SA mid range DUI punishments - what the?

[ea90gl]

Since when did the punishment for DUI become so ridiculous compared to the crime in the state of SA?

So basically I will most likely be losing my licence for a 6 months period shortly.

I will try to keep my story short and simple - in October of last year I consumed approximately 5 standard strength beers over a 3-4 hour period after work. That particular night was take out night and seeing as the wife was not well I decided to head out and get some dinner. Without going into the finer details, on the way a kangaroo ended up jumping out in front of my vehicle which I ended up hitting. Not even a skilled racing driver could of avoided this given the road/situation and timing in which it all happened. I decided to stop just on the side of the road and a good Samaritan must of heard the impact and decided to call the emergency services. Along came the services as well as the police who of course had to perform an alcohol breath test. Low and behold I was over the limit and was taken back to the station where the secondary test was performed which recorded a BAC of 0.082. I was personally surprised by this but at the end of the day it was what it was.

Basically what occurred that night could of happened to any one whether or not you were straight, drunk, high on coke, a person who has never touched any form of brain altering substances etc but what happened did happen so as mentioned it was what it was. This type of offence is also my first and I have a relatively clean record in regards to previous driving offences.

Anyway, I am currently self-employed and am the sole provider with a wife who does not work looking after our two very young boys (one having a mild disability and requires regular therapy of various sorts). I have enlisted the aid of a lawyer to help fight the case which has cost me thousands of dollars and the loss of licence will ultimately cost me many more thousands of dollars over the long run. All this is basically because I was found guilty of a mid-range DUI offence (0.002 above a low-range offence which would ultimately result in just a fine and away you go).

All of the above is completely disregarded and there is absolutely no way anything is taken into account in order to offer any form of leniency whatsoever in regards to the offence committed.

From research I have performed and also other cases I have witnessed personally at court hearings I have come up with the following (I could go on for quite some time);

You are able to break the law numerous times (speeding, mobile phone usage while driving etc) and are able to get a good behavior bond due to loss of demerit points. Don't they harp on about how dangerous the above offences are?

You are able to perform theft and assault and be let off on a good behavior bond seeing as it is a first offence and a criminal record could possibly effect your work and income

You are able to perform a break and enter and be let off with a slap on the wrist

Many other more serious crimes are able to be committed and you are able to get let off very easily.

I also know of another driver who was found guilty of a high-range DUI offence. He stupidly went out driving (BAC was recorded at 0.227 at time of incident) and ended up crashing into a parked car which was of low value. His ultimate punishment was a loss of licence for 18 months, the loss of his own vehicle (valued at approximately $2000) and he had to fork out for the vehicle he wrote off which was valued at $3500. Luckily for him, he was able to get a lift to and from work from a co-worker which he is able to take advantage of for the complete period of his loss of licence. At the end of the day this guy is actually more better off than myself and I'd personally rather be in his shoes than mine at the moment.

So is any body out there able to explain to me how these current DUI penalties are suited to the actual "crime" committed? I definitely do not condone any form of drink driving and if you happen to be drunk and end up causing a substantial accident due to being completely intoxicated then you should be locked away for good.

And last but not least, can the do-gooder's who are brainwashed by the media or whatever else please **** off and refrain from posting in this thread. I am not wanting to hear the same old ****** line of "you do the crime, you do the time" since obviously the time does not suit the crime committed. It is obviously the do-gooder attitude that allows these laws and penalties to be put in place