U.S. Senators Ask Apple to Remove DUI Checkpoint Apps From App Store

[cohen777]

Constitution requires notice of checkpoints

Our courts have said that the U.S. Constitution requires the publication, among other requirements, of DUI roadblocks. Other requirements of roadblocks include the police having a set procedure of how they are going to pull cars and that the procedures are adhered to during the roadblock. Thus, when the police set up a roadblock they have to publish it in a local newspaper.

 

[sum1]

Remove it

I actually agree. Pull 'em. It may be censorship, but it's dangerous not to.

I Agree too! Remove it. Anyone afraid of being caught drunk shouldn't be driving drunk & kill someone!

 

[emon878]

Do a poll macrumors.... Us 6 want them pulled Now!!... the others not quoted want them to stay on the App Store for no real good or beneficial reason

I'll give you a reason many people that use this are drivers who aren't drunk and just want to avoid the hassle. Like others have said if you are drunk enough this would be hard to use.

 

[W1MRK]

There is also the issue of government control. Heres another similar

There are apps that allow you to listen to tons of live scanner feeds and hear real time what police and fire are responding to. Michigan and Indiana had laws up until recently that made Police Scanners in cars illegal. They said it was to help prevent crime.

Yep, That sat real well with Race Car Fans heading to the 500.

It is illegal to commit a crime with the aid of a scanner. Federal Law

It is also illegal and stupid to drive drunker than the state limit or even close to it. Common Sense and Law

A Scanner wont help you, neither will the Trapper app when you use it to avoid the stop and weave in and out of your lane past a patrolman or motorist who calls 911. You play with fire, some day you will get burned. Maybe not that day but theres no guarantee they would get you at the stop anyway as around here they only take every third car. (to be fair) It makes me feel like a random check at the airport for really bad stuff.

I appreciate the thoughts of people who think removing this app will help in the fight against Drunk Driving or Under the Influence. If I thought it would help solve the problem I would get behind it also. But Its not the next best thing since sliced bread. And in reality this is really more for those of us not intoxicated just minding our own business trying to get home without being treated like John Dillinger.

I hope Apple does not cave to the concerns of lawmakers who if they ever got stopped at one of these "checkpoints" would have the officers begging not to lose their jobs for the mistake.

Mike Kulis

 

[tylerdurden03]

DUIs not even constitutional...

Constitution says you need probable cause to get stopped, so the government disregards the constitution and ALSO says you cannot have an app sharing the information? Why bother when the sheeple will lay down and accept...

 

[SolRayz]

All in favor of censorship...please move the hell out of this country and settle your asses in China, North Korea, or better yet Libya.

 

[satcomer]

To me smells of political double cross. These "Senators" are all up for Election in 2012 and don't want to be tried to the alleged ailing of the current Presidential term. So they are trying to win votes of the "mothers" of America that they can talk up on TV (think political adds). They want people to think they are tough on crime, etc and not talk about their voting records.

Note: After seeing so many Presidential elections I am convinced a person is elected or re-elected based on the current economy. People vote on who they think will help boost the economy. Plus who ever is elected the opposite Political Party will have large gains in the "off year" elections. It happens all the time.

 

[Calidude]

Maybe certain municipalities do list them, but NJ does not have a law like that.


And all of you who say "the country is in flames", "unemployment is high", and ask how politicians can focus their time on this is amazing...you people are stupid. Do you understand how being a politician works? What their staff does all day? That you can't fix a nation in a day?

And not that it really matters, but our problem in America is that we're refusing to accept the global economy and that we can't remain a strong manufacturer and a strong service provider...tariffs and taxes won't accomodate both happily.

We still have an incredibly strong economy, so I don't really see what anyone is complaining about...

Wow you are in such denial that I feel sorry for you.

 

[lifeinhd]

Just downloaded both mentioned in the article, thanks for the heads-up MR.

Typical, guilty until proven innocent, isn't that always the way.

 

[Stridder44]

Censorship! Don't do it, Apple!

Gotta say, usually I'd be right there with you on this, but in this case I'm on the senators side. Drunk driving is f--ked up, and the people who do it deserve to rot in a cell. I'm a-okay with them finding those kinds of people. Again though, under most other circumstances I would be completely against caving into the senators' requests.

 

[Calidude]

Just downloaded both mentioned in the article, thanks for the heads-up MR.

Typical, guilty until proven innocent, isn't that always the way.

I downloaded both as well and I'm going to make sure they get ad revenue because these companies are doing a great service to the American people.

The Senators on the other hand, are traitors to the Constitution.

 

[Shenaniganz08]

If you're sober enough to have presence of mind to check an app for a sobriety checkpoint, you're probably sober enough to drive.

umm no

 

[rlhamil]

Idiots. Someone taking the trouble to be more aware of their situation is probably cold sober. More information is likely to prevent more dangerous behavior than it causes. At worst...what? People go faster in the boonies? They do that anyway, at least with something like this they stay awake while they do it.

Senators are not supposed to be a hundred little tinhorn dictators telling people what to do, either. They ought to do something useful, like _cut_the_budget_, instead!

 

[psimac]

Censorship...

