Don't Drink and Drive in DC

The Washington Post is reporting that the Metro Police have the authority to arrest anyone caught driving with a measurable amount of alcohol in their system.

Here's a quote from the article:

As D.C. police officer Dennis Fair ... put it in an interview recently: "If you get behind the wheel of a car with any measurable amount of alcohol, you will be dealt with in D.C. We have zero tolerance. . . . Anything above .01, we can arrest."

And:

Fair acknowledged that many people aren't aware of the District's policy. "But it is our law," he said. "If you don't know about it, then you're a victim of your own ignorance."

So watch out, people. Even though the police acknowledge that they don't win or even prosecute a lot of these cases, they'll still arrest you and throw you in a cell until the booze works its way out of your system.

Seems a bit ridiculous to me. I mean, why even have a legal limit for driving under the influence if it's also illegal to have had any alcohol whatsoever? This zero tolerance law is stipulated with the qualifier that the driver has to be driving pretty badly to begin with, but how is that different from the standard DUI laws? Someone could be drunk off their ass, but if they're driving as if they weren't, then a cop has no cause to pull them over. The police can't randomly stop people to see if they're drunk; the public has to be notified in advance of roadblocks and such.

This just seems like an unfair way to boost the city's revenue stream.