. I think we would all gasp if we knew the actual statistical number of drunk drivers on the road who are driving right beside us or coming at us on the highway who do not get caught but endanger our lives every day. Whether it’s the habitual drunk driver who is a constant repeat offender or someone who is occasionally a little over the legal limit coming home from a bar, drinking and driving can be prevented. We do have the technology to stop it. It’s just a matter of taking the initiative to apply a little bit of common sense and personal responsibility to stop a drunk driver who is impaired and past the point of reasoning, being in a state of recklessness to endanger other people’s lives.
Our preemptive bill stops drunk drivers before they ever get behind the wheel of a vehicle.
This Bill If Made Law Will STOP 75% Of Drunk Drivers Each Year,
Saving 12,763 People From Being Killed And Another 187,500 People From Being Seriously Injured.
Our Solution To This Crisis.
We the undersigned petition along with other concerned interest groups who are opposed to drinking and driving, propose a bill to congress that each state require as part of the liquor license granted to each business establishment offering alcohol to it's customers served by the drink, to provide "Mandatory Valet Parking" in order to hold onto the keys of a potential drunk driver as a preventive measure to help decrease the number of drunk drivers on the road and to save lives.
A bar is defined as any business establishment, nightclub or restaurant that serves alcohol by the drink.
Before the keys are handed back to a driver, a required “breath test” by a state regulated breath analyzer must be taken by the driver to validate the condition of the driver after leaving an establishment that sells or serves alcohol to determine if the driver is safe to be on the road.
Anyone who drives into the parking lot of a business establishment that serves or sells alcohol and patrons that business establishment for any length of time, surrendering their keys to a valet as prescribed by law, will be required to take a breath test whether or not the driver participated in drinking alcohol while inside. To determine if the drivers is legally capable of driving and is not pass the legal limit of intoxication.
A record will be kept to identify the keys of each parked car with a print out receipt that shows the drivers breath analyzer score, to be logged and dated with the driver’s signature and the cars tag number. No car will be permitted to leave the parking lot of a business that serves or sells alcohol until the driver of the car has been certified by a state regulated breath analyzer to be considered safe and able to drive.
If the driver is later involved in an accident after leaving a bar, the nightclub cannot be held responsible if the bar can show that the driver was validated ok to drive after leaving the business establishment with a print out receipt and signature from the driver.
If a driver does fail the breath test the keys will not be returned to the driver and other arrangements for transportation such as a taxicab will be furnished by the bar to ensure the safety of the driver home as well as any other passengers that may have been depending on the driver for a ride home. Most nightclubs and bars may even provide a shuttle bus service for a fee.
Our intent with this bill is not to inconvenience responsible people but only to stop drunk drivers. If this bill does save thousands of lives each year I don't think responsible people will mind a little inconvenience especially when it's their own life that might be saved from a drunk driver. If anything people will not only come to accept the service of valet parking but will expect it.
If a driver after failing the breath test insists that the keys be returned, the police will be called and the keys turned over to the authorities. If the driver agrees to leave peaceable without incident by cab or shuttle bus after failing the breath test, the driver may return to the bar the following day to retrieve the keys and car after sobering up well enough to drive. A breath test will be given a second time to determine if the driver is sober enough to retrieve keys and car. Any fees owed by the driver will be paid at the time of retrieving the driver’s car. If any fees owed by the driver are not paid the car will be held until all fees have been paid in full, such as cab fare home from the night before. If the driver leaves the car on the parking lot for longer then 3 days the business establishment can begin to charge additional fees for storage. After 30 days the car must be determined abandoned and impounded by the police.
If one single life is saved by this proposed legislation by taking one drunk driver off the road that should have never had the keys in the first place to drive, it's worth whatever the cost. We believe this Bill if made to become Law will decrease the number of alcohol related crash fatalities by a conservative estimate of 50% or more. That’s almost 8,000 lives saved each year. Not to mention the 125,000 people who will be saved each year from a serious life changing injury.
Some critics might say this puts too much burden and cost on the bar or nightclub industry as an inconvenience but I say and those of us who support this bill that if you are in the business of getting people drunk, then you too must bear the responsibility of prevention and liability when innocent lives are at stake, preferably prevention rather then the liability. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure and when it means the difference between someone’s life especially an innocent victim or the inconvenience of an irresponsible person, how can anyone argue against prevention.
We believe this bill if made law will not only give bars and night clubs the authority to prevent drunk customers from driving out of the parking lot impaired but will also serve to increase profits for the night clubs creating a whole new job industry.
