Require an App as a Condition of Probation?

Most first time drunk driver defendants have learned their lesson and do not repeat offend, but some do. So, would an app be an appropriate condition of probation? Get a Lyft from the bar, or get a lift to the slammer?

Ohio Judge Michael Cicconetti has been ordering drunk driving defendants to download ride-hailing apps as part of their sentences.

On June 6, a first-time offender who blew a .200 on a breathalyzer test was ordered to go through a prevention program, pay court costs, relinquish her license and, as part of her probation, download and activate Lyft or Uber on her phone. Cicconetti got the idea for the sentence after dealing with a repeat offender who would drive drunk despite living just blocks away from the bar, according to The News-Herald, a Cleveland-area newspaper.

For Judge Cicconetti, the requirement is a no-brainer. “If you can save one person from getting another [DUI], one person from getting into an accident, one person from hurting somebody else, it makes sense,” he told The News-Herald. “It doesn’t cost anybody anything to install it and activate it, and it’s far cheaper than paying the thousands of dollars you’d have to pay for another [DUI].”

 

For the full story, go here.

 

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