It goes without saying that driving while under the influence is a very, very bad idea, which is why it is usually safer to take a cab home if you’ve had too much to drink. Also thanks to ride hailing services like Uber and Lyft being more ubiquitous, finding a ride home is not as difficult as it once was.In fact over in Painesville, Ohio, Municipal Court Judge Michael A. Cicconetti passed down a ruling in which those who have been convicted of OVI (Operating a Vehicle Impaired) will be required to download and install apps such as Uber or Lyft. Cicconetti has been known in the past to be pretty creative with his sentencing, and this is an example of it.
According to Cicconetti, “It’s not one of those unusual sentences. There’s nothing crazy about it,” Cicconetti said. “It’s just common sense. Now that we have the technology and most people have the ability to do that, why not make it part of their sentence? If you can save one person from getting another OVI, one person from getting into an accident, one person from hurting somebody else, it makes sense.”
“It’s just common sense. 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 OVI.” We have to wonder if this could eventually become a thing with other judges in the future.