Bars, nightclubs and restaurants that are already in business to serve alcohol by the drink prier to this bill being made law will be given 6 months to come into compliance with the new law. Those applying for a liquor license after the new law is passed will be expected to be in full compliance of the law before a liquor license will be granted.
This Bill serves to protect us all from those who are irresponsible to drink and drive and though we may not be able to completely get every drunk driver off the road we can do whatever we can to make sure those high statistical numbers are decreased. To keep within the status quo is not good enough and unacceptable.
77% of all fatal crashes after midnight are alcohol related; this is unacceptable.
We can always improve to do better and because drinking and driving effects everyone, my son and daughter, your mom and dad, grandmother and grandfather, uncle and aunt, friend and neighbor, innocent people whose lives are at stake, we demand this bill become law.
Stores That Sell Alcohol.
This Bill would also require any store selling alcohol to give a breath test by a state certified breath analyzer to every customer purchasing alcohol to determine if the customer is too intoxicated to purchase alcohol. If the customer fails the breath test no alcohol will be sold. Being public intoxicated is against the law and just as mush a crime as is drinking and driving. When a store or bar sells alcohol to a person who is already past the limit of public intoxication whether that person is driving or walking, that business is contributing to a crime.
By giving a breath test to determine if a customer is too intoxicated to purchase alcohol relinquishes any liability on the part of the business that is in compliance with state law, also preventing someone from becoming too intoxicated who is unable to make rational life and death decisions.
The attendant, cashier or business owner is exempt from having to make a judgment call on whether or not someone is determined legally intoxicated but rather a state regulated breath analyzer will make that determination and be “required” by the business owner, cashier or attendant to give everyone who purchases alcohol a breath test to determine any level of intoxication and not serve or sell alcohol to anyone who is already past the legal limit of intoxication.
Because the breath test will be given to everyone who is sold alcohol, no one can claim bias discrimination or profiling because the breath analyzer makes no distinction from one person to the next. Determination on whether or not a person can be sold alcohol is solely based on the read out score made by a state certified breath analyzer. Business owners, cashiers and those who sell alcohol are already required to ask for proof of age identification by law, this law takes that responsibility just one step further requiring those who sell alcohol not to sell alcohol to anyone who is already certified by the state regulated breath analyzer past the legal amount of intoxication.
To put it simply; if you are sitting at home getting drunk and you are down to your last bottle of beer, it will not do you any good to get in your car and drive down to the local neighborhood store to make a “beer run” because the store will not sell you any alcohol being intoxicated. You might as well just sit there at home until you sober up because you will not be served any alcohol after this law goes into effect if you are past the legal amount of intoxication. Anyone who fails the breath test at a local store trying to buy alcohol might even be subject to arrest either for public intoxication, or if your driving, for DUI.
You can forget about that old terminology "Beer Run"; that will become a thing of the past. For those who do drink alcohol on a regular bases a home version of a breath analyzer will be made available to the public so people can check their own level of intoxication at home before they decide to get in the car and drive after drinking alcohol.
The Certified Breath Analyzer.
Each business that serves or sells alcohol will be required to have on the premises a state certified and regulated breath analyzer that is capable of giving accurate and quick responses. A disposable straw that inserts into the “breath hole” of the machine will be furnished to everyone who is required to take a breath test. The breath analyzers will be periodically inspected by state officials as prescribed by law to determine if the breath analyzer is working properly giving accurate readings.
Provisions for this Bill:
1. A business establishment applying for a liquor license to sell alcohol to its customers which is classified as a nightclub or bar where alcohol is served by the drink is required to provide mandatory “Valet Parking” in order to hold onto the keys of every customer who drives into the parking lot.
2. Only the valet is permitted to park cars and have access to the main parking lot.
This will also solve the problem with drug dealers who sell drugs at nightclubs and bars out of their car because they have easy access to the car during the night where the drugs are kept between drug deals. No one will have access to a car in the secured parking lot until they are ready to leave the bar and then only after a breath test has been passed by the driver thereby releasing the car.
3. Barriers with a gate entrance that are commonly used with secured parking lots shall encompass the parking lot and no one except the valet on duty is allowed on the main parking lot where cars of patron customers are kept parked.
4. When a customer drives into the parking lot, the driver will pull the car to the appointed area that is close to the door where the driver will surrender his car and keys to an on duty “valet” who will stamp on the drivers hand a parking lot number assigned to the driver where the car will be parked.
