Did anyone watch the show on WRAL at 5:30? It was about hispanic drunk drivers. I found that their were excuses made to lighten the problem and also some incredible statements made. Short version: an illegal immigrant killed a driver and left his wife an idiot (so to speak) when he hit them driving down the road. Basically head on. He had already had five previous DUI convictions which some included collisions with other drivers.
i didn't see it, but it couldn't be as far across the line as the n&o was 6 months or so ago, when they said that for latinos driving drunk is cultural.... http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/559842.html
They did mention that latino's would most likely feel they are admitting to be failures if they admit they are not in control. That was the excuse given for them not to give their keys to a sober person. Another thing about the show I found outrageous was that the Brunswick County DA commented that they had no way of knowing the subject had more than one DUI. Evenwhen he got a second DUI in the same county.
What a crock! There are ways to check driving records. Duh! And if the offenders keep changing their names and making up new SS numbers, there's always fingerprints.
Oh! And furthermore - if it's such a cultural thing, how come we don't hear about carnage on the highways in the places they come from?
The program pointed out that these same people have never driven or owned a vehicle until they moved to USA. One of the reasons given for why latino's drink so much is because they are here alone and don't have anything else to do.
My disclaimer is that I DO NOT support illegals nor drunk driving regardless of who does it. That being said, my husband works with a Tex-Mex (what he calls himself) and my husband asked him about the hispanic population and drinking and driving. His answer was.....that it's completely acceptable within the hispanic community. That they will (on purpose) get drunk and then drive just because they can or to see if they can. It's a challenge of sorts, who can get the drunkest and still drive. P's me off everytime I think about it or hear yet another story of someone being hit by a DD. The other issue you were talking about was why they don't know if they have DUI's already, even within the same county. When we sold our house about 3 years ago, a hispanic couple bought it. At closing, the lawyer (that their realtor hired) had all of us in a room together and proceeded to start telling them (the buyers) that they had almost broken the record for alias'. (You have to sign a form with any alias' on it during closing.) The man had 11 and the woman had 12. He (the lawyer) said the most he had seen was 17. 11, 12, or 17 freaking alias'??? WTF??? No wonder we can't figure out if they already have DUI's. There has to be something we can do to identify and prevent these. Maybe someone knows, fingerprints used to be on paper, are they electronic yet? If not, then the fingerprint comparison won't be instant which would explain why we aren't catching them quicker or at least prior to #5. Just my 2 cents.
First of all... Before everybody loses their cool..let's get one thing straight. Drinking and driving is not acceptable within Hispanic culture. I am sick and tired of illegal mexicans and such bringing down our entire community. My family..and friends are against ILLEGALS..and guess what? We are Cuban, I know to some that might mean the same as Mexican, it's not. Since I moved to NC I was hit with a big culture shock, the biggest reason is that everybody in this state thinks everybody that somewhat looks hispanic is illegal and Mexican, and for somebody to throw us in a big category and say we are all the same is completely ignorant and unjustified. I'm all for punishment against drunk drivers..my husband was hit by one and nearly killed him, and we were as disgusted by it as much as you would be. So to finish this off, try to put yourself in our situation, how would you feel if I said that all White people are wife beaters..pretty harsh words don't you think..and if said it would be ignorant and unjustified, just like the Hispanic community provides acceptance towards drinking and driving.
nobody said all latinos. and nobody said all latinos were illegal mexicans. unfortunately for you, you're a victim of circumstance. if we were in miami, the majority of latino population would be cuban. here, you're one in a million. how long have you lived here? has it been long enough to have seen so many stories on the local news about illegal mexicans driving drunk and killing people that you've had just about enough? you'll have to forgive us for being ****ed off at them, i guess....
I saw something briefly on the news today mentioned "Real ID". Sounds like these will make it a lot tougher for the immigrants to hide under the various aliases.
The show was actually about illegal mexicans and a drinking and driving problem. The problem with specifying "Mexican" is that the PC blow holes (more just A holes) forum members would focus on that one word and change the direction of the thread to racism. If you have a problem being lumped in, thank them for it.
ddlc, I sympathize with your frustration at being lumped in with everybody who looks somewhat like you and thought of as "illegal aliens." But did you notice, you did the same thing! This statement "everybody in this state thinks everybody that somewhat looks hispanic is illegal and Mexican," is the same kind of generalization. I do think it's true of a lot of people in this state, and a lot of people on this forum. I know that people on this forum have contradicted me when I said every brown person buying beer in the local convenience store is not necessarily illegal - the response has been something like, well the majority are, so you're safe in assuming, etc. But that's not everybody in this state, or everybody on this forum. We all need to watch the generalizations. Most of us understand that, in fact, many people of Hispanic origin are citizens of this country, and many more are here legally. But a lot of people are frustrated with our government's failure at all levels to deal with the problem of illegal immigration, and that frustration sometimes shows itself in inappropriate ways. Just the same as your statement "everybody in this state . . . " comes out of your frustration with being so frequently lumped in with the illegals.
What the show said (and they a hispanic community leader on there speaking) is that drinking and driving is more acceptable in their own countries. He did not mean that fatalities from drinking and driving are 'acceptable'. And as someone else said, they may live in more rural areas, not as much traffic, or not have as much driving experience. And that they are lonely and drinking is a cheap form of entertainment for them. He also said they are really trying to educate them on the consequences of drinking with tv and newspaper ads.
Yesterday, someone told me that if you, a legal citizen, know of an illegal and you report them to the Homeland Security, they have to follow through on the report. I'd really like to know if that's true. But I can't find any web sites that you can do it on, or, any site that defines it. Since the INS was changed to HS it's got a million branches now!!!! Searched them all and all I get is one throwing you back to the other?? If this is true, all we have to do is overload the reporting system and something will get done about the illegal problem.
Funny, I drove a car all over northern and central Mexico once. Didn't see anyone driving like they were drunk. Never heard anyone comment about how drinking and driving is OK. A lot of drinking appears to go on in the places I visited, not so much getting in a car after the drinking. Urinating in public seemed to be a much bigger problem. I wonder what these people are basing their claim on, that drinking and driving is more acceptable among hispanics. Don't suppose they have any facts?
maybe the hispanics they talked to told them that? Quote: Originally Posted by bandmom What the show said (and they a hispanic community leader on there speaking) is that drinking and driving is more acceptable in their own countries
