Did I do the right thing?

Odysseus

Surely then at some stage in the last few years somebody you guys know someone who did something illegal, ranging from driving with their tax out, speeding etc, to something a like taking a drug even cannabis as after all it is illegal.

There would very very few people who do not know something would has committed an illegal act over the last five years, it doesn't have to be the crime of the century.

So the question is did you report them?

looking_around

sesswhat wrote: »

If I rang the guards every time I saw a driver on the mobile, or with kids not belted in, or speeding, or overtaking on a continuous white line, then:

1. They would ignore me after the first few calls
2. I wouldn't have time to do anything else

This incident may fall on the serious end of the scale, and it may have been a good thing for the driver to be flagged up to the guards, but in the real world the OP would certainly not be alone in deciding to help without judging.

OK, first off, those can't be proved. BUT the drunk driver could have.

Odysseus wrote: »

Surely then at some stage in the last few years somebody you guys know someone who did something illegal, ranging from driving with their tax out, speeding etc, to something a like taking a drug even cannabis as after all it is illegal.

There would very very few people who do not know something would has committed an illegal act over the last five years, it doesn't have to be the crime of the century.

So the question is did you report them?

Second. I DID say, dangerous >_>. I don't believe smoking canabis is harmful to themselves or others UNLESS, of course, they got into a car.

Gosh, you all can hate me for being a 'snitch'. I will still say the OP was wrong, and drunk drivers deserve to be judged.
They ARE putting other lives at risk, simple as.

looking_around

looking_around wrote: »

Well its good then I'm not looking to be friends.

If they're a danger to others, they deserve getting caught & punished for that.

It's not like I don't help family & friends, but IF they're doing something thats both dangerous to them and someone else, I'm not going to encourage that behaviour.

I wouldn't encourage them doing anything and I would give out to them about it but I wouldn't get them in trouble with the guards over it (obviously there are exceptions like if the abused a child, assaulted a woman etc)

twinQuins wrote: »

I feel as if this is a trick question somehow...

I've never even thought of doing something like that, not out of any morality, the idea just never occurred to me.

Maybe? I mean, if it gets them to slow down and possibly avoid an accident I suppose it might be worth it but I don't know. Probably not.

Sending a checkpoint warning text is something very common amongst my family and friends. If I see a speed trap first thing in my head is who might be passing in the next while that I should warn.

looking_around

Allison Powerful Combat wrote: »

I wouldn't encourage them doing anything and I would give out to them about it but I wouldn't get them in trouble with the guards over it (obviously there are exceptions like if the abused a child, assaulted a woman etc)

As if "giving out" stops them.
If they do it once and get away with it, they'll do it again.

Sending a checkpoint warning text is something very common amongst my family and friends. If I see a speed trap first thing in my head is who might be passing in the next while that I should warn.

It doesn't even cross my mind, people also shouldn't be speeding, so cameras and such shouldn't be an issue .

Odysseus

looking_around wrote: »

OK, first off, those can't be proved. BUT the drunk driver could have.



Second. I DID say, dangerous >_>. I don't believe smoking canabis is harmful to themselves or others UNLESS, of course, they got into a car.

Gosh, you all can hate me for being a 'snitch'. I will still say the OP was wrong, and drunk drivers deserve to be judged.
They ARE putting other lives at risk, simple as.

So you ok with them giving money to drug pushers, a lot of people argue that efffects other people especially communities [I don't but that is not the point here.]. So is it a case that you will only report people for illegal behaviour that you don't agree with?

Reporting someone for doing something illegal like tax out of date that doesn't risk harming people, and reporting them for crashing the car because they were so blind drunk, eh, bit different imo

twinQuins

Yes, even if you buy your weed off some guy who grows it for himself and a few friends they ultimately have to get the seeds off dodgy people but that whole issue is too complex to get into. Suffice to say that actions that don't harm anyone shouldn't be illegal and the difference between immorality and illegality is often stark.

However, drink driving puts other people directly at risk no matter how it's done. If you decriminalised cannabis people could buy and source it legally and safely without supporting criminals, if you decriminalised drink driving people would still be at risk on the roads.

So can we please knock it off with the ridiculous examples and equivocations? Yes, the issue is nuanced but I think there are some clear-cut cases.

looking_around

Odysseus wrote: »

So you ok with them giving money to drug pushers, a lot of people argue that efffects other people especially communities [I don't but that is not the point here.]. So is it a case that you will only report people for illegal behaviour that you don't agree with?