By stamping the parking lot number on the drivers hand ensures the driver will not lose or forget the number where the assigned car is parked for speedy identification purposes and to ensure prompt service for the customer when leaving. Of course this is only an example of parking procedures, each nightclub, bar or restaurant will determine their own prompt service for securing each car on the parking lot and a way of identify each car parked with the correct driver.
5. This law will provide for the authority of nightclubs and bars to be able to hold and detain the keys and automobile of anyone who is deemed intoxicated or who will not take the breath test after leaving the bar or nightclub. The law will also give valets the authority to place under arrest and held for police anyone on the premises who is creating an unlawful disturbance. Refusal to take a breath test gives the bar or nightclub just cause not to surrender the keys or car to the potential drunk driver. This law provides legal detainment of any vehicle, which is willingly turned over to a valet by the driver, to be parked in the parking lot designated for that business and held until the driver can pass a breath test upon leaving the bar.
6. When a customer is ready to leave the nightclub or bar, the driver presents to the valet on duty a parking lot number. The valet will then ask the driver of the car to submit to a breath test to determine if the driver is legally able to drive. If the driver refuses the breath test the car will be held in confinement.
7. If the driver does willingly submit to the breath test and fails to pass the legal amount acceptable by law to drive, the car will be held for 12 hours but no longer then 24 hours until a reasonable time has passed and the driver can pass the Breath Test. If the score was a high score initially when determined to be intoxicated the driver must be completely sober to retrieve keys and car and not be just right at the legal limit.
8. If the driver after failing a breath test insists that keys and car be handed over, the police will be called and the keys turned over to the police. If the driver uses a second set of keys and steals the car back and the valet is unable to stop the driver from leaving, the police will be called and the driver will be traced, found and taken into custody. If the police must be called because of an uncooperative driver who is intoxicated and public drunk, the driver will be held fully accountable for any unlawful disturbance, which may include fines and or jail time. This is the kind of driver we do not want on our public streets, especially late at night. It’s best to get them before they get into a car and behind a wheel rather then later after they’ve killed someone.
9. If a driver submits peaceably to being determined certified legally intoxicated and a taxi cab is called to drive the person home, if the person does not have the price of cab fare the nightclub is responsible for the cost of cab fare and can apply the charges to the car being held impound, to be paid before the driver can claim property to keys and car. When all owed fees have been satisfied and the driver is able to pass the breath test then the car can be released without incident.
10. Any business establishment applying for a liquor license must show proof of purchase of a state certified breath analyzer and show where the breath test will be placed in the business and where breath test will be conducted.
The breath analyzer will be periodically inspected by a state official from the liquor board at any time to ensure compliance with the law. Records and receipts will be examined to show full compliance with the law. The nightclub or bar establishment may charge a parking fee to its customer to recur any cost for required equipment, improvements and additional employees as the market determines. Such fees are not apart of this bill and are not regulated by the state. It is up to each individual bar or nightclub to decide whether it is a good business practice to charge a fee for parking or let the customer park for free. If a bar or nightclub does decide to charge a parking fee to recur the cost of additional employees and state required equipment, the state does not regulate parking fees or determine the amount, parking fees are totally at the discretion of the business establishment.
However, parking fees are considered to be income of the business establishment and are therefore taxable by regular income tax laws. Tips and gratuities given to valets for parking are also considered taxable income by regular state and federal income tax laws.
11. This bill will create a brand new job industry of valet parking and give jobs to hundreds of thousands of people across the country. The term “valet” is already becoming known to be defined as “a person who stops intoxicated people from driving”. The tax revenue from this new industry is estimated to bring in Two Billion Dollars plus annually.
12. This bill would also make provisions for the state to consider additional taxes on liquor served by the drink where applicable to help pay for any state cost accumulated by this bill to pay for extra field agents and extra bureaucracy that is required to regulate the sell of alcohol as stipulated by this bill.
13. Violators of this law would be subject to heavy fines, loss of job and loss of liquor license as required by state law and determined by this bill.
A. First Offense - A fine of not less then $1,000 and no more then $10,000. Loss of liquor license for one week.
B. Second Offense – A fine not less then $5,000 and no more then $10,000. A loss of liquor license for one month.
C. Third Offense – A fine not less then $10,000 and no more then $50,000. A loss of liquor license for one year with a state board review to regain license after probation period is over.
D. Forth Offense – Total Revocation of liquor license.
14. Any business establishment applying for a liquor license is required to purchase a state certified breath analyzer. The cost of the breath analyzer may be tax deductible as a legitimate business expense.
15. Nightclubs, bars and restaurants that serve liquor by the drink are required to bring the parking lot up to code which includes barriers securing the perimeter of the parking lot with a gate entrance which prevents the cars parked there from being removed without the valets approval and assistance. No one may have access to the car while parked in the secure parking lot except the valet attendant.
