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CNN Live At Daybreak

Talk of CNN: Unusual Way of Cracking Down on Drunk Drivers

Aired January 09, 2003 - 05:38   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It's time for the Talk of CNN, and we've got a good one for you today. It's an unusual way of cracking down on drunk drivers, and that is the talk of CNN this morning.
For that we turn to our Jimmy Barrett.

You know, I say our Jimmy Barrett because we like him so much. But actually he works at WRVA News Radio 1140 in Richmond, Virginia.

Jimmy, good morning.

JIMMY BARRETT, WRVA RADIO CORRESPONDENT: Aren't you sweet?

COSTELLO: You know, I am.

BARRETT: You really are. I don't know how you do it. You must have an extra lump of sugar in your coffee this morning or something.

COSTELLO: Yes, I think I have an extra dose of espresso in my coffee.

Anyway, this story is really bizarre. Apparently police in northern Virginia are going into bars and arresting people for public drunkenness to prevent them from driving drunk.

BARRETT: Let me ask you a question. Did you ever see the movie "Minority Report?"

COSTELLO: Exactly. It's just like that.

BARRETT: Yes, it is exactly that. What they're saying is oh, hey, listen, we know that you're going to get behind the wheel of a car and drive drunk. We need to prevent that so in order to circumvent that, let's go in and get you first.

COSTELLO: And they're actually arresting people for public drunkenness. So what do they do, they go into these bars -- and they're pretty nice bars in northern Virginia. We're not talking about, you know...

BARRETT: It sounds like...

COSTELLO: ... a dangerous hole in the wall but...

BARRETT: Yes, it sounds like you've been to a few of them.

COSTELLO: Actually, I have. But seriously, Jimmy, are they just going into bars and they're looking around and if someone looks drunk they go and arrest them?

BARRETT: Well, here's, you know, let me tell just a brief little story here of how this whole thing came to light. There was an article in the "Washington Post" about it. Evidently here's what happened. A woman was a designated driver. I mean she's trying to act responsibly, right?

COSTELLO: Yes?

BARRETT: She's going to be the designated driver for her group. So she has one cocktail then she starts throwing down sodas after that, because she's trying to be responsible. The police come in and ask her to step outside and take a sobriety test.

COSTELLO: Well, how did they know that she was a designated driver?

BARRETT: Well, they didn't know. They never asked her if she was a designated driver. She assumed that she was in -- they assumed she was in there drinking with everybody else. So she goes outside, she whips through her ABCs, no problem, they let her go. She says well why did you question me? And they said oh, well, you fit the description of somebody who was causing problems.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, that old line.

COSTELLO: You've got to be kidding.

BARRETT: No. In the meantime, they start talking to a lot of other women in the bar that didn't fit the description, looking nothing like her.

COSTELLO: Oh.

BARRETT: So, you know, here's the thing, is it -- we can probably argue all day about what public drunkenness is, but if you ask me there's absolutely nothing illegal about sitting down in a bar -- you know what? You want to get .10, go ahead and get .10. Just don't get behind the wheel of a car.

COSTELLO: Well, Jimmy, I only have one thing to say, don't some people go to a bar to get drunk?

BARRETT: Well, they probably do. I mean, if we're going to be honest here, we've probably all gotten drunk in a bar. It's not irresponsible to do that. To cause a public disturbance would be irresponsible. To get behind the wheel of a car would be irresponsible. But let's not punish people for doing something that is perfectly legal. Let's do this. Let's let people drink if they want to drink and then if they make the mistake of getting behind the wheel of a car and driving and we catch them, take away their car. Put them in jail, mandatory jail sentences. That's a lot of what they do in Europe and you know what? That makes more sense. Let's really punish people instead of giving them a slap on the wrist as the first time offense and they... COSTELLO: You know, I only wish, Jimmy, that we had the police side of this. But, you know, I only have a couple of quotes from police who say they saved lives that night because they prevented people from driving drunk.

BARRETT: Well...

COSTELLO: And that's a good thing.

BARRETT: It's a good thing to save lives but you don't take away people's constitutional rights in an effort to do so, you know?

COSTELLO: Oh, I'm sure there'll be much more talk about this. And for those people they did throw in jail for public intoxication, I'm sure they'll be contesting the charges.

BARRETT: Oh, I'm sure you're right. And you know what? We're going to talk to the folks at the ACLU. I agree with them about 50 percent of the time. We'll see if they're going to ride to the rescue on this particular case.