Tbh, alot of people can get the seeds from countries where weed is legal, totally eliminating drug pushers
plus, I believe weed should be legal as it, and I repeat DOESN'T harm anyone.
And would again, eliminate drug pushers.

Please, these are clearly not the same kind of situations.

I'm against behaviour that puts someone and, especially, others at risk of harm.

Is that so hard to understand? :rolleyes:

December2012

Eh, you can hardly get annoyed about judgement opinions when in the thread title the OP is asking if did he do the right thing?

Odysseus

twinQuins wrote: »

Yes, even if you buy your weed off some guy who grows it for himself and a few friends they ultimately have to get the seeds off dodgy people but that whole issue is too complex to get into. Suffice to say that actions that don't harm anyone shouldn't be illegal and the difference between immorality and illegality is often stark.

However, drink driving puts other people directly at risk no matter how it's done. If you decriminalised cannabis people could buy and source it legally and safely without supporting criminals, if you decriminalised drink driving people would still be at risk on the roads.

So can we please knock it off with the ridiculous examples and equivocations? Yes, the issue is nuanced but I think there are some clear-cut cases.

How do we know they are not intoxicated from smoking when they get in their car. There is no safe limit for cannabis use and driving, well none has been established. As it stays in the persons system for so long we can establish a safe limit in the way we do with alcohol.

So should they not be reported in case, say if the smoked the night before?

However, you saying it should not be illegal don't cut it does it? It is illegal and following some of the strong opinions here, I can't see how a person could not report it, it their opinions are that strong.

It does seem like its a case of well I will only report the crimes I personally object to.

Henlars67

Odysseus wrote: »

How do we know they are not intoxicated from smoking when they get in their car. There is no safe limit for cannabis use and driving, well none has been established. As it stays in the persons system for so long we can establish a safe limit in the way we do with alcohol.

So should they not be reported in case, say if the smoked the night before?

However, you saying it should not be illegal don't cut it does it? It is illegal and following some of the strong opinions here, I can't see how a person could not report it, it their opinions are that strong.

It does seem like its a case of well I will only report the crimes I personally object to.

My experience is that once you've slept the effects of smoking are gone.

twinQuins

Odysseus wrote: »

How do we know they are not intoxicated from smoking when they get in their car. There is no safe limit for cannabis use and driving, well none has been established. As it stays in the persons system for so long we can establish a safe limit in the way we do with alcohol.

So should they not be reported in case, say if the smoked the night before?

If you use any psychoactive drug you shouldn't drive, I really believe it's as simple as that.
And until we establish a safe limit then yes, it should be reported as we don't know what kind of risk they pose and it's better to err on the side of caution until we do.

However, you saying it should not be illegal don't cut it does it? It is illegal and following some of the strong opinions here, I can't see how a person could not report it, it their opinions are that strong.

It does seem like its a case of well I will only report the crimes I personally object to.

I think it's more a case of reporting crimes where there is clearly a danger to other people. I certainly won't shy away from saying I believe that actions that don't harm anyone or don't have a real capability of harming anyone shouldn't be illegal.

It's just frustrating, coming up against attitudes of "grassing" and "snitching" as if we're still on the playground and there's a juvenile omertà in effect.

sesswhat

looking_around wrote: »

OK, first off, those can't be proved. BUT the drunk driver could have.

Who saw him driving the car?

Stand at any busy junction with a video camera and fill your boots.

Odysseus

Henlars67 wrote: »

My experience is that once you've slept the effects of smoking are gone.

That may or may not be the case for you, often those still over the limit think the effects of alcohol are gone the next day, but people still get done because they are still effected.

The drug driving laws that are been worked on currently will be very complex.TBH I don't know how they will work out due to the subjective effects of drugs and the lenght drugs stay in the system, cannabis can stay in a persons system for a month if the use regularly.

However, the point is that no safe limit or time after ingestion has been established.

So if we follow the logic in this thread should those people not be reoprted?

Another poster brought up using the phone whilst driving, we all know people who still do that or see them. So should those people not be reported by the posters here who state the will always report a crime that causes a danger?

looking_around

NONE of are saying it's ok to smoke weed and drive.

You're just being difficult because you disagree with we're saying. Omg snitch on someone doing something dangerous and illegal, how could we >_>

And who's to say we don't report said crimes??

