A Critical Analysis About Drunk Driving

Compulsory alcoholism rehabilitation for people behind bars for alcohol-related offenses and hard-hitting changes in our feelings and mind-set about drinking alcoholic beverages, when added to the current anti-drunk driving campaigns and laws, are likely to make a profound affect on reducing the shocking number of alcohol-related traffic accidents that occur in our society on an annual basis. 

Please continue reading for more relevant information about drunk driving in the United States.

Some Sobering Information

An article entitled "Drunk Driving" was featured on the "Insurance Essentials Install" website in February of 2007.  Excuse the pun, but the following three statistical facts that were articulated in this article are quite sobering.

Alcohol-Related Deaths

First, in spite of increasing the large number of anti-drunk driving laws and programs, the multiplicity of individuals who died in alcohol-related accidents declined by only .2% from 2004 to 2005 (16,919 in 2004 versus 16,885 in 2005).  Even though every life saved is vital, this trim down, from a statistical standpoint, at any rate, was not considerable.

That is, the fact that 34 fewer people died in alcohol-related accidents in 2005 than in 2004 could have happened entirely by chance and not due to the more stringent drunk driving laws or to the influence of citizen activist groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD).

Repeat DWI Wrongdoers

Second, even with the passing of more severe DWI laws and outcomes, more than 50% of U.S. drivers arrested for drunk driving are repeat lawbreakers.  This statistic is distressing when perceived on its own merits.  What has also become newsworthy, nonetheless, is the multiplicity of repeat offenders who have received a shocking number of DUIs.

For example, in early 2006 an Ohio man who got 12 DWIs within a ten-year period of time killed two Hiram college students in an alcohol-related accident. Not surprisingly, numerous people in the local towns and cities were livid with the driver who accidentally killed the two college students.

What was perchance more instructive in this situation, all the same, was the multiplicity of phone calls made to the radio talk shows by people wondering who the judges and prosecutors were and what the consequences were for this driver after he got his 3rd, his 8th, and his 11th DWIs.  That is, individuals starting asking the complex questions concerning the integrity of those who acquired quite a few DWIs as well as the accountability of the judges and prosecutors who were involved in the repeat wrongdoers' legal proceedings.

Too Many Drivers with Suspended Licenses Still Drive

Third, 67% of U.S. drivers with suspended licenses still drive.  From a reasonable point of view, numerous people must be wondering how this is possible in an age of technological progress that features capabilities such as "real-time" computer access to driver registration facts and data that are obtainable by the law enforcement establishment. 

Drunk Driving Projects

According to the authors of "Drunk Driving," more than a few projects have been created that have focused upon alcohol-related deaths on the U. S. roads and highways.  For example, existing drunk driving laws have become more stringent, new laws have been passed, drunk driving task forces have been implements by several states, and citizen activist groups like MADD have impacted some of the feelings and attitudes toward drinking and driving in our society.

As considerable as these anti-drunk driving laws and campaigns have been, then again, the fact remains that only 34 fewer individuals died in alcohol-related accidents in 2005 than in 2004.  Evidently, other approaches must be undertaken in order to substantially diminish the number of U.S. individuals who die in alcohol-related traffic accidents.

Supplementary Anti-Drunk Driving Initiatives

In response to the need for more ammo in the battle on alcohol-related traffic accidents, I offer two complementary anti-drunk driving proposals.  First, those who are jailed due to alcohol-related offenses need to get required alcohol dependency rehabilitation while they are in jail or in prison.  True, other drivers are safer when the offending persons are off the streets and incarcerated.  When the jail or prison sentence is completed, then again, the vast majority of alcohol-related lawbreakers will return to the real world.

Recognizing this truth, I recommend that alcohol-related offenders who have received alcoholism treatment while imprisoned are more likely to become more accountable individuals who abstain from drinking while driving and less likely to become repeat DUI wrongdoers once they go back to society.

Second, demonstrative and recognizable modifications in our views in relation to drinking alcoholic beverages needs to transpire in our society. Given that drinking alcoholic beverages is so available, acceptable, and comprehensively embedded in our society, moreover, it has been awfully hard for various people, especially the teenagers, to justly conceptualize the deleterious, injurious, and terminal aspects of alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction.  This needs to be addressed and significantly modified.

Our Insightful and Aware Society

Our society has become more insightful and more mindful of the mental and physical risks, deaths, and ruinous outcomes of alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency.  It is therefore time for us to balance the existing marketing "message" with a more undeniable and healthy perspective in connection with alcohol intake.

Stated differently, drinking alcoholic beverages needs to be less advertised, less glamorized, and seen as less "cool" while the commercials, advertisements, and public service proclamations that underscore healthy, safe and sound, and alcohol-free actions and lifestyles need to be increased and put in the forefront of people's awareness.

Drunk Driving: Conclusion

Apparently, something above and beyond our current anti-drunk driving laws and initiatives needs to be done in order to substantially decrease the alcohol-related deaths on our highways.  I avow that essential alcohol dependency rehab for individuals who are incarcerated for alcohol-related offenses and evident and powerful modifications in our feelings and mind-set toward drinking alcohol are crucial factors that will help contribute to the noteworthy reduction in the unacceptable numbers of people in our society who die in alcohol-related traffic accidents every year.

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