Monthly Archives: May 2010
Taxi Magic – How Magical Can it Be?
Yesterday, California unveiled a new iPhone app called Taxi Magic. This app can detect where you are and will dispatch a taxi to pick you up. The app will bill your credit card, so, ideally, your only job is to wait for your ride. With Heineken as its sponsor, the app will hopefully reduce the number of drunk drivers on the road.
Do you think this app will be effective in preventing drunk people from getting behind the wheel? I am sure we all have seen many situations where a drunk person gets offered a ride from a sober friend or even an available taxi pulling right up to him or her offering a ride. Yet, time and again, that person still manages to grab the keys and get behind the wheel. Could Taxi Magic have an affect on this behavior? If so, that would truly be magical.
Consequences of Refusing a Breath Test
The Illinois House of Representatives passed a bill that would require people to have a one-year license suspension if they refuse to submit to a sobriety test. The bill’s sponsor, Representative Deborah Mell, states that this bill is to thwart repeat offenders. However, there were representatives questioning the fairness of this bill. After all, should a person who is found not guilty have their licenses revoked as well?
This is the case with a man in Pennsylvania who is profiled in Pennlive.com today. Abdul Walters claims he was not drinking the night of his accident and refused a breath test. He was found not guilty but still had his license revoked for a year. Despite being innocent, Walters now has a difficult time getting to work and taking his daughters to school. Walters did break Pennsylvania’s “implied consent” law, but is losing his license for a year too harsh a punishment?
[Additional Source: Stltoday.com]
Advancing Interlock Bills in Multiple States
At the end of last week, Vermont and Tennessee both saw advances their proposed ignition interlock bills.
The Vermont House of Representatives approved Representative Eldred French’s ignition interlock bill. Not only will this proposed law reduce fatalities on the road, offenders who opt for an ignition interlock could possibly pay less in civil fines and see reductions in their license suspension.
In Tennessee, Representative Tom Shipley’s ignition interlock bill gained approval from the House Budget Subcommittee. Shipley’s bill beat out a competing bill by Representative Henry Fincher, despite Fincher’s bill being supported by the TN chapter of MADD.
[Sources: Times Argus and Timesnews.net]
DUIs and Lindsay Lohan
Angie and Becky discuss Lindsay Lohan’s latest legal woes.