This is bogus. Next thing you know, our Gov'mint will start asking companies to stop selling radar detectors, because people will speed and kill others. Drunks go around these stops anyway--they're not effective. All they do is cause good citizens to be held up. How about the day I rolled through one of these and ended up paying a huge late fee to kid's daycare? The run them at 9PM, when no one is drunk! I'm going to download these apps just out of convenience so I don't have to be slowed down and I should be able to have this information available to me.

 

[Jupeman]

God save us from the nanny state.

 

[vwcruisn]

Gotta say, usually I'd be right there with you on this, but in this case I'm on the senators side. Drunk driving is f--ked up, and the people who do it deserve to rot in a cell. I'm a-okay with them finding those kinds of people. Again though, under most other circumstances I would be completely against caving into the senators' requests.

Yes, drunk driving is bad. But so are other forms of distracted/dangerous driving such as talking on a cell phone, eating, texting, speeding. Shouldn't they rot in a cell too, since they are posing a dangerous risk on our roads as well? Why single out one type of bad, high-risk driver?

 

[Stridder44]

That is ridiculous. Even if Apple pulls the app, They are not going to disappear. There is always Cydia.

Yes, because everyone jailbreaks their phone. Even if the checkpoints are made publicly available by the police themselves, people usually wouldn't bother checking. An app makes that a great deal more convenient to check.

Typical, guilty until proven innocent, isn't that always the way.

How the hell is this anything like that? No one here is being accused of being drunk driver. Stop acting like a damn victim.

You should tell that to my son. Oh wait, you can't, he was murdered someone like you.

My deepest condolences, but I think (God I hope) he was joking.

 

[Dmac77]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

Don't do it Apple!

Seriously, apps like trapster have saved my ass from the doughnut eating porkers in my area (not DUI, rather speeding). Seriously don't give into the government, they just want the police to be able to slowly rape more and more of our rights and freedoms (including my right to do 75 on a empty back road if I want to).

-Don

 

[mrbrown]

If you're drunk enough that you shouldn't be driving, no app is going to save you. It's as simple as that.

 

[rstansby]

This is a horrible idea. The app is just a method for accessing a database. It could be provided from a web-page just as easily. If Apple bans these apps, then people will either jailbreak, or use safari to access the information. There are much more effective ways to reduce drunk driving.

 

[Stridder44]

Yes, drunk driving is bad. But so are other forms of distracted/dangerous driving such as talking on a cell phone, eating, texting, speeding. Shouldn't they rot in a cell too, since they are posing a dangerous risk on our roads as well?

You're telling me drunk driving is on the same level as eating or talking on a cell phone? Yes, they're stupid things that shouldn't be done and people should be punished for, but in no way are they the same.

Why single out one type of bad, high-risk driver?

Go read the forum title again.

 

[vwcruisn]

You're telling me drunk driving is on the same level as eating or talking on a cell phone?

Yes.

The study, published in the June 29 issue of Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, found that drivers talking on cell phones, either handheld or hands-free, are more likely to crash because they are distracted by conversation.
Using a driving simulator under four different conditions: with no distractions, using a handheld cell phone, talking on a hands-free cell phone, and while intoxicated to the 0.08 percent blood-alcohol level, 40 participants followed a simulated pace car that braked intermittently.

Researchers found that the drivers on cell phones drove more slowly, braked more slowly and were more likely to crash. In fact, the three participants who collided into the pace car were chatting away. None of the drunken drivers crashed.


Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-6090342-7.html#ixzz1HTJlDgSO

 

[JAJ]

Wow you are in such denial that I feel sorry for you.

...America is the fattest nation in the world(and quite possibly the stupidest). We have to adapt or we'll fall behind, we haven't yet because unless others have noticed we still are among the strongest economies in the world. Before the tsunami Japan was harder hit then we were, China infused $4 trillion into their economy when we did the stimulus package...just so you know of the $700 billion in allocated funds only about $300 billion was tapped and with the interest that corporations paid back we may have made money(it hasn't been calculated it was +-$20 billion). Spain is in financial crisis, Greece defaulted, Ireland has almost defaulted(probably because their 2% corporate tax rate, which arguably creates a massive amount of jobs)...the US debt is $14 trillion and our annual GDP was in 2010 $14.2 trillion(according to the World Fact Book) ...our debt to GDP ratio is one of the lowest in the world, with a larger country and economy comes more problems. To say that we have 11% unemployment and most of those people are now covered by government pay outs(they made it 36 months from 24, that one I'm not sure on) ...we're still not in any real trouble.

I'm not in denial, as much as I am well-informed.


And to return to the issue of the Apple pulling it....the First Amendment has been shown in court cases to not protect illegal or harmfully illicit speech such as shouting "fire" in a crowded theater...this is essentially the same thing. And for those shouting about the Fourth Amendment(I think it was only one person) illegal search and seizure does not apply(via <i>Katz</i> and other cases) in situations where illegal activities are occurring, driving while intoxicating being illegal.

I hope that they trace the IP's and find that somebody somehow crossed state lines and then transmitted the data, therefore violating Federal law(as opposed to state) and allowing the Justice Department to get involved.

 

[vwcruisn]

Go read the forum title again.

I did. That didn't answer my question.

 

[AppleScruff1]

If it was a Microsoft app most here would have a different opinion.