How many people do you know that has drove impaired? How many times have you drove impaired? To many drivers drive while intoxicated and it’s a huge issue that can be prevented. To many people die from drivers under the influence of drugs or alcohol. I feel like the laws aren’t strict enough for drivers who decide to drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol, laws need to be stricter so drivers don’t want to drive under the influence. Driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol is not only against the law, when you make that choice you endanger yourself and those around you.
The Differences in Acronyms
Driving under the influence (DUI), driving while intoxicated (DWI) is the act of driving or operating a vehicle while impaired by drugs or alcohol. There are many ways to say driving under the influence like DWI, DUI, OUI and DUID. There are a few different acronyms for driving under the influence, they have a few differences but ultimately have the same meaning. DWI is driving while intoxicated, it is the criminal law offense of operating a vehicle after drinking enough alcohol to raise one’s blood alcohol levels above the legal limit. DUI is driving under the influence, this charge is a lesser charge than DWI due to having lesser blood alcohol levels. OUI is another acronym meaning operating under the influence. Only three starts use OUI, Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. OUI means if one is in his vehicle in the driver seat with the keys in the ignition they
Imagine the idea of a college student driving back to her dorm from the grocery store. She waits patiently for the light to turn green as she sings to her favorite song on the radio. Finally, its time for her to go and she accelerates through the intersection. Little did she know a man that had too many drinks would come flying through the red light. The last thing she saw was the headlights of his car. Drunk driving is a heartbreaking occurrence. Every day drunk drivers are imprisoned, either for traffic violations, dangerous driving, or accidents. People that make the mistake of drinking and driving not only put themselves in danger; they put all of the other people on the roads in danger. Innocent lives may be lost because of another’s
How much longer will we be forced to endure the pain and atrocities due to the carelessness of drunk driving? Drunk driving has been a problem in the United States since the introduction of automobiles; however, it did not become an important social issue until the 1980’s. At that time the political atmosphere defined crime in terms of personal choice and individual responsibility. Drunk driving was defined as a problem located within individuals. Drunk driving is illegal in every state. It is not only illegal, but unsafe to operate an automobile if you are under the influence of alcohol.
Driving under the influence is measured by a person’s blood alcohol level (BAC). BAC is determined by the concentration of alcohol in the bloodstream. Individual counties and states have their own legal level on blood alcohol percentages that they measure a person’s
A DUI conviction is a permanent part of ones driving record. Even though alcohol related accidents are on the decline, statistics show that a drunk driver kills someone every forty-five minutes. More so, fifty to seventy percent of drunk drivers whose licenses are suspended continue to drive. In 2000, alcohol related crashes cost the public $114.3 billion dollars! Drunk driving carries with it serious penalties from the court system and car insurance companies. One moment of fun can turn into a lifetime of heartache and tragedy. Therefore, it is not worth the risk. Possible prevention measures and solutions are not only for the law enforcement, but for the public as well. Drunk drivers face a hardcore court system, which is intolerant of DUI. Stricter penalties such as automatic licenses revocation, mandatory jail sentencing, vehicle impounding, and licenses plate confiscating are just a few ways the judicial system is handling the DUI problem. Programs such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Students Against Drunk Driving have led the way to bringing awareness to society. People need to be responsible and supervise their consumption to ensure that they do not drink too much. They have a moral and a legal responsibility to make sure of this. It is always best to have a designated driver. The most effective way people can prevent driving drunk is to make a personal decision not to drink
Drunk driving is considered a serious crime in every state. It is wrong, irresponsible and wastes many lives. People who abuse alcohol hurt everyone around them, endanger public safety, and create carnage on the nation's highways. There is nothing positive that can come out of drunk driving, so why do people do it? It is society's job to punish these menaces and try to take control of this out of control issue. America doesn't want to watch idly as hundreds of people are killed each day. We want to take a stand and let the world know that we may be the 'land of the free and the brave' but there is nothing brave or free about driving drunk. What should be done about this problem is debatable and certainly open to discussion, but the first
Driving under the Influence is a dangerous trend and is known to cause many critical accidents and deaths which could have been easily prevented. Even though the consequences for DUI arrests are strict, they seem to not be effective enough. The toll of alcohol-related deaths, repeated offenders, and accidents is still rising, leaving the streets dangerous and families devastated. Over half the drivers arrested for drunk driving in the nation, are repeated offenders. I stand strongly against drunk drivers; They are a threat to themselves and society and believe that they should be taught a tough lesson when caught. Therefore, the charges for Driving Under the Influence laws need to
DUI (driving under the influence) is the act of an individual operating a motor vehicle under the influence of a chemical substance or control substance. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) oversee more than 400 drugs that can affect impairment;
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.
