Drinking and Driving in the United States - Essay Example

?Drinking and Driving – a criminal offence and a major cause of motor accidents in US Introduction Introduction Driving is often considered to be oneof those acts on part of the human beings that aught to be carried out by the person who is in full control over the senses and is under no influence. There is, perhaps, no country where driving under the influence of alcohol or some other kind of drug is not considered to be a criminal offence under some section of the law or the other. Drunk driving is regarded as a criminal offence because the mental situation and the motor skills of a person get impaired under the influence of alcohol to such an extent that there remains every possibility for the driver to end up with an accident that may result in loss of lives or physical impairment for a lifetime. Overview Drunk driving is an avoidable problem especially with self responsibility. Increasing number of arrests might have little to do against this offence. Alcohol tends to damage the Central Nervous System of an individual. When the BAC level is at .10 percent the ability to take proper decisions gets damaged and the drivers lose control on the steering. He lacks the alertness necessary to understand if a danger lay ahead in the street and the response time is delayed. The vision is also disturbed due to a high BAC level. In some cases there might be difficulty in understanding the traffic signal colors and the capacity to differentiate them (Goodenough, Wallance and McGuire, 12-15). Drunk drivers might also face the problem of driving safely during the night or redeem from the glare of light in minimum possible time. Under such situation and in the absence of self awareness is an individual the enforcement of the law comes to play a role. However apart from the level of enforcement, it is important for the public to know the laws. Background Any decision of a driver which is impaired by alcohol intake can result in danger for others or the driver taking abnormal risks. It might lead to the driver taking improper turns and misjudgments regarding the speed and the right roads. Jerky movements and sharp turns might result owing to drunk driving. This might alarm the other travelers or the normal drivers. In US a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of .08 or more is considered to be above the legal ceiling in all the states (NHTSA). As per the NHTSA findings, in 2003 less than 9 percent of the drivers with a BAC of 0.08 percent or more and involved in crashes involving deaths were repeat offenders of drunk driving who were under one or more accusations of DWI (driving while intoxicated) – “Drivers with a BAC of 0.08% or higher involved in fatal crashes were eight times more likely to have a prior conviction for DWI than were drivers with no alcohol in their system.” (CDC; Wren) Position statement: Drunk driving being a criminal offence in US, is one of the major causes of deaths due to motor accidents in the country. Appeals and Evidence In the United States of America drunken driving is included under the specific criminal offence of DUI or Driving Under Influence. The most striking as well as pitiful information that makes it justified to regard drunk driving as a criminal offence is that in 2008 deaths due to dunk driving contributed to 32 percent of total car accidental deaths in 2008. According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2007 amongst the motor vehicles related fatal accidents around 32 percent were the outcome of alcohol impaired driving especially with drivers having BAC of .08 or more. During the span 1995 to 2006 incidences of injuries related to motor vehicle collisions admitted was 8272 out of which motor cycle and mopped crashes contributed to 12 percent and amongst them 24.5 of the motorcyclists and 39 percent of moped operators were impaired by alcohol (Christmas, Brintzenhoff, and Schmelzer, 305). When notes in absolute terms, the total deaths come to 37261 and 11773 were due to drunk driving. During the night the drivers were more likely to drink and hence death rate was four times more than deaths due to the same reason during daytime. In the same year deaths of drivers was double than that of deaths related to drinking and driving during weekdays. The rate of deaths was higher amongst the bikers than other types of vehicles. In 2009, around 10839 people died during drunken driving related crashes. This accounts for 32 percent of the fatalities concerning deaths in US. Amongst 1314 deaths from traffic incidents involving children between zero to fourteen years in 2009, around 14 percent incidents were led by drivers impaired by alcohol. In the same year above 1.4 million drivers got arrested while driving in drunken state. This number contributes to less than one percent of the total self reported incidents of drunken driving amongst adults in US which comes to 147 million. the risk of accidents is more amongst young people with BAC level beyond .08 percent. In fact one amongst three people involved in fatal crashes were between 21 to 24 years of age, which contributes to 35 percent of the total crashes (Edgar Snyder & Associates). Statistics observed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reveal that the BAC of a drunk driver in a car accident involving fatality is 0.19 percent which is double the limit set legally. There have been large scale arrests of drunk drivers by the roving patrol programs and DWI checkpoint programs. According to the American Beverage Institute the actual problem cannot be addressed through these arrests and the solution lies in getting the drivers out of the streets while in drunken state. USA has a tolerance level which is higher than many other nations. Certain researchers claim that .05 percent is the maximum permissible ceiling. (Wren) Since law is there, there must be the law-keepers to protect them. Yet, it must be admitted to all, they are not enough to stop a so widely practiced habit like drunk driving in a big nation like the United States of America. Here lies the importance of National Commission Against Drunk Driving (NCADD) that has proved to have served a lot in taking actions against drunk driving in the United States (Moulden). Its formation was, in fact, a response to a recommendation by the Presidential commission on Drunk Driving. The Presidential Commission