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

[vvebsta]

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Drunk people aren't gonna be coherent enough to check their phones for check points. Let's the other sane people avoid the added traffic.

 

[Number 41]

Don't get me wrong, MAD is a very great organization, but kids aren't supposed to drink at all.

Don't be kind -- MADD is a prohibitionist organization that has moved so far away from it's original mission that even the founder no longer has anything to do with it. They've turned into a bunch of loonies who are constantly pushing to stay relevant by crusading against the legal right to drink in this country.

They've brought the per se intoxication level down to .08, and they're continuing for it to be lower.

 

[whateverandever]

People who speed and drive under the influence make me sick. Pull the apps. And when you catch the scum, throw them in jail and take away their licence. The don't deserve to walk among us.

So... you're calling everyone who's ever gone over the speed limit scum that is worth of jail? Chances are good you'd fall into that category as well, even if you only accidentally went 1mph over the speed limit -- breaking the law is breaking the law.

 

[Popeye206]

Don't pull it!!!!!

I'm NOT in favor of drinking and driving, but I am in favor of freedom. I don't like the idea of ANY government control over things like this. Too many darn laws to begin with.

I downloaded this app. It's pretty cool! The DUI thing is like the least useful. There is all sorts of good traffic info on this app. Love it!

 

[Fwink!]

Outrageous that public servants are wasting time with this nonsense. Information is freedom. The real purpose is to increase traffic stops and ticketing to increase county and state revenue. Want to really stop drunk driving? Stop selling alcohol. Why not? Oh that's right... follow the money.

 

[jeff33702]

If any of you had ever lost someone or had someone that you loved seriously injured by a drunk driver - you'd want this app pulled.

0 good can come from drunk driving. I don't know anyone (intelligent person) who would say otherwise. Constitutional or not, who in the world would want to encourage a drunk person to get behind the wheel? ..which is exactly what these apps do. I'm sure that there's a percentage of drunk drivers who have ventured out on the roads only because they had the convenience of these apps - when otherwise, they would have gotten a ride or sobered up first.

 

[thefourthpope]

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Let me see... wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya... high unemployment in the USA. Cost of energy is killing the average guy in the pocketbook. I know... lets spend our time getting those terrible DUI apps out of the app store... that way we can tell our Constituents what a great job we are doing representing them in Washington.

PS

Don't forget to vote (them out).

Just writing a letter. Not a whole lot of time involved there, I'd think. Presumably a Senator can author something like this during the same week that they tackle more "legitimate" issues.

 

[Number 41]

If any of you had ever lost someone or had someone that you loved seriously injured by a drunk driver - you'd want this app pulled.

0 good can come from drunk driving. I don't know anyone (intelligent person) who would say otherwise. Constitutional or not, who in the world would want to encourage a drunk person to get behind the wheel? ..which is exactly what these apps do. I'm sure that there's a percentage of drunk drivers who have ventured out on the roads only because they had the convenience of these apps - when otherwise, they would have gotten a ride or sobered up first.

I stop listening to anyone who ever utters the words "Constitutional or not..."

Our basic freedoms as Americans aren't worth conceding for any reason whatsoever, no matter how noble the goal may seem from a distance.

 

[eye]

If any of you had ever lost someone or had someone that you loved seriously injured by a drunk driver - you'd want this app pulled.

0 good can come from drunk driving. I don't know anyone (intelligent person) who would say otherwise. Constitutional or not, who in the world would want to encourage a drunk person to get behind the wheel? ..which is exactly what these apps do. I'm sure that there's a percentage of drunk drivers who have ventured out on the roads only because they had the convenience of these apps - when otherwise, they would have gotten a ride or sobered up first.

Ummm...nobody is saying drunk driving is good. Where are people getting this from?

 

[Rot'nApple]

Since all the Senators are Democrats, Apple can leave the app there and just reply to the "With more than 10,000 Americans dying in drunk-driving crashes every year,..." to just call them 'came to term whole-birth abortions'...

 

[vwcruisn]

trapster started out by showing where speed traps are. Why wasn't this app pulled long ago to help "save lives?" I didn't see the families of victims killed because of SPEEDING drivers upset about the app. Just sayin...

 

[thefourthpope]

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MADD needs to come out with an application that makes it easier for citizens to notify the cops of reckless and drunk drivers instead of having congress pull these apps!!!

Which people can use while....driving?

A great point there. Many folks argue that using a phone while driving (texting, talking, or surfing) is comparable to a BAC of .08 at least. I'm not familiar with Trapster et al, but if safety really is the main goal, perhaps we focus on stopping cell phone usage behind the wheel?

Am I way off here? Is the worry about Trapster just that drivers can load the checkpoints before they start driving and then avoid them?

 

[bigmc6000]

Drunk driving?

