Drunk Drivers Aren't Changing Their Behavior
There's an elephant in the room and no one is talking about it. The elephant in this country (the non-political elephant anyway), in my humble opinion, is alcohol abuse - drunk driving in particular.
We all have our pet peeve issues and one of mine (we don't have time for the rest) is driving while drunk or on drugs. This is serious stuff people. More than 16,000 people DIED as a result of alcohol-related accidents in 2005 alone! These are deaths that are completely preventable. My heart weeps for the people who died (and for their loved ones) whose only crime was being at the wrong place at the wrong time when a drunk driver plowed into them.
Department of Justice records show that more than 1.4 million people were arrested for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol in the same year. How many more millions of people drove under the influence but just didn't get caught?
"Throw the book at them!" many would shout in regards to people arrested for driving under the influence. But sadly what is on "the book" as punishment for drunk driving doesn't seem to be changing their behavior.
A new study published last week in the Journal Accident Analysis and Prevention found that tougher mandatory minimum jail sentences for driving under the influence actually keeps few drunk drivers off the road and it hasn't significantly prevented fatal car crashes related to drunk driving.
Researchers looked at changes in laws and policies regarding mandatory minimum fines and jail sentences for drunken driving between 1976 and 2002 and studied rates of DUI arrests and alcohol-related fatal car crashes. They wanted to find out if the stricter regulations deterred people from drunken driving and if the number of accidents dropped in the population as a whole, said Alexander C. Wagenaar, Ph.D., a professor of epidemiology in UF's College of Medicine and the study's lead author.
"We found out that's not the case," Wagenaar said. "The key thing for a deterrence law like this to work is people have to believe if they engage in the behavior that they're actually going to experience the penalty. The punishment has to come closer to the crime too. Apparently it can take 6 months or more to convict someone of this crime. A lot can happen in 6 months while the system waits to convict someone.
It seems to me that alcohol abuse and dependence isn't going away in our society. I know many many people who grew up in families where at least one parent had a problem with alcohol. That's still the case and until we find a way to fix this, 16,000 people are going to continue to die each year, many of whom are completely innocent.
If you would like information about alcohol abuse you can visit the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
~~Elaine
Related Topics: 26% of Teens Drive Drunk or On Drugs, What's Your Drinking Personality
Technorati Tags: alcohol, drunkdriving
We all have our pet peeve issues and one of mine (we don't have time for the rest) is driving while drunk or on drugs. This is serious stuff people. More than 16,000 people DIED as a result of alcohol-related accidents in 2005 alone! These are deaths that are completely preventable. My heart weeps for the people who died (and for their loved ones) whose only crime was being at the wrong place at the wrong time when a drunk driver plowed into them.
Department of Justice records show that more than 1.4 million people were arrested for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol in the same year. How many more millions of people drove under the influence but just didn't get caught?
"Throw the book at them!" many would shout in regards to people arrested for driving under the influence. But sadly what is on "the book" as punishment for drunk driving doesn't seem to be changing their behavior.
A new study published last week in the Journal Accident Analysis and Prevention found that tougher mandatory minimum jail sentences for driving under the influence actually keeps few drunk drivers off the road and it hasn't significantly prevented fatal car crashes related to drunk driving.
Researchers looked at changes in laws and policies regarding mandatory minimum fines and jail sentences for drunken driving between 1976 and 2002 and studied rates of DUI arrests and alcohol-related fatal car crashes. They wanted to find out if the stricter regulations deterred people from drunken driving and if the number of accidents dropped in the population as a whole, said Alexander C. Wagenaar, Ph.D., a professor of epidemiology in UF's College of Medicine and the study's lead author.
"We found out that's not the case," Wagenaar said. "The key thing for a deterrence law like this to work is people have to believe if they engage in the behavior that they're actually going to experience the penalty. The punishment has to come closer to the crime too. Apparently it can take 6 months or more to convict someone of this crime. A lot can happen in 6 months while the system waits to convict someone.
It seems to me that alcohol abuse and dependence isn't going away in our society. I know many many people who grew up in families where at least one parent had a problem with alcohol. That's still the case and until we find a way to fix this, 16,000 people are going to continue to die each year, many of whom are completely innocent.
If you would like information about alcohol abuse you can visit the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
~~Elaine
Related Topics: 26% of Teens Drive Drunk or On Drugs, What's Your Drinking Personality
Technorati Tags: alcohol, drunkdriving
6 Comments:
Alcoholism affects all, even the family of the offenders. The parents, the sibling and the children.
Ripples never stop, especially if both families live in the same community.
Hearhtaches and sorrow for all. I know.
Can the pill that was in the news last year be put in use? The pill was to deterr the alcohol craving. Where is this in the development towards prescribing or making it mandatory prescription?
The problem is you cannot legislate morality (be it drinking, drugs, porn, etc.). We have tighened the drug laws so much that we create a class of people who cannot get jobs because of minor drug infractions who then get deeper into the drug culture and more serious crimes. We have tightened the drunk driving laws to the extent the someone having two glasses of wine with dinner is borderline or over the 0.08 legal limit --- yet we stil won't convict the 0.20 habitual drunk driver. We have enough laws. We just need more personal responsibility.
And we need folks to come to grips with the fact that all of life involves risk. Nothing in life is fair. Now that you know the facts, embrace and enjoy each day -- it is truly a gift. Find the joy in choosing what you will do today with what you have (yes there's a hundred people who have more than you, but maybe a 1000 that have much less). Get over it and live.
"you cannot legislate morality"--so, so true. And if someone does drink a couple of glasses of wine with dinner, then goes out and gets arrested, what is that telling us? Go back to Prohibition? That didn't work. Like the poster wrote, "accept risk."
Maybe we should build 2 sets of roads. One road for people who choose to drink/drug and drive and the other for the rest of of us who don't drink/drug and drive. However, I'm afraid the drunk/drugged drivers would still end up on "my" road--it'd be too risky for them on "their" road!!
Alcoholism is an illnes which tells you "I can,therefor I will". All judgement is lost once the addiction becomes the voice of reason be it alcohol or drugs. The only true (or best) solution is factory installed ignition interlock devices on vehicles. One must remember driving is a priveledge not a right therefor one must abide by the rules associated with that privelidge.
driving is a priveledge. these people should respect that
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