COSTELLO: OK, Jimmy Barrett, many thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com





Drivers>


Aired January 9, 2003 - 05:38   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It's time for the Talk of CNN, and we've got a good one for you today. It's an unusual way of cracking down on drunk drivers, and that is the talk of CNN this morning.
For that we turn to our Jimmy Barrett.

You know, I say our Jimmy Barrett because we like him so much. But actually he works at WRVA News Radio 1140 in Richmond, Virginia.

Jimmy, good morning.

JIMMY BARRETT, WRVA RADIO CORRESPONDENT: Aren't you sweet?

COSTELLO: You know, I am.

BARRETT: You really are. I don't know how you do it. You must have an extra lump of sugar in your coffee this morning or something.

COSTELLO: Yes, I think I have an extra dose of espresso in my coffee.

Anyway, this story is really bizarre. Apparently police in northern Virginia are going into bars and arresting people for public drunkenness to prevent them from driving drunk.

BARRETT: Let me ask you a question. Did you ever see the movie "Minority Report?"

COSTELLO: Exactly. It's just like that.

BARRETT: Yes, it is exactly that. What they're saying is oh, hey, listen, we know that you're going to get behind the wheel of a car and drive drunk. We need to prevent that so in order to circumvent that, let's go in and get you first.

COSTELLO: And they're actually arresting people for public drunkenness. So what do they do, they go into these bars -- and they're pretty nice bars in northern Virginia. We're not talking about, you know...

BARRETT: It sounds like...

COSTELLO: ... a dangerous hole in the wall but...

BARRETT: Yes, it sounds like you've been to a few of them.

COSTELLO: Actually, I have. But seriously, Jimmy, are they just going into bars and they're looking around and if someone looks drunk they go and arrest them?

BARRETT: Well, here's, you know, let me tell just a brief little story here of how this whole thing came to light. There was an article in the "Washington Post" about it. Evidently here's what happened. A woman was a designated driver. I mean she's trying to act responsibly, right?

COSTELLO: Yes?

BARRETT: She's going to be the designated driver for her group. So she has one cocktail then she starts throwing down sodas after that, because she's trying to be responsible. The police come in and ask her to step outside and take a sobriety test.

COSTELLO: Well, how did they know that she was a designated driver?

BARRETT: Well, they didn't know. They never asked her if she was a designated driver. She assumed that she was in -- they assumed she was in there drinking with everybody else. So she goes outside, she whips through her ABCs, no problem, they let her go. She says well why did you question me? And they said oh, well, you fit the description of somebody who was causing problems.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, that old line.

COSTELLO: You've got to be kidding.

BARRETT: No. In the meantime, they start talking to a lot of other women in the bar that didn't fit the description, looking nothing like her.

COSTELLO: Oh.

BARRETT: So, you know, here's the thing, is it -- we can probably argue all day about what public drunkenness is, but if you ask me there's absolutely nothing illegal about sitting down in a bar -- you know what? You want to get .10, go ahead and get .10. Just don't get behind the wheel of a car.

COSTELLO: Well, Jimmy, I only have one thing to say, don't some people go to a bar to get drunk?

BARRETT: Well, they probably do. I mean, if we're going to be honest here, we've probably all gotten drunk in a bar. It's not irresponsible to do that. To cause a public disturbance would be irresponsible. To get behind the wheel of a car would be irresponsible. But let's not punish people for doing something that is perfectly legal. Let's do this. Let's let people drink if they want to drink and then if they make the mistake of getting behind the wheel of a car and driving and we catch them, take away their car. Put them in jail, mandatory jail sentences. That's a lot of what they do in Europe and you know what? That makes more sense. Let's really punish people instead of giving them a slap on the wrist as the first time offense and they... COSTELLO: You know, I only wish, Jimmy, that we had the police side of this. But, you know, I only have a couple of quotes from police who say they saved lives that night because they prevented people from driving drunk.

BARRETT: Well...

COSTELLO: And that's a good thing.

BARRETT: It's a good thing to save lives but you don't take away people's constitutional rights in an effort to do so, you know?

COSTELLO: Oh, I'm sure there'll be much more talk about this. And for those people they did throw in jail for public intoxication, I'm sure they'll be contesting the charges.

BARRETT: Oh, I'm sure you're right. And you know what? We're going to talk to the folks at the ACLU. I agree with them about 50 percent of the time. We'll see if they're going to ride to the rescue on this particular case.

COSTELLO: OK, Jimmy Barrett, many thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com





Drivers>