Facebook Lands Drunk Driving Teen In Jail 443
Hugh Pickens writes "The Washington Post reports that 18-year-old Jacob Cox-Brown has been arrested after telling his Facebook network that he had hit a car while driving drunk, posting the message: 'Drivin drunk ... classsic ;) but to whoever's vehicle i hit i am sorry. :P' Two of Cox-Brown's friends saw the message and sent it along to two separate local police officers and after receiving the tip, police went to Cox-Brown's house and were able to match a vehicle there to one that had hit two others in the early hours of the morning. Police then charged the teen with two counts of failing to perform the duties of a driver. 'Astoria Police have an active social media presence,' says a press release from Astoria Police. 'It was a private Facebook message to one of our officers that got this case moving, though. When you post ... on Facebook, you have to figure that it is not going to stay private long.'"
Bragging about crimes in public (Score:5, Interesting)
is never a good idea.
I'm reminded of the Belgian who had a video of himself doing 300km/h on the motorway [youtube.com] posted to youtube.
He was driving an Aston Marting Vantage Carbon Black edition of which only three were sold in Belgium. Didn't take the police long to figure out which one it was.
Re:How is this gasping news (Score:5, Interesting)
You know it's wrong.
What if they don't think it's wrong?
What if they overestimated their ability to drive while under the influence? Would that not be classified as a "mistake"?
Re:How is this gasping news (Score:2, Interesting)
You seem to be possessed of the same brand of stupidity as most of our lawmakers. Drinking alcohol is not criminal of itself. Not even driving while intoxicated is, of itself, a criminal act, since it's entirely possible to do so without actually maiming or killing anyone or even violating traffic laws. Intoxication merely makes criminal or antisocial acts more feasible or likely, but of itself it's neither criminal nor a guarantee of criminal behavior.
None of that rather obvious logic has stopped our lawmakers from attempting to criminalize intoxication itself, in the name of prevention. In the process it infringes the freedom and rights of every intoxicated person who DOESN'T commit an actual criminal act while in that state. I don't hear any Libertarians crying foul about that.
Re:How is this gasping news (Score:5, Interesting)
Sorry, but drunk drivers deserve whatever they get. Once you've had multiple family members killed by drunk drivers, you'll feel a little different about it. And no, these weren't first time offenders, either. For one it was his 5th offense, for another it was his 15th offense, and for the third it was was 17th offense. In the second "accident", the victim was unrecognizable because she (and the motor) had been relocated to the back seat of the car. The only way they knew it was her was because: 1) it was her car, 2) she had a distinctive bracelet on one hand, and 3) she'd just been on the phone with relatives and had relayed her location, which was just a few blocks from where she was killed.
So, I have no mercy for drunk drivers and I think the punitive and financial costs to these asshats should be much, MUCH, **MUCH** higher than they currently are. As it is, there is no incentive for them to learn from their mistakes and they do not.
Re:How is this gasping news (Score:5, Interesting)
A whole country full of angry, enthusiastic torturers who don't care what happens to anyone else but themselves.
That would explain the "nothing to hide, nothing to fear" mentality that a lot of people seem to have. It would also explain the people screaming to have alleged pedophiles be skinned alive. Yeah, pedophiles; not child molesters. Some people in the "for the children" crowd seem much more insane and dangerous than those who they want to murder for thought crime to me.
Re:How is this gasping news (Score:0, Interesting)
So you female relative was talking on the phone and driving? Are you aware that using a cell phone while driving has been proven to be significantly worse than moderate impairment due to alcohol consumption? Clearly it must have been the drunks fault though because sober people never cause accidents. You and the MADD crowd let your emotional attachment control and cloud your thinking on this issue and I understand, losing a family member or friend is tough. But do you really think that increasing the fines while BAL/BAC thresholds are being lowered make sense? Lets financially crush someone who had a couple of glasses of wine at dinner... that will really ensure that they are a productive member of society as they lose their job and spend all of their savings on fees and court costs.
Now don't get me wrong, I think that people who are truly impaired have no business on the road but that impairment doesn't necessarily need to be due to alcohol. Lack of sleep, medications, excess stress, lack of attention to ones surroundings and various other distractions are just as bad but yet we don't see anyone accusing the dumbass driving while on the phone of attempting to "murder" someone.
Re:How is this gasping news (Score:5, Interesting)
Sometimes it helps to have experiences that show one just how much it affects their abilities. I had a roommate in college who said he would absolutely never drink and drive because he had seen the detrimental effect intoxication had on his driving in Mario Kart, and he was way better at Mario Kart than at actual driving.