A Modest Proposal For Making Driving More Entertaining, While Creating The Same Risks For Everyone

According to this study, nearly all drivers were intoxicated and admitted. If all drivers were forced into a jail cell, there would be shrinkage in both fatalities and automobile accidents. In fact, “Almost half of all drivers who were killed in crashes tested positive for drugs and also had alcohol in their system” (Johnston, O'Malley, Bachman, and Schulenberg 1). So why should any offender remain free? According to “Drunk Driving Accident Statistics”, “Three in every ten Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at some point in their lives” (5). To guarantee the safety of innocent people on the road, all offenders must go to jail immediately.

Drinking and driving is said to be the primary contributor to automotive related deaths. “By law, a driver is considered to be impaired by alcohol if his or her blood alcohol content is 0.08 percent or higher” (Holzmueller). As a matter of fact, “in 2010, about 86 percent of all fatalities alcohol-involved crashes were in cases where a driver or pedestrian had a BAC of .08 or higher” (“The Economic and Societal Impact of Motor Vehicle Crashes, 2010” 147). Laws and penalties have been created and applied in recent years that make it more difficult to get away with drinking and driving. If drivers are charged with alcohol-impaired driving, “they face suspension or revocation of their license” (Holzmueller).

Driving under the influence has affected many people's lives and families. Today I would like to talk to you about the problems of drinking and driving, and why it is a concern for all of us. Driving under the influence is one of the most common and dangerous situations you can put yourself or someone else in. The fact is that drinking and driving is a huge deal and can leave a long trail of broken dreams and hearts. If you drink and drive, not only are you putting yourself at risk, but your passengers and the pedestrians outside of your vehicle. According to the most recent statistics by the National Commission Against Drunk Driving states that 17,000 Americans die each year in alcohol- related traffic crashes and 600,000 Americans

Alcohol-impaired driving fatalities were 1,028 in 2008 for the state of California (Century Council). Of those deaths, 68% of the drivers were considered “Hardcore Drunk Drivers”; drivers who had a BAC level of 0.15+ (Century Council). Unfortunately, the drivers who got behind the wheel of those vehicles now have to deal with the fact that they slaughtered a person(s), because they made the choice to drive their car when they knew they had consumed alcohol.

“In the hands of an impaired driver, a vehicle becomes a murderous weapon.” ( ) Everyone can think of someone who has driven impaired, or even maybe you have done it yourself. The fact that one can think of someone who has driven impaired is a problem. Too many people are getting behind the wheel after drinking, smoking; or are not paying attention while they drive. Impaired driving continues to a problem although strides have been made to make a difference. There are many different types of impaired driving, each that have their own consequences. These types, and consequences will be explored in this essay.

In 2013, 10,076 people were killed in drunk driving incidents. Out of those people, 65% (6,515) were drivers, 27% (2,724) were passengers, and 8% (837) were non-passengers (“Drunk Driving Statistics”). Over half of those fatalities (67.1%) involved blood alcohol levels over .15% (“Drunk Driving Statistics”). The legal blood-alcohol content is .08%. Drunk driving caused 31% of deaths in car crashes in 2013 (“Drunk Driving Statistics”). In 2012, 402 people were killed by alcohol impairment in North Carolina (“Drunk Driving Statistics”). These numbers, though they seem astonishing, have been cut in half since 1991 (“Drunk Driving Statistics”). Even though the number of fatalities has been lowered, that number is not low enough. Most drunk drivers are repeat offenders. Lives are being taken because of the careless attitude of the drunk drivers. Drunk driving is selfish; those who commit this crime do not think about the extreme consequences of their actions. In North America it is estimated that 1-5 drivers has been drinking and 1 in 10 is legally impaired on any Friday or Saturday night (Root). Many groups, including MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), are fighting to stop drunk driving. Unfortunately, drunk driving cannot be stopped. People will always commit this heinous crime. The numbers may go down, but unfortunately there will always be a number. The only way to continually decrease the amount of lives lost is to increase punishments for drunk driving.

“According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), twenty-eight people die in the United States every day as the result of an accident involving an alcohol-impaired driver,” illustrates an article on Opposing Viewpoints (“Drunk Driving”). Through application of strategy, a world with fewer drunk driving fatalities can be attained, and this begins with the introduction to mandatory regulations and laws pertaining to alcohol consumption. Primarily, by enforcing a zero tolerance law in Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) for people of all ages in every state, the tendency for American drinkers to drive after a drink or two will decrease due to consequences that accompany. If the influenced driver pursues to operate a vehicle, the mandatory Ignition Interlock Device installed in every produced car model will require a BAC test in order to properly start the engine. If the BAC is above zero tolerance, the engine will fail to start, requiring the driver to find an alternative transportation to their destination. As a terminating precaution, accessibility to alcohol for underage drinkers will contract as a result of administering a higher minimum legal drinking age in all states. In implementation of these modifications, accidents involving impaired drivers and fatality statistics will slowly diminish overtime for the betterment of the country. The notion of a nation without deaths affiliated with drivers under the influence epitomizes this perfect world, otherwise known as a

There are so many different stories about drunk driving accidents and how people are killed daily. According to Pasman-Green, “Despite harsher statutory penalties, more comprehensive treatment opportunities and obligations for offenders, and ongoing public awareness efforts, the sobering evidence is that drunk driving remains largely undeterred.” There is another way we can try to deter the effects of drunk

