I completely agree.

Furthermore, the often law makes it much easier to take a paid off 5 year old car than a 1 year old car that’s halfway thru a lease. Leasing firms have the deep pockets (and political connections) to fight back.

I have a real problem with the government taking property like this. What would be acceptable is a massive fine, like the $10,000 previously mentioned. That would be a good deterrent. If you can’t pony up the bucks, then take the car as collateral.

If they really, really, wanted to stop DUIs. Then they would simply give mandatory 20 year prison sentences for the offense. No fines. No money involved to taint the objectiveness of law enforcement.

It may sound harsh, but I guarantee that no one would risk drinking and driving. Those that do, the hard core alcoholics, will eventually be caught and then sit and rot in prison.

I have always liked this. Take the car, make the debt on the car non-dischargeable in bankruptcy, and make wage garnishment easy. Americans value their cars so much, the risk of losing them would be a powerful motivation not to drink and drive.

If someone is a chronic drunk driver, they’ll always be so. They’ll take great pains to retain their ability to do (like, say, by fiendish methods like wearing gloves or bagging sober breath). People who don’t drive drunk, don’t drive drunk, so this won’t address any problems on that side, either.

Want to stop people drunk-driving? Take their car away, fine them ten grand and/or throw them in jail. Coincidentally, this is what Ontario does now for speeding, yet a larger percentage of drunk drivers are involved in fatal accidents than speeders. Of course, addressing and convicting drunk drivers takes effort (patrol, catch, breathalize, test, require a full BAC, go to court, etc); nabbing and sentencing speeders takes a pull of a trigger.

It’s like the security stupidity surrounding air travel, post-9/11. Want to stop another 9/11? Lock the cockpit door. Don’t bother with facial recognition software, no-fly lists, banning toothpaste and national ID cards. Lock the door. Of course, locking the door doesn’t make security consultants money.

Instead of forcing another safety device on everybody, just come down harder on the actual drunk drivers.

I say put’em in a jail cell with someone that uses the word “fist” as a verb.

There is going to be a point in our future where freedom is just something refered to in history books.

“Driving is a privilege”

“if it saves just one life”

And finally, a rejoinder commonly attributed to Franklin:

Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.