Crack Down on Drunken Driving: Be Proactive and Save a Life

If you see someone who is obviously drunk - or under the influence of some type of controlled substance - get into a vehicle, would you just ignore it and go on about your business, or would you call the police and report it? There are instances when people seem to think a situation like that is none of their business, so they do nothing. But imagine if that drunk driver caused an accident that resulted in you or someone you know being seriously injured or killed. It takes less than a minute to report a driver who is intoxicated. All you have to do is get the license plate and call the police and tell them where you saw the intoxicated driver.

Doing so may save a life.

In the United States, there are two common offenses for such drivers. Those are DUI, or driving under the influence, and DWI, driving while intoxicated or impaired. The blood alcohol concentration should be less than 0.08 percent. Some states even have laws where a person can be arrested or have their license suspended with a blood alcohol content as little as 0.01 percent. This may sound extreme to some who may frequently drive after consuming one or two drinks and say that they are fine. However, some officials believe that any amount of alcohol or drugs in the system can impair a person's ability to drive. That is why it is common for people to have designated drivers if they know they are going somewhere where they will be consuming alcohol.

According to 2003 statistics obtained by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), over 17,000 people were killed in drunk driving related incidents that year. That accounted for roughly 40 percent of all traffic deaths of that year. The sad part about such statistics is the known fact that most of the people who were killed were not the actual impaired driver. Drunk driving is responsible for claiming thousands of innocent lives each year. Innocent children playing outside, people walking down the street, driving their cars, or in some cases sitting inside of their homes can be seriously hurt or killed as the result of drunk drivers. As long as people are driving impaired, the streets will be much more dangerous. It's a shame when a child gets struck by a drunk driver while getting off of the school bus in front of his home or when an entire family is killed from being hit head on by a drunk driver.

Despite having licenses suspended and revoked, serving jail time for charges ranging from DWI, DUI, or even vehicular manslaughter, many offenders will be charged more than once for driving under the influence. There is no excuse for this sort of behavior and makes you think that harsher punishments should be handed down to those who do drive while under the influence. In many cases, drunk drivers are under the age of 21, which is the legal drinking age in the United States. And to think, some people would like the drinking age lowered to 18. As recently as 2006, drunk driving fatalities increased by 22 percent according to Mother's Against Drunk Driving (MADD).

In a recent nationwide drunk driving crackdown going on in various cities throughout the United States, anyone caught driving drunk will be arrested and prosecuted. No more suspended or revoked licenses without any further consequences. It's simple-you drink, you drive, you lose. This current crackdown is known as Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest. Sobriety checkpoints, saturation patrols, and more than $11 million in national television and radio ads are part of this current crackdown. According to Nicole Nason, administrator for the NHTSA, "If we catch you driving drunk we will arrest and prosecute you. No exceptions. No excuses."

Efforts and crackdowns such as these are greatly needed today. MADD's National President Glynn Birch whose 21 month old son was killed by a repeat offending drunk driver lays down the sad but true reality, "The grim reality is that you, your family, or someone you know will likely be impacted by the tragedy of drunk driving at some point in your life." Hopefully with the crackdowns and increased law enforcement and penalties working together, drunk driving can be brought to an end.

Sources:

MADD www.madd.org

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Total DUI www.totaldui.com