Drinking and driving is an issue that will most likely affect everyone at some point in their life. Drunk driving or Driving Under the Influence (DUI) is operating a motorized vehicle while having a Blood Alcohol Level (BAC) of .08% or higher. This is a social issue because even though the consequences are always negative, still many people decide to drink and drive. Effects of drinking alcohol includes a slower reaction time, alteration of depth perception, confusion, drowsiness, a lack of awareness of surroundings and more. On average an alcohol related death due to a vehicle accident occurs once every 51 minutes. This adds up to about 28 people a day or over 10,000 deaths a year, just in the United States. In the last 10 years on an anonymous self-report survey, over 100 million adults admit to alcohol impaired driving each and every year. However, there are only 1.5 million arrested for drinking and driving. So why do people continue to drink and drive knowing that the results could be very punishing for them? Reports from a survey done by a car insurance company show results that just over 10% of people believe they were still capable of driving after drinking more than the legal limit. On reasons why people let other friends drink and drive they found that 40% let them do because they themselves have done it before and 20% of men and 7% of women allow their friends to drive drunk simply to avoid an argument. One of the most shocking results was that 25% of drunk drivers are on their way to a “hook-up”. And on average males are more likely to be involved in drinking and driving rather than females. Regardless of the reason, drinking and driving is a problem that occurs every day. Whether it be themselves, a family member, friend or neighbor, or maybe they were the ones that were involved in an accident, but wasn’t the ones drinking, every American will have to deal with drunk driving at some point in their lives.

In the year 2013, Texas lead the nation with an estimate of about 1,337 deaths caused by drunk drivers. At the beginning of the year 2016, the United States has had 31,721 deaths caused by alcohol alone. Everyone makes mistakes, but the difference between a mistake and a decision is that a decision can be prevented. Drinking while intoxicated can be avoided, unfortunately most people don’t understand the seriousness of the consequences that follow if one was to get pulled over or even kill someone. Drunk drivers should be punished by getting ignition interlocks, serving a longer prison sentence, or even put on death row. The potential benefits of punishing drunk drivers could possibly decrease the amount of accidents and deaths of innocent

According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, in 2015, 10,265 people died in alcohol-impaired drunk driving crashes and 21 people die every day as result of a drunk driving related crash in America (CDC). States that do not have strict driving while intoxicated (DWI) and driving under the influence (DUI) consequences have higher alcohol related fatalities and injuries due to intoxicated driving. I understand that sometimes people make mistakes and feel as if they don’t have any other option than drinking and driving, but it is completely unacceptable. Although my opposition will argue that drunk driving penalties are strict enough, I believe that improved treatments for repeat and first-time offenders, longer sentencing for first-time

Jennyfer Hiraldo Professor Murphy December 1, 2015 Perspective Essay No more drinking and driving! It is common knowledge that drinking and driving is a crime with serious penalties.

Fatal alcoholic crashes declined by over 300 fatalities from 2005 to 2010, and that number continues to decline (“Alcohol-Impaired Driving”). Also, 66% of people convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol will never be convicted of a DUI again. Not everyone that has a BAC above the legal limit experiences the same effects that alcohol has on the body. It is not shocking that habitual drinkers can become tolerant of the effects of alcohol. Studies show that habitual drinkers do not display as many symptoms of intoxication as those who do not consume alcohol regularly. It takes 5 or more alcoholic drinks within a two-hour time period to raise a male’s BAC to above the legal limit, and it only takes 4 drinks to raise a female’s BAC to .08 or higher. Because habitual drinkers do not experience the same symptoms as others, some people do not realize their level of intoxication when they choose to drive. With this in mind, not everyone that has a BAC above the legal limit is incapable of driving safely, and not everyone that has a BAC below the legal limit is capable of safely driving. Imprisoning someone because they have a BAC above the legal limit does not always mean they were driving recklessly and is not necessary (Lapham).

9,865 deaths in 2011. The most recent data report a total of 9,967 such fatalities in

Casualties implicate inebriated drivers decreased with ease during the 80s and 90s, Fell and Voas state that at the time, organizations alike Mother Against Drunk Driving or MADD was convey significantly a lot of consideration to the cause. This Research Paper interpret that “in 2006, MADD launched the Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving (CEDD), a multipronged attempt that focalize on high-visibility constraint, passage of laws to order all driving while intoxicated (DWI) offenders to appoint their vehicles with alcohol ignition interlocks and uphold for the development of advanced, in-vehicle alcohol detection systems that would intercept drivers from driving when over the legal limit for alcohol. This endeavor seeks to reform the spotlight for alcohol-impaired driving, which is still a major reason of motor vehicle fatalities, and in the end, eliminating the problem”. When MADD focused on the issue of drunk drivers it proceeds in a cluster of new laws, publicity and police enforcement, which along with other things, assist with the diminish of drunk drivers. Law enforcement made it essential to put efforts into and center on road safety issues, like seat belt uses, child passenger safety, air bag safety, aggressive driving, and more lately, distracted driving. Not all 50 states have an obligatory interlock laws, even though some courts and departments of motor vehicles must require them. MADD launched many activities focused on high-visibility drunk driving enforcement