Imprisonment for Drunk Drivers - Research Paper Example

Drunken Driving Introduction Alcohol is a faithful servant and a bad master. Driving and drinking or driving while intoxicated are the most common cases judges encounter in their case files and one of the most difficult charges to defend for criminal lawyers. In fact, it is the most committed crime in the United States (Taylor, Lawrence, and Steven 5). The endeavour by policy makers and governing bodies to end this unruly behaviour seems to be an unrealizable dream. However, their commitment seems unstoppable, hence the reason for new rules on the same. The major fuelling factor is the damage caused by drivers under the influence of alcohol is enormous. Many people’s lives are put to risk by this annoying habit. Drunk driving began long before the invention of automobiles. As soon as a man climbed onto the back of a transport animal and began riding, there were drunken donkey, camel, elephant and horse riding. In almost all cultures backdating to thousands of years ago, there has been awareness that drunkenness is undesirable. Moderation has always been advised since wiping out alcohol is impossible. The fact that alcohol is continually referenced through history as a bad thing proves that there have always been abusers of alcohol. These abusers have either caused harm to themselves or society at large. Almost all of us have had an experience with a drunk driver weaving in between lanes or driving on the opposite side of the road. Worse still, we have witnessed fatal accidents caused by these drunk drivers (Klein A10). No form of irresponsibility by anyone justifies such loss of lives. This ill vice has to come to an end! The government has tried to curb the menace by introducing road sobriety tests and other measures but the habit is still not dying down. Certain ages are prone to drink more than others men are responsible for 81% of drinking and driving incidences. Young men between 21 to 34 years of age contribute 11% of the incidences and 85% by people drinking above the required amounts. This is according to Centre for Disease Control and prevention (CDC). The problem is so grave that it has attracted anti-drunk driving activism. Opposition to drunk driving is as old as the automobile. One of the activists, Doris Aiken who got involved in anti-drunk driving activism in 1978 says the tragedy that inspired her involved two teenagers who she barely knew. This led her to establish an organisation called Remove Intoxicated Drivers (Baron 1, 4). An unfortunate incident is of a young girl who got an accident after a 17-year-old male student who was heading home after drinking a few bottles hit the vehicle she was travelling in is narrated. This happened in December 1999. Jacqueline was rescued from the accident with her body extremely burnt. She has undergone forty corrective operations since then and escaped without an eyelid. These attempts to explain comprehensively the gravity of the issue. The boy who caused the accident has never forgiven himself since. One would rather be found dead than survive such a tragedy as the image below illustrates. Moreover, this is just an isolated case many more cases have been reported. http://www.cafemom.com/journals/read/608177/ Drinking in itself is harmful to one’s health and psychological state (Wald A1). It impairs the sense of vision and hearing, which slows down muscle co-ordination. Alcohol could also lead to peptic ulcers and heart disease. This combination is not good with driving. The picture above shows the serious and permanent injuries that result from driving. Apart from permanent injuries, emotional trauma is also related to such accidents. For the driver, the guilt of causing a deadly accident leads to guilt and legal problems. The driver has to answer to charges of murder, irresponsible driving among others (Kordunsky A6). This could also lead to withdrawal from society. According to statistics from the Centre for Disease Control and prevention (CDC), 30 people die in the United States daily due to alcohol impaired driving. In 2010 alone, 10,228 people perished in alcohol impaired driving crashes, which amounts to 31% of the United State’s traffic deaths. Approximately 350,000 thousand injuries were reported during the same period. How much worse could this ever get? Drunk driving can be prevented through many ways like having a designated driver after a drinking spree, raising the minimum driving age to around 21 years to avoid accidents caused by teenagers like Jacqueline’s case. People should also be educated on the effects of drunk driving. One should resort to taking a taxi or public means of transport instead. It is wise to call a friend when intoxicated or avoid the root cause of drunk driving by not drinking at all. We all agree that something has to be done about this problem. People should not be satisfied by carrying the burden of luck but carrying the burden of the choices. We cannot continue living not knowing when our time to be hit by these drunk drivers will strike. We have to act fast to ensure everyone bares the consequences of their choices and irresponsible actions. One of