Drinking and driving can cause a lifetime of pain. When you get under the wheel while you are intoxicated not only are you putting yourself at risk, but also the lives of other innocent people are in danger. Everyone should have the right to drink but if you act irresponsibly, your right should be taken away. Each person is liable to suffer the consequences from endangering others. One who drives drunk not only should have their license taken away, they should have the right to drink taken away. Drinking and driving may not seem like a big deal until you see what happens when things go wrong. I would like you to read a personal narrative that Casey McCary Bloom wrote who is now serving 21 years to life in prison.
Drunk driving is an epidemic that continues to have severe and life threatening consequences for those involved, if we simply take a few steps against drunk driving we can help decrease this epidemic.
There are things we can and must do to prevent drunk driving as much as we can and eventually completely cut it out. We have to look at the facts and statics and not let those around us, our friends, our families become victims of drunk driving. Weather they’re the ones that take part in driving under the influence or are killed or injured even though sober due to someone else’s selfish drunk driving actions there has got to be a stop to all of this. Laws can only do so much, it’s up to us to decide to take part in no drinking and driving. It is not a good feeling to see headlines talking about collisions or fatalities that occurred due to drunk driving and the feeling is even worse when you personally know the people involved. Let’s keep drunk driving from happening, let’s help put a stop to those stories you hear that were caused by people driving under the influence. In this time and age there is no excuse for drunk driving. WAKE UP, HELLO have a designated driver, call an Uber, a taxi, a reliable friend or family member, stay the night if you can at the place where you were drinking, anything just do anything but drink and
Many people believe that no matter how strict the laws are, the drinking and driving will not stop. If the bars are still open then anyone can continue to buy drinks (debate.org). Another point made is that the first offense punishment should be to get the driver help. They have a problem with drinking and need a professional doctor to aid them into an appropriate amount of alcohol. There are drug and alcohol treatments that people go to when caught with a DUI, but a select group of people believe that treatment is the only punishment that is necessary (debate.org). Currently, the rules are that the driver would be automatically put into the treatment followed by a fine or small amount of jail time (Britannica, 2009). Whether doing something wrong or not, the driver just needs help so that the person can get over the
The old saying is, “When you know better, you do better.” Since this is not the case with some drivers, then it up to law enforcement to be more vigilant. It is a well-known fact that most people will get behind the wheel, even while inebriated, if they feel they can get away with it. Law enforcement has to take steps to show that they “know better” so that drivers will “do better”. Two actions can be taken to discourage individuals from driving while intoxicated: random traffic stops to screen drivers and more arrests. Having random road checkpoints to ascertain whether people are driving under the influence will make people less inclined to do it. Also, having more arrests will send a message to the community that they will not get away with driving while in such a harmful
Drunk driving is a serious problem, and much has been done in recent years to stop it. Every day drunk drivers are arrested,
Driving under the influence of alcohol has affected and devastated countless people’s lives. Driving under the influence is one of the most dangerous situations you can put yourself or someone else into. The evidence against driving while intoxicated is massive and it has left a long trail of broken dreams and lives. If you drink and drive, not only do you possibly put yourself at risk, but your passengers and pedestrians, and other people on the roads. According to the most recent statistics by the National Commission Against Drunk Driving is that 17, 000 Americans die each year in alcohol-related traffic crashes and 600,000 Americans are injured. (National Commission Against Drunk Driving, 2003). That’s an average of one fatality every