I have taken videos to the cops which catch drivers on phones+license plates, whether this is followed up has nothing to do with me.
But yes, I report, anything that has a risk of harming them, and more importantly, someone else.

I like the assumptions though, keep up the good work :rolleyes:

wow sierra

gramar wrote: »

Did I do the right thing?

On the way home yesterday I saw a car that had lost control and was wedged in a field
just off the road. I stopped to see if they were ok. The guy who was driving (he was on his own)was not to put too fine a point on it..scuttered. No damage been done to himself or anyone else and the car wasn't in a dangerous place but if the gaurdias had arrived he was in serious shít as he was way over the limit.

When he got out of the car he could barely stand and was a bit dazed due to the drink and the knock he took. He stumbled a few times and as I caught him by the arm as he stumbled it felt odd, kind of hard. I asked him if he had his arm in plaster and he told me he was missing an arm and he had a kind of plastic arm. The car was automatic and was set up for his disability but in his state and with one arm he wasn't fit to look at a car let alone get behind the wheel.

I got him to call a friend which wasn't easy as he hadn't got his wits about him. Frankly it was like talking to a child. His friend came but it was impossible for us to move his car from where it was so I rang a guy I know with a tow truck who got the car out and his friends son drove it home while he went with his friend.

I did the guy a favour but I'm not happy about it. He shouldn't have been on the road and he could have caused a serious accident to me a loved one or anyone other innocent road user. So my question is if I did the right thing or not? Should I have shopped him? He would have lost his license for 2 years and had to pay a serious fine and would have had to
apply for his license again etc. If he had previous he would have been looking at jail. The only thing that makes me feel any better is that hopefully it was one off but if I found out he was at this shít the whole time I'd be furious with myself for helping him out.
What would other people have done?

I think on balance you did the right thing. You saw someone who needed help and you helped them. I would hate to live in a world where no one ever gave anyone a second chance or the benifit of the doubt.

Its easy to be all "holier than thou" and judge everyone harshly but no one will ever change their ways unless someone gives them a chance or a hand out. I don't know why everyone is assuming this guy does this all the time - or even how sure you can be of how drunk someone is if they are after being in a crash. No one knows anything about this guys life or how he will react to this incident in relation to his future.

Just be happy you did something kind and move on.

Odysseus

looking_around wrote: »

NONE of are saying it's ok to smoke weed and drive.

You're just being difficult because you disagree with we're saying. Omg snitch on someone doing something dangerous and illegal, how could we >_>

And who's to say we don't report said crimes??

I have taken videos to the cops which catch drivers on phones+license plates, whether this is followed up has nothing to do with me.
But yes, I report, anything that has a risk of harming them, and more importantly, someone else.

I like the assumptions though, keep up the good work :rolleyes:

What assumptions have been made? Was it me or an other poster?

So now you have answered my question on cannabis and reporting? The other lad seems to think a tad differently.

I have been asking if people reported crimes for a few pages noow, so at least it is been answered now.

And for the record I never once used the word grass or any other offensive term.

Well all I can do here is take you on your word that you film people and hand it to the Gaurds, but I do hope you are not driving when you flim people. Has no one ever taken an objection to you pulling alongside them whilst they are driving?

I see a lot on the roads but I have never seen anyone doing that.

twinQuins

Sorry, Odysseus, I didn't mean to imply you've been using those terms, it was just a comment on other posts on the thread.

666irishguy

666irishguy wrote: »

The Op did nothing wrong. He didn't tell the guy to drink, he didn't let him out of the establishment or house he was in drunk, he didn't get into a car drunk and drive away. Not reporting a crime is nothing more than not reporting a crime, not a crime in itself. It's easy to say you'd call the guards but we all have this thing called pity and it is a powerful response. I hope those who said they would call the Guards will practice as they preach and voluntarily turn themselves in if they have ever drunk driven or broke the law at any time in the past.

This is it in a nut shell, most people here are quick to condem the poor guy. We don't know how we would react in certain situations. I would like to think I would ring the guards but I can't say that for sure. And I won't be acting self righteous either.

Otrera

Hi OP, I think you did the right thing.

No one likes rats...

Odysseus

twinQuins wrote: »

Sorry, Odysseus, I didn't mean to imply you've been using those terms, it was just a comment on other posts on the thread.

Sound.