on Drunk Driving was appointed by President Ronald Regan in the year of 1982 in order to develop the first report on drunk driving that increased to such an extent that it had to be regarded as a national problem. According to Fulkerson’s study tolerant attitude towards drunken driving had increased its incidence in the 80s but with time there has been an alteration in the understanding of the people, attempts towards proper enforcement of the law and harder punishments imposed on the offenders have contributed to bring down the rates. Rates of arrests came down from 1124 in 1986 to 809 in 1997 (Fulkerson, 108). The author identifies ignition interlock, a type of breath analyzer for alcohol testing, as a significant measure to bring down the occurrence of fatalities involving alcohol impaired driving. One needs to realize that assisting the state governments or the local governments can reduce the rate of drunk driving to a certain extent but it is never the means for annihilating drunk driving. Therefore, banning drunk driving cannot be the proper solution. If drunk driving has to be stopped, the drivers or the people who drive their private cars have to be given proper education so that they can realize the negative and destructive aspects of drunk driving. It is a more effective method than even banning drunk driving legally since ban on drunk driving would force the drivers not to drive when they are in an inebriated state while their realization through education would make them spontaneously abstain from driving under intoxication. Cases of victims who have suffered form drunk driving might help the drunken drivers to behave more responsibly and stay away from the wheel. Theresa Hall lost his husband Mike in a car accident which was brought about by an irresponsible drunken driver. She spends her life depressed and feeling guilty for being the only survivor. She has come up with an oath to remove the “drunk driving killers off of our roads” (Hall). She explains the probable consequences of drunk driving in the following words: “One man made a decision that altered our lives forever. One man chose alcohol over the safety of our lives, anyone’s life.” Apart from its effort to spread education on the ill effects of drunken driving, organizations like NCADD has also initiated various drunken driving prevention programs. Refutation Despite the statistics and war against drinking and driving one needs to understand that there are other causes of deaths during driving like texting while driving or simply using the mobile during drive, driving in a fatigued and driving in drugged state. The statistics need to be compared before giving any heavier weightage to drunk driving. In many of these cases the law cannot really be enforced. For instance if a person is distracted during driving one cannot prove it by the law and there is no law enforcement. When a person is too tired while driving he is more prone to accidents. Using mobile phones during drive is banned for some drivers and in some states but the enforcement is not so strong. Conclusion Since drunk driving has reached the dimension of being regarded as one of the national problems, there is no doubt that it truly needs much attention so that it can be brought under control. Apart from the National Commission Against Drunk Driving, there have been a number of other organizations who have contributed a lot in prohibiting drunk driving. The police needs to be aware and care needs to be taken such that there is no repeat offender, which means the arrested drivers should undergo a corrective program. Despite all the corrective measures the substance abuse problem itself has increased to a large extent and hence keeping alcoholic drivers off the read will be a great concern of the lawmakers in order to reduce accident related fatalities in US. Audience profile The aim of the paper is to spread awareness amongst the drivers especially those who are prone to drinking. The target audience comprise of young people, ranging between 20 to 35 years of age. The paper will also be a motivation for the non-profit organizations to take part in educating people about the legal enforcements. Control over drunk driving cannot always be brought about through strict legal actions or arrests unless the lawmakers also take the responsibility of educating the citizens about the law. Above all the idea is to make the common people understand that unless they are responsible for their lives, no degree of legal enforcement can correct this problem. It is important for them to realize that they are not only responsible for their deaths but also for other road accidents owing to the lack of control over the steering. They are dangerous for the harmless innocent people on the roads and must learn to take responsibility for that. References CDC, “Impaired Driving: Get the Facts”, USA, Atlanta, GA, April 17 2011 from: http://www.cdc.gov/MotorVehicleSafety/Impaired_Driving/impaired-drv_factsheet.html Christmas, A. Britton, Brintzenhoff, Rita A., Schmelzer, Thomas M., Head, Karen E., Sing, Ronald F. MOPEDS: Motorized objects propelling ethanol drinking subjects, American Surgeon, Mar2011, 77(3) 304-306 Edgar Snyder & Associates, “Drunk Driving Accident Statistics”, 2011, April 17 2011 from: http://www.edgarsnyder.com/drunk-driving/statistics.html Fulkerson, Andrew. Ignition Interlock monthly Data Reports. International Journal of Police Science, 2009, 11(1), 108-122. Goodenough, Judith, Wallace, Robert A. and Betty McGuire. Human biology: personal, environmental, and social concerns, Saunders College Publications, 1988 Hall, Theresa. “Why Did I Survive?”, n.d., April 17, 2011 from: http://alcoholism.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=alcoholism&cdn=health&tm=10&gps=76_504_1003_597&f=00&tt=14&bt=1&bts=1&zu=http%3A//angelfire.com/nc/drunkdrivingvictims/why.html NHTSA. “The Visual Detection of DWI Motorists”, U.S. Department of Transportation. April 17 2011 from: http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/808677.pdf Moulden, John. “Health Information resource Database”. NHIC, 2006, April 17 2011 from: http://www.health.gov/nhic/nhicscripts/Entry.cfm?HRCode=HR2064 Wren, Eddie. “The American Beverage Institute”, Drive and Stay Alive, May 24, 2005, April 17 2011 from: http://www.driveandstayalive.com/info%20section/news/x_050524_abi_more-interest-in-profits-than-lives.htm Read More