06-28-2006, 04:15 PM
Are you going to avoid the point on everything I say?
The point in the example about Rosa was that there are a lot of ways for an officer to screw up a sobriety test, and a lot of policies they just don't follow. Before you blow into a breathalyzer the officer is supposed to observe you for 20 minutes to make sure you don't burp - did you know that? Otherwise the test isn't accurate. The test isn't actually accurate, anyways, for a number of reasons, but that's not the point. The point is that there are a lot of things that can get screwed up when you start down the "well, if you've got nothing to hide" path. Justice isn't infallible, that's why it's a living, growing system. The "just do the right thing and you'll be ok" circle jerk shows a lot of naievity and complaceny.
What if I'm out riding home one night and an officer does a random registration check. Lets say I've been working on the bike that day and I had one beer at the bar. Well, Mr. Officer pulls me over for no good reason and says "hey, you smell like beer, take off your helmet and blow into this thing". Well, I was working on the bike's fuel system. The way the breathalyzer works it is influenced by fumes you inhale when working with fuel (and a long list of other things causing it to read falsely high) - UH-OH! I blew a pretty high reading.. but I only had one beer. And I wasn't exhibiting symptoms of impairment - I was just riding my sportbike home.
So I get thrown in jail for a DUI. I lose my job. My insurance. My license. A lot of my potential just went down the fucking tube because of a stupid series of bad luck coincidences. And that's not even reaching! That's something that could happen to any of us. After the 12 hour Rob would have blown a hugely high number into the breathalyzer, so would I, from all the fuel we spilled on ourselves. That one alone could have been avoided with probable cause.
I could make up scenarios all day long, and you could fire back and tell me why that's not likely, or stupid, and say I'm way too much of a conspiracy theorist and to take off my tin foil hat. But would you disagree that there are certain policies in place for your own protection when dealing with authorities? That's what I'm driving at.
The point in the example about Rosa was that there are a lot of ways for an officer to screw up a sobriety test, and a lot of policies they just don't follow. Before you blow into a breathalyzer the officer is supposed to observe you for 20 minutes to make sure you don't burp - did you know that? Otherwise the test isn't accurate. The test isn't actually accurate, anyways, for a number of reasons, but that's not the point. The point is that there are a lot of things that can get screwed up when you start down the "well, if you've got nothing to hide" path. Justice isn't infallible, that's why it's a living, growing system. The "just do the right thing and you'll be ok" circle jerk shows a lot of naievity and complaceny.
What if I'm out riding home one night and an officer does a random registration check. Lets say I've been working on the bike that day and I had one beer at the bar. Well, Mr. Officer pulls me over for no good reason and says "hey, you smell like beer, take off your helmet and blow into this thing". Well, I was working on the bike's fuel system. The way the breathalyzer works it is influenced by fumes you inhale when working with fuel (and a long list of other things causing it to read falsely high) - UH-OH! I blew a pretty high reading.. but I only had one beer. And I wasn't exhibiting symptoms of impairment - I was just riding my sportbike home.
So I get thrown in jail for a DUI. I lose my job. My insurance. My license. A lot of my potential just went down the fucking tube because of a stupid series of bad luck coincidences. And that's not even reaching! That's something that could happen to any of us. After the 12 hour Rob would have blown a hugely high number into the breathalyzer, so would I, from all the fuel we spilled on ourselves. That one alone could have been avoided with probable cause.
I could make up scenarios all day long, and you could fire back and tell me why that's not likely, or stupid, and say I'm way too much of a conspiracy theorist and to take off my tin foil hat. But would you disagree that there are certain policies in place for your own protection when dealing with authorities? That's what I'm driving at.
When it comes to Ryan Jenkins, the story ends with me putting him in the wall.
2009 Speed Triple | 2006 DR-Z400SM | 1999 CBR600F4 | 1998 Jeep Cherokee
-Ginger
2009 Speed Triple | 2006 DR-Z400SM | 1999 CBR600F4 | 1998 Jeep Cherokee
-Ginger