8 -— Friday, October 25, 1996 ~ North Shore News Dear Editor: The recent spate of Drinking and Driving Counterattack ads would lead one to believe that our law enforce- ment agencies and courts are serious about the very real threat posed by impaired drivers. A recent article, how- ever, casts serious doubt on this con- clusion. The North Shore News recently carried a story describing the court appearance of a driver who pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention, in connection with a single- car accident on the Lions’ Gate Bridge (“Driver told to ‘slow down’ to stay alive,” Oct. 16). According to the article, the driver had committed a string of offences in the past year, garnering a three-month suspension for unspecified infractions, and tickets for speeding and excessive speeding. Help save NV’s trees ab tf St tg he PSNELUSCELANR DNR Larne Tt On the night of the crash, the dri- ver, who had been drinking, was found asleep in his car on the Upper Levels Highway. The North Vancouver RCMP woke him and told kim to drive on. He pro- ceeded to the Lions Gate Bridge, where the accident occurred. According to the article, the driver sesponded that he was drunk when asked by a West Vancouver Police offi- cer if he was dizzy. This was contirmed by breath analyses, which registered 08 and .09% wo hours after the inci- dent, In court, however, Crown lawyer Dan Mulligan chose to describe the incident as a “borderline impaired dri- ving allegation.” For the benefit of Mr. Mulligan, I would like to note that .08 is the legal limit and .09 is greater than this limit. Given that the readings were taken two hours after the accident, the con- clusion is simple: the driver was impaired! 1 suppose some human sympathy is owed to the driver, Fis defence fawver noted that the driver, sick with a cold, and without sleep for three days, had consumed beer prior to being called into work unexpectedly. Additionally, the driver had lost four friends to care- less driving in a single car crash the week prior to his court appearance. Still, given the guilty plea of the driver, his previous driving offences and licence suspension, and the over- whelming evidence that the charge grossly understated the actual offence, one would think that the judge would have chosen to send a message to this driver that his habitual dangerous dri- ving would no longer be tolerated. Instead, the judge fined the driver $300 and suspended his licence a pal- try 300 days with the admonishment, “Slow down, you are going to kill yourself.” How ironic that when the driver's friends were killed the previous week, only one of them was driving. The other three were innocent passengers. If this driver injures or kills a pas- senger, another motorist, 2 cyclist or a pedestrian in the interval of what would have been a reasonable suspen- sion (12 months perhaps), who will knock on the doors of the victims’ families to bring the tragic news? Tt seems thar a precedent has been set wherein impaired driving has been craftily redefined as a sub-set of driving without due care and attention. My advice to those charged with DWI: Plead the fatter and bamboozle your way to a slap on the wrist! John Stephenson North Vancouver Reader offers ad scheme alert Dear Editor: I’ve lived in Kirkstone Place all my life. Since I was a baby my mom or dad would walk me through the forest. Now my sister and I and my parents walk through the forest. So if ‘they cut down all those “trees the MacArthur family wouldn’t have the -same kind of family walks again. I wonder why the.gov- ernment wanted to cut the trees down? Just think of how many animals’ homes were cut down, . Help save trees! Janine MacArthur (8) North Vancouver Dear Editor: Re: Buyer Warns Other Buyers to Beware. One. such case that I believe goes unnoticed is any ad stating: “Would you like to carn a great income from home? You can carn up to $1,500 per week — no expe- rience necessary! Do you need more money? Work from home! Simple, pleasant — profitable work.” The amount of money you supposedly could earn is a hypothetical figure. ‘This is an absolute farce. Tt goes on to say that you do simple envelope-stuffing, It even says that your money will be refiinded after you carn your first $100. You may pass it up endless times, and at fast say, “1 can’t. be that proud that I couldn't at least try it. After all, I could do with the money,” assuming that it is a business that’ sells such quality material and does so well that you are’ actually: mailing out as many advertise- ments as you have time for. The true picture is that you receive a package of infor- mation telling you to put a suggested ad in the paper (at your own expense, of course), and .that all those who respond will cach send $1 in an chvelope to vou (this is where you supposedly get fich}. For each of these, you copy the information they have sent you and return it to each one who responds to your ad. No one would bother to respond by sending $1 in an envelope to answer your ad, and if anyone did, you would be the loser in printing up all the material and mailing it to them. You receive several pages of information on how you can supposedly borrow money with nothing and watch it multiply through various questionable means that the average person would be too upright or wholesome to do. Ruth Hagglund North Vancouver, able to afforda cellular phone. off the bus Dear Editor: In response to the letrer from the arrogant bus dri- ver upset at B.C, Transit for suspending his reading privileges, | would suggest that he be given all the reading time he wants — at his own expense — and not at thar of the travelling public. I have been one of his passengers and his being grumpy for a few days would be av different from the norm. It is quite appar- ent Mr. Smith is bored with his job hence a danger to trafic and the safety of his passengers. B.C. Transit surely does not need this type of employee. - S. Walker North Vancouver MAILBOX POLICY LETTERS to the editor must - be legible, (preferably type- written) “and include -your . name, full address and tele- phone number. .Due to space constraints the North Shore.’ News cannot publish all fet-: ters. Submissions can be faxed to 985-2104 but still must be signed and fully addressed... Z GRAND’. 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