16. A business establishment where alcohol is served or sold, any business owner including cashiers, attendants and valets who are caught cheating on the breath test will be prosecuted to the full measure of the law with heavy fines and jail time of 1 to 5 years. If a valet willingly allows someone to drink and drive purposely aiding and abetting in a crime to cheat on the breath test, the valet will be prosecuted and do jail time. A valet who purposely cheats on the breath test allowing someone to drive drunk is guilty of reckless endangerment putting at risk the lives of everyone on the road and anyone who might cross the path of the drunk driver.
A store cashier, business owner or attendant who sells alcohol to anyone who is past the limit of intoxication will also be prosecuted to the full measure of the law if caught cheating on the breath test. Cheaters of this law will not be tolerated.
As long as the business owner, cashier, attendant, or valet follows the law as prescribed by routine with everyone who is served or sold alcohol they have nothing to fear in way of prosecution. Age identification in order to buy alcohol is by routine with every customer who purchases alcohol; therefore this law puts no more extra burden on the alcohol vendor except to comply with the law.
Our children, parents, friends, relatives and neighbors - their lives are the issue of what is at stake here and are much more important then any individuals business, personal inconvenience or liquor license.
Give us your support by signing this petition to congress to make bars and nightclubs responsible for serving someone to much alcohol that might cost the life of an innocent victim. Require bars, nightclubs and restaurants that serve alcohol to be responsible for their drinking customers by requiring "Valet Parking" and holding the keys while the driver drinks inside the establishment. Require stores that sell alcohol to give breath test to customers buying alcohol. Anyone who is too intoxicated to pass a simple breath test has no business buying alcohol or driving a car. To do so is reckless, dangerous and life threatening not only to the intoxicated irrational person trying to buy alcohol but also the innocent victim that might happen to cross the intoxicated persons path while that intoxicated person is in a irrational state of mind.
Not only will this Bill to Congress save lives but will also offer to increase gainful employment to thousands of people across the country by creating a worth while job industry which also means more tax revenue. This Bill is a win – win for everyone.
Valets by definition are people who stop drunk drivers from driving by holding onto their keys while they drink. A valid and noble job description for someone who is responsible for saving thousands of lives by not allowing drunk drivers access to drive while intoxicated.
If we can cut the number of deaths on our roads each year caused by drinking and driving by just 50% we will have saved over 8,000 innocent lives. In 10 years that’s 80,000 lives or more that need not die because someone was too irresponsible to drink and drive.
Anything and everything we can do to reduce the numbers of innocent lives being killed each year by a drunk driver we should not hesitate to rally our own moral judgment to the cause. There is no more noble cause then to know you have had a part in saving someone’s life. This bill will save lives and for that one reason alone there should be no debate. We will see the difference in just one year’s time after this Bill is made law when the statistics will show a major drop in the number of fatal crashes involving alcohol within that statistical danger time zone of 9PM to 6AM.
Give us your support. The longer it takes to pass this bill more lives will needlessly die on our highways by a drunk driver. My thoughts always go to the children and the torment of the families who have to needlessly bury a loved one killed by a drunk driver. If you ever stand in those shoes by a graveside or you ever hold someone close to pull them away from one last good by, you will understand the importance and necessity of this bill and get behind it to make your voice loudly heard in Washington that we demand this bill be passed and made to be law.
If I told you that 20,000 people will needlessly die this year and another 250,000 more will be seriously injured and only you had the power to stop it by just a moment of your time to sign your name to a petition, would you make that effort?
Of course you would because anyone who values life and grieves over the suffering of others would not hesitate a second to do whatever it took to bring that tragedy to an end.
Well with the power of one you can be that person and help to end the pain and suffering not to mention the countless lives that are going to die on our nations highways this year if we do not do something now to put a stop to it.
These are future fatalities that can be prevented if we all stand together as one with the power of one to say enough is enough, we demand that something be done to protect our families, neighbors and friends from a needless death because of the irresponsible act of a drunk driver.
DO NOT let the next victim of a drunk driver be a member of your family before you get involved to help put a stop to it.
Do Something Now.
Remember the power of one.
If you a person of conscience CANNOT get behind us on this bill, Do Not stand in our way.
Please Sign The Petition At The Top Of This Page To Tell Congress
To Support The "Kids Safety Smart Bill To Stop Drunk Driving".
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A Memorial For Those Killed By A Drunk Driver, Their Stories Told
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