the ways of curbing this menace is increasing the penalty of drunken driving. Its advantages include saving of property and many innocent lives. Killing someone in an accident should be considered as murder and ought to attract a life sentence this would scare away drunk drivers from painting our roads red (Vincent, Nicole 195,196). Other measures include suspension or revocation of road licences of those found drunk and driving. A mandatory alcohol education for those intending to drive should be give alongside the driving lessons. Other measures like wearing safety belts while driving should also be taken, airbags should also be introduced as mandatory. Besides long sentences, fines for offenders should be increased too. Drunk driving should be treated as a social problem; those found in the act should be treated for alcohol addiction as well. The legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) should be limited to 0.8% for adults. The Scandinavian countries that have long battled with issues of alcoholism and driving have successfully increased penalties for those convicted of drunk driving. The strategy has yielded results with the number of death penalties for those convicted of drunk driving increasing and the reported death cases reducing significantly. They have mandatory jail statements and the names of such offenders are published (Thomson A21) Mandating the installation of interlock devices that prevent intoxicated drivers from starting a vehicle is a brilliant measure too. The authority should consider confiscating the licence plates of vehicles driven by drunken drivers. Since drinking is a social problem, people ought to be educated and informed of the misperception that drunk driving is fashionable. As such, the retrogressive social norm will be done away with. For effective prosecution of these cases in court, a mandatory alcohol test should be conducted after every fatal accident. Repeat offenders should be accorded more severe punishments than first time offenders should. Another approach is by treating drunk driving totally as a social problem. This demands that strategies are put in place to encourage voluntary change of behaviour. Discussions of symbolic meaning of alcohol consumption associate drunk driving with risk taking behaviour that is to say some individuals derive pleasure from the habit since they like risk taking. Key factors that contribute to drunk driving vary across the board. They include, some people driving as a right and others driving as a privilege. People driving as a privilege tend to abuse the opportunity and engage in reckless driving. The reason for drunken driving also lies in the purpose. There is a section of individuals that drive for excitement and another section that drives as a formality. Those who drive for the fun of it are likely casualties of drunken driving. On the other hand, those who drive for formality drive as a means of getting home. This approach suggests that the government should adopt pro-social road safety measures instead of fear-based advertising. Owing to the rising public concerns, legislators must consider passing a host of these laws especially those that will have direct effects and that will be visible among the citizens. We want to see the laws enacted and traffic offenders brought to book in the shortest time possible. Despite criticisms against the tightening of laws, the success of this strategy in Scandinavian countries warrants a trial by the rest of the world. Legislators and the executive should work hand in hand to avert the problem since the times ahead call for desperate measures. The time for all counties to adopt and enact these legislations and all civilians to mount zero tolerance to unnecessary tragedies is finally here. Many have cried and the outcry by the public has to be heard. For as long as these people are not prosecuted, they will never learn to respect simple rules and abide by them. Various civil activists’ groups should also organise campaigns against drunk driving to help the government solve the problem. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) organised one such campaign that saw people put red ribbon magnets on their cars and some tie red ribbons on their antennas in an effort to elevate the effects of drunk driving. Works Cited Klein, Allison. In battle against drunken driving, a new bid for awareness. The Washington Post 19 Nov. 2012: A10. Print. Kordunsky, Ann. Tougher penalties Sought in Russia for Drunken Driving After Accident. New York Times 26 Sep. 2012: A6. Print. Lerner, Barron H. One for the Road: Drunk Driving Since 1900. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Print. Taylor, Lawrence, and Steven Oberman. Drunk Driving Defense: [hauptbd.]. New York, NY: Aspen Publishers, 2006. Print. Thomson, Robert. D.C. toughens drunk driving law, restore breath test. The Washington Post 31 July 2012. A21. Print. Vincent, Nicole A, Ibo . Poel, and Jeroen . Hoven. Moral Responsibility: Beyond Free Will and Determinism. Dordrecht: Springer Verlag, 2011. Print. Wald, Matthew L. A New Strategy to Discourage Driving Drunk. New York Times 20 Nov. 2006: A1. Print. Read More