Social Media Shitdiots and Hijacking the Toronto Police #RIDE Hashtag on Twitter

Here's the thing, Amber. A lot of people quote the cost of a cab, or the time it takes to get home on public transport, or hotel costs, as a reason why they drive home.

But what about the cost of a fine; or jail time; or a lost job/broken marriage due to your stupidity? Not to mention the unmeasurable cost of destroying aother family's live?

Do the math, idiots. ;-)

Take care, miss, and have an awesome (and safe!) New Year!

I reserve the right to cross-jump between language and grammar when it comes to shitdiots/shitediots. ;-)

Happy New Year to you too, mate, and all the best with the blog makeover!

Completely agree, mate, and yes, there's nothing wrong with getting sloshed. But there's a hell of a lot wrong when that sees you thinking you can be Superman behind the wheel...

Haha, 70 degrees is cool? Mate, you need to come to Canada in January. ;-)

Have a great New Year with you and yours, hope it's a safe and very prosperous one!

Hi mate,

I continued to have a couple of issues with Livefyre (space between post and comments, no comment box appearing). So I'll have native WordPress on here for now, and keep an eye on future updates to see if that changes.

Cheers!

I totally agree with what you have said here. I think the original post has a good point but is a little too hard lined.

I have never been negativly effected by drink diving, when I was much younger I have driver and know I will have been over the limit on a few occasion but was never caught. My cousin was recently pulled over and has lost his licence. It has effected his life, job and business. I understand it was his choice and he made a bad one but really, in the state he was in with the common sense he has I dont think that he would have caused any harm to anyone as he was already home at the time they tested him so his drive was over.

It is like you say, there are a few morons out there (driving when they are not fit to walk or driving when they are not intelligent enough to drive anyway) who, to deal with, we need a single sweeping system that covers everyone taring them with the same brush.

In response to the people who need the polices help and run to them when needed while still having an us and them reputation, I have been in need to the police only twice in my life and have been badly let down on both occasion.

So you are saying that because your cousin got home without incident then he isn’t guilty of drinking and driving? It’s “logic” like that that gets people killed. If you are STUPUD enough to drink and drive you should get any penalty that is within the law no matter whether you “made it” or not. People get arrested for having illegal firearms who haven’t killed anyone yet. Should they just be allowed to carry them until someone is killed? Geesh.

I concur with Frank that your logic is badly flawed. If you run across the highway 10 times without getting hit by a car does that mean that you are surrounded by a force field that protects you or that you are just lucky.

Drunk driving is something that people shouldn't do because the risks are too high. It takes one minor mistake and you have murdered someone and destroyed a family.

Let me repeat, a drunk driver who gets into an accident in which someone dies is a murderer. It should be taken that seriously.

Sorry, got to agree with both Frank and Jack and say your cousin lacked common sense just by getting behind the wheel while inebriated.

Luck of no accident doesn't change the fact he was breaking the law and and endangering innocent travelers into the bargain.

I think the big difference is volume of traffic and pedestrians. As society has moved forward, so has the amount of cars on the road, bars on the street and people on the pathways.

Mix these together, and no matter how slow you're going, all you need to do is hit a mother pushing a baby and pin that baby to the wall...

Attitude is the game changer here - make that mindset change and the safety numbers increase again. Of course, changing people's attitudes is far easier said than done...

Surely there is a difference between now and 20 years ago as regards traffic and pedestrians and such but if you look at the age range of drunken drivers causing accidents you see that 90 percent of them are under 40 yo, mostly under 30. That's the big difference, the age range of drivers causing deaths on the road. Usually if someone over 40 drinks too much he or she just doesn't drive because as you said there are other options. It's difficult that as a way of life someone over 40 thinks that for having fun you just have to become stoned as soon as possible and then go on all night long. That's the real difference: attitude to life. Gosh here in Italy we have guys and girls 13 to 14 yo who got drunk, and this was something almost impossible and unthinkable 20 years ago.

Alcohol is a kind of false problem, the real issue is the personality, attitude and character of those who drink and the reason why they drink. That is what makes the difference and that's why some stop drinking before exaggerating, some don't drive because they've had too many drinks, and some will just drive anyway.

Alcohol just takes out what's already inside the person and this also applies to being intelligent or not. At least this is my opinion based on what I see, so I might be also wrong. Here we say that if you are not able to handle alcohol you'd better avoid drinking it, but not everyone agrees.

I'm too for considering deaths caused by car or trucks as murders. Whether alcohol, drugs, being too tired or prescription drugs are involved or not. Everyone is personally responsible for his or her acts.

Hey there Bob,

Completely agree, mate - if preventive measures are the best way forward, then it should start with the drivers themselves, and that means zero tolerance.

If you have a law that says you can drink X amount and be legal to drive, and you still ignore that, you deserve all the law throws at you.

Cheers, sir, and a Happy New Year to you and yours when it arrives!