However, just to express my point I don't care what way the OP acted, my main focus here is he should act with his own moral code.

I only got involved when I seen posts stating he would be responsible if that person killed someone in the future as he failed to report him, this and other such rubbish such as calling people amoral scumbags for not reporting.

I found a lot of the severe moral codes here expressed by some posters appeared to me in anyway to be very rigid, and I do find it difficult to see how a person could hold such a code and live by it.

I do find it hard to believe that people would report a family member as easily as they state here, some may, but I think most would struggle.

I really doubt that those who expressed such rigid moral code stick by them and live them totally, I think life is not as black and white.

It sum up, I have no problem with people reporting crimes, I have done it myself, but I do doubt how many of the posters who claim to live by severe moral codes really do.

twinQuins

For me, if someone in my family broke such a serious law I have to ask myself what if someone else's family suffered because of it?

What if someone was killed or injured because of their actions? Sure, I'm not going to report every little misdemeanor - for one thing the cops just don't have the resources to deal with it - but that shouldn't mean that the big things should be let slide too. And for me, drink driving is a big issue.

And yeah, maybe they'll learn their lesson after a close call but what if they don't? What if all it takes is just them taking one more chance to be killed or to kill someone else?

Let me put it like this (and this is for those who would not report crimes like this): if someone was drink driving and crashed into you or rather, came close to doing so would you report it?

looking_around

Odysseus wrote: »

Well all I can do here is take you on your word that you film people and hand it to the Gaurds, but I do hope you are not driving when you flim people. Has no one ever taken an objection to you pulling alongside them whilst they are driving?

I see a lot on the roads but I have never seen anyone doing that.

Of course not, I don't drive.

It's amazing what you catch when you just keep a camera rolling, randomly.

Most people don't notice, it's not like I shove the camera on their window.

___
[QOUTE] I really doubt that those who expressed such rigid moral code stick by them and live them totally, I think life is not as black and white.[/QUOTE]
I'll admit, this is trait "flaw", life is very black and white to me.

cazzzzz

I really think you should have reported it. Drinking and driving is NEVER ok. Especially because he was locked. There are people I know who have driven after 1 or two pints and been over the limit and this guy was just taking advantage of it.

twinQuins

twinQuins wrote: »

Let me put it like this (and this is for those who would not report crimes like this): if someone was drink driving and crashed into you or rather, came close to doing so would you report it?

If I knew the person and they were willing to play ball and fix my car etc I wouldn't report it, for a near miss I'd eat the head off them but wouldn't report it.

If someone I didn't know crashed into me there is a good chance I'd report it in order to ensure I wasn't left out of pocket for repairs. A near miss I don't know, though in the past I have never reported anyone so that means I probably wouldn't.

Odysseus

looking_around wrote: »

Of course not, I don't drive.

It's amazing what you catch when you just keep a camera rolling, randomly.

Most people don't notice, it's not like I shove the camera on their window.

__
[QOUTE] I really doubt that those who expressed such rigid moral code stick by them and live them totally, I think life is not as black and white.

I'll admit, this is trait "flaw", life is very black and white to me.[/QUOTE]


I had a long post written put but lost it:mad:

Anyway I find this videoing behaviour interesting, I am suprised no one has noticed you. How often would you do it as I see numberous people doing it every day.

I don't object to the reporting, I do object when someone projects their moral code on another person, such as stating this guys is responsible for the drivers future behaviour, saying it does not make it so.

Even in work I am given a lot of information relatiing to criminal activies, I spend a lot of time discussing with other professional on what I should do with that information.

Everyone is entitled to develop their own moral code and should not have someone elses forced upon them.

Dizzicizzi

As someone who has had my life pretty well fookered by someone driving into the side of me, I can definitely say that no you did not do the right thing. I would not wish the physical pain and or psychological devastation I have gone through on my worst enemies. I still suffer every day because of one person's bad decision. Can I understand why you didn't call the guards? Yes. It is not easy to feel like you would be getting someone else into trouble, but look at the alternative.

The other thing that stands out to me is that there was no way you could have been able to tell if the person had sustained a serious head or neck injury. People who are drunk can get up and walk around with broken necks because the drink dulls the pain and also dulls their ability to judge a situation. It is always better if you are in doubt to call the professionals.

There is nothing you can do about it now. Guilt over making a bad decision wont help anyone. Chalk it up to experience and try to asses the situation a little further before make a call like that in future.