Comments on: Op-Ed: Underaged designated drivers punished by simplistic laws http://mainecampus.com/2009/10/01/op-ed-underaged-designated-drivers-punished-by-simplistic-laws/ The University of Maine student newspaper since 1875 Thu, 24 May 2012 03:20:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Matt's Mom http://mainecampus.com/2009/10/01/op-ed-underaged-designated-drivers-punished-by-simplistic-laws/#comment-3883 Matt's Mom Sun, 11 Oct 2009 07:47:37 +0000 http://mainecampus.com/?p=3723656#comment-3883 My son who is 19 met up with some friends from college who had been drinking alcohol and were of legal age to do so. The friends wanted to go to the liquor store down the street from campus to buy some beer. My son offered to drive since he was not drinking and was trying to do the responsible thing by not letting a friend drive "buzzed". He drove the friend's vehicle which had an expired tag (unknowingly to my son) and on the way back from the liquor store was pulled over. The beer had not been opened in the vehicle. My son was the only one ticketed (Minor Transporting Alcohol)....What sort of message do we send with this sort of ticketing. Where is the common sense of allowing minors to be the designated driver for friends or family of legal drinking age!!!??? I am a Trauma Nurse and have seen the tragedy of drunk drivers. I applaud my son's decision to have possibly saved his friends life or an others. My son who is 19 met up with some friends from college who had been drinking alcohol and were of legal age to do so. The friends wanted to go to the liquor store down the street from campus to buy some beer. My son offered to drive since he was not drinking and was trying to do the responsible thing by not letting a friend drive “buzzed”. He drove the friend’s vehicle which had an expired tag (unknowingly to my son) and on the way back from the liquor store was pulled over. The beer had not been opened in the vehicle. My son was the only one ticketed (Minor Transporting Alcohol)….What sort of message do we send with this sort of ticketing. Where is the common sense of allowing minors to be the designated driver for friends or family of legal drinking age!!!??? I am a Trauma Nurse and have seen the tragedy of drunk drivers. I applaud my son’s decision to have possibly saved his friends life or an others.

]]> By: ryan http://mainecampus.com/2009/10/01/op-ed-underaged-designated-drivers-punished-by-simplistic-laws/#comment-3314 ryan Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:12:40 +0000 http://mainecampus.com/?p=3723656#comment-3314 So what exactly is the problem? Designated driving is for transporting passengers who have been drinking, not for transporting passengers who will drink later. There's no reason the of-age kids can't drive to the store and back themselves. And boo-hoo if the drinkers didn't finish their multi-pack and the designated driver can't transport it back for leftovers. So what exactly is the problem? Designated driving is for transporting passengers who have been drinking, not for transporting passengers who will drink later. There’s no reason the of-age kids can’t drive to the store and back themselves.

And boo-hoo if the drinkers didn’t finish their multi-pack and the designated driver can’t transport it back for leftovers.

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