I don't know how much support I'm going to get for this but are we seriously going to sit around and blame only the drunk drivers for this? I mean, really. Our entire society aggrandizes the idea of having a beer and bars/restaurants go out of their way to make drinks that have gratuitous amounts of alcohol but don't taste like it and we're going to sit around and solely blame the person.

WTH is the accountability to bars? They say a bar can't serve you if you're drunk - mmhmm. I will guarantee you that the bar down the street only cares if you're too drunk to stand, they couldn't care less if you're above .08%. If people cared more about preventing DD and less about just trying to catch people who gave in to the temptation of alcohol we'd have a "taxi-tax." Each drink sold has a 5 cent tax - every bar in the area has to require people to blow before they leave and if they are above .08 they have 2 options - take a cab home (paid for by the taxi-tax) or sit around, drink water and wait until it's low enough for you to drive. I've been to a fair number of bars and I've had enough where I had to have a friend drive and I will tell you that not once in my entire adult life would I have given a crap if they charged me 5 cents more per drink. Even if it had to be 10 cents more per drink I'd be fine with that as well.

As I said, if this was about safety and not just trying to get people, put them in jail and take their money they'd do that but instead they do this, help the state budget but leave millions of lives at risk every single day...

 

[dadoftwogirls]

Very surprised by many of the responses in support of pulling the apps. I think Apple shouldn't. No I don't support drunk driving, but his borders on ridiculous. There are other apps that supposedly help to circumvent the law... red light camera apps, speed trap apps, police radio scanner apps. So doing one of these things is different? Type in the word "Pot" int he app store and your find apps for cannibus. Isn't that against the law? So now we are going to censor the app store. You open the door for one thing and the government will march right through and pick thing after thing. Bad idea.

 

[enklined]

Isn't it possible that the heads up provided up this app (and friends, newspapers, etc) may make people who know they will be drinking later in the evening re-think their mode of transportation? Could be saving a life or two.

Eh not really. If you've been drinking. Don't drive. Not a difficult dilemma to solve. No technology required to solve it.

And if you are planning to go out and get hammered, take a taxi.

I agree, no one could argue against that. However, for the guy who thinks he may be sober enough to drive: he checks his phone and gets discouraged by the local check points and decides to hail a cab.

Seems like a very decent possibility of this happening. Could save a life, or many. For that alone, the app shouldn't be pulled.

 

[Popeye206]

OMG! This app is great! Now that I've played with it some I LOVE it!

It's freak'n hilarious too! You can change your alerts to things like "Hillbilly", or NY Cab driver. This is a really cool app and great for car clubs too as it has a caravan feature and you can track all the people in your caravan.

Love it!

 

[tbobmccoy]

Stay classy Austin

As for the Senator's request, they cannot be required to take it down. If cops are so overt that apps can bust their checkpoints, maybe they should be floating checkpoints?

 

[ppdix]

Not only u are drunk, u are reading off your iPhone while driving... Great safety

Sorry officer for driving on the wrong side of the road... And, no, I am not drunk... I was checking for Speed Traps on my iPhone while driving...
I think texting and emailing while driving are as bad as driving drunk.
DUI, DWI, DWT (Driving While Texting) and the list goes on...

 

[vwcruisn]

Stay classy Austin

As for the Senator's request, they cannot be required to take it down. If cops are so overt that apps can bust their checkpoints, maybe they should be floating checkpoints?

It's illegal. Police need to publicly announce check points before setting up. Ironic they would want to pull the app since this is the basis that makes them legal in the first place.

 

[TallManNY]

Personally I find it hard to believe that so drunk as to warrant avoiding a checkpoint will be collected enough to use the app effectively in the first place.

You don't realize how strict drunk driving laws are. After three beers you can certainly operate a phone and think to check an app. You could also, easily, blow a BAC high enough to have your license suspended. In New York, driving while ability impaired is only 0.05 and three strong beers and you could easily be over that. If the checkpoint is pulling over and testing everyone, you could still get busted.

 

[miamialley]

Nobody likes drunk driving, but Apple cannot pull this. Freedom of speech!

 

[tbobmccoy]

It's illegal. Police need to publicly announce check points before setting up. Ironic they would want to pull the app since this is the basis that makes them legal in the first place.

I'm not sure that's the case in Texas, but I will acquiesce since I don't remember that from school and also am typing on my iPhone. Either way, the app is still a good one, and shouldn't be removed.

 

[Lesser Evets]

KEEP IT. Our freedoms are essential. All Dems want it out. Figures: more people in jail to fuel a world under government thumbs living for the machine.

Since all the Senators are Democrats, Apple can leave the app there and just reply to the "With more than 10,000 Americans dying in drunk-driving crashes every year,..." to just call them 'came to term whole-birth abortions'...

Yeah, except it is more than 10,000/year. Virgin sacrifice: America's civilized way of preserving the ability to go clubbing.

 

[Al Coholic]

Censorship! Don't do it, Apple!

All Senators are Democrats. Go figure.

LOL.

 

[asleep]

Don't drink and drive.