Bumper Stickers Ordered for Drunk Drivers
Posted on Wed, Sep. 24, 2003
Associated Press
PENSACOLA, Fla. – Some motorists convicted of drunken driving may have
to wear it on the bumper.
A judge in Florida is ordering some of the convicted offenders to
place bumper stickers on their cars that ask “How’s my driving?” followed
by a toll-free telephone number.
The stickers ends with the statement “The judge wants to know!!!”
Escambia County Judge William White said he hopes the bumper stickers,
which include an identification number for each driver, will reduce
repeat offenses for driving under the influence of alcohol.
“We want to influence people to correct their behavior rather than
just use this as sort of a monitoring system,” White said.
White said he tried to use bumper stickers saying only “Convicted DUI”
in the past simply to shame violators. He hopes the call-in stickers will
be a stronger deterrent.
In late August he began ordering motorists convicted of drunken
driving to pay an annual fee of $50 to enroll in the monitoring system
offered by the I Saw You Safety and Scholarship Foundation as a condition
of probation.
The Pensacola-based foundation provides the same service to parents of
teenage drivers, borrowing the idea from trucking companies that use
similar stickers to monitor their drivers.
I See You plans to donate half of its enrollment fees to scholarships
for victims of drunken drivers.
The program has been approved for the 1st Judicial Circuit, which
covers four counties in the Florida Panhandle, and some other judges are
beginning to use it, foundation spokesman David Richbourg said Monday. He
said legislation also is being sought to make the program mandatory
across the state, but critics have questioned the tactic.
“I see this as providing very little deterrent,” Pensacola lawyer
Richard Alvoid said. “Punishment should be enough rather than also
shaming people.”
University of West Florida student David Blume agrees.
“It’s like a scarlet letter,” Blume said. “If you know you could go to
jail from drunk driving, I don’t see why a bumper sticker would be more
of a deterrent.”
White said embarrassment “comes with the turf when you’re committing
crimes.”
Doug Meyers, an insurance adjuster from nearby Pace, said the shame is
worth it if prevents traffic deaths.
“If people are embarrassed, they shouldn’t drink and drive,” Meyers
said.
———————————————————————-
Offenders Tagged with DUI Stickers
Others Can Call, Report Driving to Monitors
Published Monday, September 22, 2003
By Gina Pace
News Journal Correspondent
An Escambia County judge is using a dose of public shame to help keep
drunken drivers off the roads.
Judge William White routinely is requiring those convicted of driving
under the influence to attach a red and yellow bumper sticker that reads:
“How is my driving? Call Toll-Free 1-866-I- SAW-YOU The Judge wants to
know!!!”
He hopes it will reduce repeat offenses and ultimately reduce the
number of DUIs.
“I am open to new ideas that might assist in reducing the number of
DUIs and recidivism,” White said. “We want to influence people to correct
their behavior rather than just use this as a sort of monitoring
system.”
The service is operated by the I Saw You Safety and Scholarship
Foundation, a Pensacola-based organization. The foundation monitors calls
to the toll-free number from the public and notifies law enforcement if
necessary.
“Bumper stickers asking about driving have reduced accidents in
commercial trucking by 50 percent,” said David Richbourg, the
foundation’s director of marketing and media relations. `’We created a
program for teen drivers, and we have come up with other applications for
our monitoring service, such as impaired drivers.”
White tried using bumper stickers in the past but said they were
problematic because there was no monitoring system, and the old stickers
read “Convicted DUI.” The new bumper stickers could be used for other
driving, alcohol or drug offenses. However, since White started using I
SAW YOU stickers in late August, they have been issued only in DUI cases
as a condition of parole.
White is the only judge using the decals. Kim Skievaski, chief judge
of the First Judicial Circuit, approved the decals for use as a
sentencing tool.
Offenders must pay $50 per year that they are enrolled in the decal
program. Usual probation periods for DUIs last for six months to one
year. Decals must be placed on all household cars.
The safety foundation plans to donate half of enrollment fees to
scholarships for victims of drunken driving.
Jerry Fifer, a member of Mothers Against Drunk Driving and a victim of
a drunken driving accident, fully supports the initiative.
“I think it’s a great deterrent once people realize it is going to get
smacked on their cars,” he said. “I spoke at Pace High School and showed
the bumper sticker, and one student said, `Mom or Dad better not get one
because it would end up on my car.’ It will help if people in families
are pressuring each other not to drink and drive.”
But other think the stickers cast an unnecessary stigma on the person
driving.
“I see this as providing very little deterrent,” said Pensacola
attorney Richard Alvoid. “Punishment should be enough rather than also
shaming people.”
University of West Florida student David Blume agrees.
“It’s like a scarlet letter,” Blume said. “If you know you could go to
jail for drunk driving, I don’t see why a bumper sticker would be more of
a deterrent.”
White thinks that embarrassment “comes with the turf when you’re
committing crimes.”
“If it’s a wholly distasteful experience, they may make the decision
that they won’t do this again,” he said.
Doug Meyers, an independent insurance adjuster from Pace, thinks the
shame those convicted would face is worth it if the policy can prevent
fatalities.
“If people are embarrassed, they shouldn’t drink and drive,” he
said.
White said the sticker program is worth an experiment.
“This doesn’t cost a lot. It’s embarrassing, but if it results in a
few lives saved, it is pretty minimal,” White said. “Maybe one of these
days we’ll find something that will be a solution.”
