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DQ News: Social Media Shitdiots and Hijacking the Toronto Police #RIDE Hashtag on Twitter

Over on Twitter, Toronto police are using the #RIDE hashtag to counter drunk driving this holiday period. Standing for Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere, #RIDE aims to educate against drunk driving, and offer alternatives from the Toronto police on getting home safely.

You’d think it’s a great use of Twitter, and an important topic to be aware of, especially at this time of year.

And it would be – except for the shitdiots that have hijacked the #RIDE hashtag and begun tweeting locations of the random breathalyzer checks so drunk drivers can avoid them.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit – as someone who’s lost an uncle to a drunk driver and saw a friend suffer severe brain damage after being dragged 300 yards by a drunk driver, I’m very biased on this topic.

To me, there’s no excuse for drinking and driving – you either cab home, or don’t drink. Or, if you absolutely must drink, stay within the legal limits as set out by the law – they’re there for a reason.

However, all bias aside, tweeting the locations of #RIDE checkpoints makes you one of the biggest assholes in the history of assholes.

Unless you’ve seen the damage a drunk driver can do, you have no idea how much devastation that “one more drink” can wreak on peoples’ lives. And the ironic part is that usually the drunk driver walks away without any injury…

The reason used by some of the Twitter users, like Trevor Algar and Justin Tutay, is they want police to “stop abusing their powers.” Here’s the thing, though – stopping drunks from getting behind the wheel and destroying a family is not abusing police powers.

If you want to talk about abuse of power, talk about kids getting pepper sprayed for peaceful protests. Or racial profiling. Or over-reacting to G20 protests.

That’s abuse of police power – not saving lives from stopping idiots getting behind a wheel.

So, to the Twitter users that are using the #RIDE hashtag to warn drivers of spot check locations – go ahead, warn them. Be that shitdiot that forces a mother to explain to her children why their father won’t be coming home.

Just don’t expect my sympathy when you become the victim of a drunk driver yourself. Because that’s the kind of karma you deserve.

Social Media Shitdiots and Hijacking the Toronto Police #RIDE Hashtag on Twitter originally appeared on Danny Brown | Social Media Marketing Blog - The Human Side of Media and the Social Side of Marketing under a Creative Commons license.

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