Hey there boss,

That was one of the great things when scanning through the #RIDE hashtag, the amount of condemnation going the tweeters' way. I was called an "obnoxious cyberbully" by the person/people behind the Twiiter account tweeting the locations:

https://twitter.com/#!/RIDELocationsTO/status/152551360179617792

To be honest, I'll take that as a badge of honour and enforces my view of the mindset behind that account. ;-)

Cheers, Margie, and yes, there's always someone (or some people) willing to add to the crazy factor. Ah well...

Great new avatar, by the way!

Thank you, Mr. Man!

Happy New Year :)

OK, Wordpress said this comment was not long enough. I am not even kidding. So...how far do I need to go before this comment is accepted? Should I write a book in here?

What up, Wordpress? What up?

Ah, yes, that would be the spam filter I have in place, with a Dynamic Word Count option to help keep real folks like you separate. ;-)

Here's the thing though, Howie. A speeding (sober) driver can slow down to regulation speed within, say, 5 seconds. You can't sober up in 5 seconds. So while I see the comparison, I don't think it works in this case, mate.

Like you say, there's no need for it. Public transport, cabs, sleepovers, hotels - each one is worth the cost to save a life.

Hey there Charlene,

I think I may have seen your tweet (and others like it), and thought it was awesome.

Like you say, the trolls and idiots will come out - but that's cool, because it makes them easier to identify and block. ;-)

Exactly, mate! Everything's a hindrance and a "them against us" mindset, until the people these loons are railing against are needed. Different story then - and the ironic thing is, the police (and others like them) are required by law to try and help. You know, the same law they're trying to uphold that keeps people alive, versus those that would tweet locations and play with lives...

Funny how people work, eh?

All the best to you and yours, mate - hope it's a happy and safe one!

There is a major difference between not wanting police and just not wanting them to do their job. Of course I would want their assistance if I was in trouble, but I wouldn't want them to abuse that power.

For instance, my friends store was broken into on Christmas day and there is footage that shows who did it. I would not expect the police to go to the theifs house and pepper spray/beat him up. Just arrest and hopefully the justice system will do its job.

There are more good cops than bad and I am fully in support of the police force. Much like the rest of society, a few bad apples can ruin the bunch.

I've already bombareded Danny with tweets (sorry for that - 140 characters) regarding my stance on RIDE programs, but I will share it again.

I think they do too little to prevent drinking and driving, both short and long term. Everyone has a Superman complex where they say "that will never happen to me" and some of those people will take unnecessary risks, including drinking and driving.

After they do get caught, do they stop? No. They still 'need' to drive to get to work, pick up their kids, etc and they continue to take risks. I know far too many people who have been in those shoes, or been victims of those who have.

What needs to happen is preventive action, not reactive. Ignition locks in every vehicle is not a horrible idea. It would effectively stop drinking and driving, make RIDE programs a thing of the past. It would mitigate the risks people are able to take behind the wheel of a vehicle.

I'm not sorry for my stance on this subject, but I am sorry that it was this tweet that was picked up. I do have respect for the police as a whole, but I have a serious disdain for those who misuse their powers.

Have a good new year, boys.

Hey there Trevor,

Thanks for jumping in over here to add your thoughts.

The reason I picked your tweet as one of two was that it used both the #RIDE hashtag, and the #cantalwaysgetwhatyouwant one as well, which suggested even further disdain for the police that are trying to do a job, as well as the public in general who are affected by drunk drivers. It also used the "we" as opposed to "I", which suggested a bigger movement, which was kind of worrying. Not so much from a movement angle (freedom of speech is important), but from the particular hashtag it was part of - which is, essentially, trying to save lives.

Do some authorities use drink driving as a cash cow? For sure. But if people didn't drink in the first place and then get behind the wheel, there wouldn't be the need for policing in this way, above or below the fold.

I completely agree on the preventive action - but there's an easier way all round to prevent drink driving, and it's the idiots getting behind the wheel. They stop, drink driving stops.

So make punitive measures more effective. Forget fines - make it an instant demerit on your license. Never mind the three strikes and you're out approach - the first time you lose X amount of points, and if you do it a second, you lose your license, full stop.

Be interesting to see how many people take the risk then when they could lose a lot more than just their license.

As for those tweeting locations? They're essentially obstructing justice and should be held accountable that way.

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts here, appreciated.

More than likely, Bill, more than likely. There's no limit on idiocy, it would seem.

That's the problem, Ken - usually the people that cause the devastation don't see the long-term results, nor do they get injured themselves.

Kind of a messed up logic.

Well, in my case the person saw the devastation, but only after it was too late. For me, it's been 30 years and it doesn't make it any easier.

I hear you on that, mate. Sorry to hear.

Hey there Lexi,

First, LOVE the new avatar! Oh, and thanks for the "additional action" you took on the blog too, hope you enjoy! :)

You're right - the way I view these folks is simple. They're encouraging breaking the law and therefore endangering lives, and charges should be allowed to be brought against them.

The great thing is, there are way more people condemning the actions of the shitdiots than there are supporting. Seems good sense is stronger than idiocy.