Driving drunk is dangerous. Then why do so many people still get behind the wheel after having a few drinks? Every day there are people out there hopping behind the wheel of their (or someone else’s) car and saying to themselves, “If I drive slowly and carefully, then I will be fine.” Well, what about the people that those drunk people hit? Will they be fine?
Jail doesn’t stop people from driving drunk; hundreds of thousands of people across the U.S. were arrested. Over 178,000 in California alone. One third of them will drive drunk again - even after a conviction. Noteriety doesn’t stop people from driving impaired; in the first few weeks of 2009, Sam Shepard, Charles Barkely, Rip Torn and Vincent Jackson (among others) were all brought in under the suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Maybe there is a VIP section in jail that people are dying to get into.
So what will stop people from driving drunk?
If you can’t beat ‘em, deter them. Since 2002 Florida has required that certain DUI offenders use the Ignition Interlock gizmo that can be installed in vehicles to prevent the engine from starting. The driver breathes into a device and if the Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) is too high, you car no go. The Mother’s Against Drunk Driving Organization (MADD) are calling for across-the-nation use of the ignition interlock. MADD is asking people to call their legistators to get laws on each state’s book mandating the use of the ignition interlock in each convicted drunk driver’s vehicle and they claim that the majority of people support this kind of legislation.
The “Friends don’t let friends drive drunk” campaign started way back in 1979 (the posted video PSA was made in that year - the same year as the original Star Wars movie was released). 30 years later drunk driving is still a problem. Even if the Cantina band says don’t do it.
{ 0 comments… add one now }