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Apple Bans DUI Checkpoint Apps

mdatwood said:
There is a lot of evidence to suggest that MADD really is a modern day prohibitionist movement. Read up on how DUI laws have changed from trying to catch people who are impaired to catching people who have any alcohol in their system at all ignoring any impairment.
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While DUI laws may have changed, it is still in regards to driving, no?
As far as checkpoints are concerned many states have realized that they do violate the 4th amendment and must be announced or are no longer done in the state. In CO they must put up a big sign announcing an upcoming checkpoint and allow people to take a different route.
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That has not been my experience here in co. The local PD is obligated to give the date of a checkpoint via newspaper but do not give the location. There was also no such sign I remember when I drove through such checkpoint over memorial day weekend

Dmac77 said:
That's a good joke. MADD has become the modern day equivalant of the Christian Women's Temperance Union, and MADD's members are the modern day Carrie Nations, except they are hypocrites unlike Nation. Even the founder of MADD has gone on record stating that MADD has gone to far, and she has disassociated herself from the organization because she says it has turned into a temperance (or "neo-prohibitionist" as she called it) organization and is no longer an anti-drunk driving organization.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy_Lightner
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Dmacc, how about you cite some cases where MADD is influencing legislation regarding drinking at your residence or anything else where no driving is being done. I would be happy to read up on that rather than a biography
 
ptysell said:
So I guess Apple should ban all gun related apps because guns kill people.
Great logic.
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That's a pretty poor analogy, but you most likely came up with it yourself so I'm sure you're pretty proud of it. Keep practicing, you'll get it right one day. :cool:
 
Aduntu said:
Who said DUI checkpoints deter drunk drivers? They may not, but they do find drunk drivers and penalize them, which keeps them off the road for a while.
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And are DUI checkpoints more effective then roaming patrols?

(Hint: The answer is no)
 
This is a reasonable decision by Apple.

I don't mind the general idea of such apps (noting speed traps, photo radar locations, etc), but the idea of deliberately avoiding DUI checks for reasons of drunkenness is extremely sleazy.

That said, police departments DO publish such locations in advance, for a variety of reasons, and Apple considers using this information to be acceptable.

As long as Trapster et al disallow or do not display (on iOS) *user-submitted* locations in the "DUI check" category, they should be fine.
 
PBG4 Dude said:
Trapster is still on US app store. Better get it if you want it.
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Got it! Also I heard (from the great vine, no proof either) so this is hear-say that the iCloud will give Apple the ability to remove Apps that they ban / remove from the App Store from your mac, iphone & ipad.
 
Dorje Sylas said:
This reminded me of all the people who kvetched about speed enforcement cameras. Particularly those that also mentioned how fast they go above the posted speed limit when the "pigs" aren't around. How unfair it is that they "got caught speeding".
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Getting way off topic now, but the biggest problem with speed and red light cameras is that they are set up in a way to do 'gotchas' on people.

There are lots of stories of municipalities putting up a red light camera and then shortening the yellow light. What you end up with are people slamming on the brakes at a yellow and now getting rear ended. Brilliant.

Speeding another joke in the US. I would be okay with cameras and super aggressive enforcement if the US made speed limits that made sense. Look at France and they have 3-4 speed limits (tops ones adjusted down 10km for rain) depending on the type of road you're on and that's it. None of this I'm on a 4 lane road and it was 50, but now it's 30 and now it's 45, now 25...wait what was the speed limit again? Limits in the US are so frequently set up in a way to gotcha people it's no wonder people a) speed and b) think cameras are a bad idea.
 
If DUI checkpoints save so many lives, why do we not have permanent checkpoints on every road with more than X amount of vehicles on it per day? It'll save so many more lives!
 
notabadname said:
This App has only negative benefits IMO, allowing criminals and drunk drivers to plan routes around checkpoints, and possibly into a head-on with an innocent human being.
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Have you ever even BEEN drunk before? Planning things is not exactly high on the skill set list when you are under the influence. An app such as this is really for the people who are NOT drunk, still have their reasoning abilities, can actually make use of information because their thought processes are not impaired, and simply want to avoid a traffic bottleneck. Nothing wrong with that.
 
ptysell said:
And are DUI checkpoints more effective then roaming patrols?

(Hint: The answer is no)
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Again, provide proof.

And what does that have to do with banning apps that assist drunk drivers in staying on the road longer?

(Hint: The answer is nothing.)
 
paulypants said:
Do DUI checkpoints remove some drunk drivers from the road?

Yep.
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Do they also inconvenience the hell out of innocent people and force people to subject themselves to illegal and unlawful searches or else lose their license (that's the penalty in MI for refusing a breathalyzer).

Yep.
 
