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Drunk Drivers to be Shamed on Facebook?
Photo by Ray-Franco Bouly via on Flickr
Photo by Ray-Franco Bouly via on Flickr
Update your status, browse a co-worker's vacation photos, and check if anyone you know was recently arrested for a DUI? Yep. Huntington Beach is fed up with the traditional methods of curbing drunk driving and is considering a new approach: posting the names of DUI arrests on the city's Facebook page. Where did they get such an idea? According to the LA Times, the Huntington Beach Independent has recently stopped publishing the DUI listings, so city councilman Devin Dywer suggested they take-up the posting of names because he will "use any tool necessary to bring down the numbers of drunk drivers."
How bad is the Huntington Beach DUI problem? With 1,687 drunk driving arrests last year, it has one of the highest DUI rates in California for a city its size.
Dwyer sees no shame in shaming those arrested for drunk driving as it's public information. The Facebook proposal will be reviewed by City Attorney Jennifer McGrath (charged with a DUI of her own in 2005) to be sure it meets legal guidelines before it's launched.
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