Dmac77 said:
Maybe according to you, but to me it's absolutely demented. I personally use apps like this so I can avoid checkpoints, not because I drive drunk, but so I can break Michigan's retarded 10pm curfew for teen drivers. I'll be sure to not update Trapster in the near future. This is just another attempt by the government and their pigs to control people; shame on Apple for giving in to the government and bs political correctness.

-Don
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Juvenile scofflaws spoken for. Yeah, the Man is really harshing your mellow. Who says teenage brains are actually not completely developed...oh,yeah... medical science.

Really, "pigs"?
 
Dorje Sylas said:
If the weren't speeding and making the roads unsafe (and there are plenty of traffic studies to back this claim, I will go get them off Google Scholar if y'all like), then they wouldn't have an issue. Same with DUI check points.
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Time to go get them, and while you are at it make sure you also get the studies that show in other countries where the speed limits are far higher, or non-existent on some roads (think Germany), the same principles apply ya?
 
Dmac77 said:
Do they also inconvenience the hell out of innocent people and force people to subject themselves to illegal and unlawful searches or else lose their license (that's the penalty in MI for refusing a breathalyzer).

Yep.
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Your ignorance is showing.

Checkpoints are not illegal nor unlawful searches.

Many courts have ruled on this issue

Though I suppose you feel the same about walking through metal detectors for sports venues, airport security, etc right?
 
rtdunham said:
Have you ever seen a driver flash his lights to warn oncoming traffic that there's a cop with a speedgun ahead? I'm sure he thinks he's cool. I always wonder if the driver would do that--help speeders avoid getting caught--if he knew his kids were driving behind him and would have to face all the speeders who weren't taken off the road.
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And the award for douchiest comment goes to...
 
dukebound85 said:
While DUI laws may have changed, it is still in regards to driving, no?
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Since much of the US is car centric if you can make the alcohol limit 0 you have effectively put a huge dent in alcohol consumption.

dukebound85 said:
That has not been my experience here in co. The local PD is obligated to give the date of a checkpoint via newspaper but do not give the location. There was also no such sign I remember when I drove through such checkpoint over memorial day weekend
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You just need to pay better attention. I drive around checkpoints all the time after seeing the sign. It's possible it is a Denver city area thing and not a statewide thing, but that would be odd. I always figured the sign was a way to get the sober people, who are more likely paying attention, a way to not sit at the checkpoint.
 
MadeTheSwitch said:
Have you ever even BEEN drunk before? Planning things is not exactly high on the skill set list when you are under the influence. An app such as this is really for the people who are NOT drunk, still have their reasoning abilities, can actually make use of information because their thought processes are not impaired, and simply want to avoid a traffic bottleneck. Nothing wrong with that.
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Give me a break. And yes, I have been drunk before. But a person at the legal limit of .08 BAC is still very functional, and can easily use a phone, text friends, and even operate a modern automobile (just not safely).

I guess I would ask you, have you ever had too much to drink? If you can't drink a six pack in 90 minutes and operate every feature of your iPhone, you would be very abnormal (or weigh 50 lbs). But that amount of consumption would have most people blow over a .08 easily.

But even that is irrelevant. Apple gets to make business decisions about what products they sell in their store. This one, smartly, doesn't meet the cut. One dead kid that dies as the result of a drunk dodging a checkpoint with Trapster on his iPhone is too many. Apple agrees and so do I.
 
farmboy said:
Juvenile scofflaws spoken for. Yeah, the Man is really harshing your mellow. Who says teenage brains are actually not completely developed...oh,yeah... medical science.

Really, "pigs"?
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Do you really need to insult him to make your point? I'm no teenager and happen to agree with him, what does that imply? Additionally, that was quite some argument you gave there, an appeal to some kind of irrelevant science in this matter without even citing your evidence. I see even fully developed mellows can be quite lacking in arguments...
 
Dmac77 said:
You sound like one of those hypocritical MADD cronies, who says "no no no, the alcohol is bad for you, it kills." and then goes home after your kid's soccer practice only to knock a few back. Just saying.
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Or like the kid who can't distinguish between the Drunk Driving part of MADD and drinking at home.
 
Dmac77 said:
Do they also inconvenience the hell out of innocent people and force people to subject themselves to illegal and unlawful searches or else lose their license (that's the penalty in MI for refusing a breathalyzer).

Yep.
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But the law also protects innocent people. Sure it's an inconvenience but what's an extra hour in the car compared to knowing you're not risking the rest of your life. You're a kid so you don't understand how important these laws are. I nearly lost someone I loved (Not to drunk driving or anything stupid) so I know the feeling and I wouldn't want anyone else to feel that because someone felt they needed to drive home drunk.
 
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