Alcohol Abuse Effects: Drunk Driving

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One of the most widely publicized alcohol abuse effects concerns drunk driving, also known as driving "under the influence."  Required alcoholism rehabilitation for individuals incarcerated for alcohol-related offenses and substantial changes in our beliefs toward drinking alcoholic beverages, when added to the current anti-drunk driving initiatives and laws, are likely to make a substantial affect on reducing the deplorable number of individuals in our society who die in alcohol-related traffic accidents.  Please continue reading to find out more information about drunk driving in the United States.

Some Sobering Thoughts

An article entitled "Drunk Driving" was featured on the "Insurance Data Start" website in February of 2007.  Pardon the pun, but the following three statistical bits of information that were articulated in this article are quite sobering, if not perplexing.

Alcohol-Related Fatalities

First, in spite of increasing the large quantity of anti-drunk driving laws and campaigns, the number of individuals who died in alcohol-related accidents decreased by only .2% from 2004 to 2005 (16,919 in 2004 versus 16,885 in 2005).  While every life saved is vital, this decrease, from a statistical standpoint, all the same, was not meaningful.

In other words, the fact that 34 fewer people died in alcohol-related accidents in 2005 than in 2004 could have happened totally by chance rather than because of harsher drunk driving laws or because of the influence of citizen activist groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD).

Repeat DUI Wrongdoers

Second, even with the passing of more stern DUI laws and outcomes, over 50% of US drivers arrested for drunk driving are repeat lawbreakers. 

This statistic is disturbing when examined on its own merits.  What has also become important, though, is the number of repeat wrongdoers who have acquired an shocking large quantity of DWIs.

For example in early 2006, an Ohio man who acquired 12 DWIs within a ten-year period of time killed two Hiram college students in an alcohol-related accident.  Not surprisingly, several people in the local communities were irritated with the driver who accidentally killed the two students of higher education.

What was perhaps more enlightening in this condition, then again, was the multiplicity of phone calls made to the radio talk shows by people asking who the judges and prosecutors were and what the consequences were for this driver after he received his 3rd, his 8th, and his 11th DWIs.  

Stated differently, people starting asking the demanding questions concerning the trustworthiness of those who acquired many DUIs and also the accountability of the judges and prosecutors who were involved in the repeat offenders' legal proceedings.

Drivers with Suspended Licenses Still Drive

Third, 67% of U.S. drivers with suspended licenses still drive.  From a rational perspective, various people must be asking themselves how this is feasible in an age of technological improvement that has capabilities such as "real-time" computer access to driver registration specifics specifically available to the law enforcement enterprise.

Drunk Driving Programs

According to the authors of "Drunk Driving," a number of countermeasures have been created that have targeted alcohol-related deaths on the U. S. roads.  For instance, existing drunk driving laws have become more stringent, new laws have been passed, drunk driving task forces have been created by numerous states, and citizen activist groups like MADD have affected some of the thoughts toward drinking and driving in our society.

As meaningful as these anti-drunk driving laws and programs have been, nevertheless, the fact remains that only 34 fewer people died in alcohol-related accidents in 2005 than in 2004.  Perceptibly, other countermeasures must be commenced in order to extensively trim down the multiplicity of U.S. individuals who die in alcohol-related traffic accidents.

Supplementary Anti-Drunk Driving Schemes

In response to the requirement for more ammo in the battle on alcohol-related traffic accidents, I put forward two supplementary anti-drunk driving schemes. 

First, those who are jailed due to alcohol-related offenses need to get essential alcoholism counseling even if they are in jail or in prison. 

Without any question, other drivers are safer when the offending persons are off the streets and locked up.  When the jail or prison sentence is completed, all the same, the vast majority of alcohol-related wrongdoers will go back to the real world. 

Recognizing this reality, I suggest that alcohol-related lawbreakers who have obtained alcoholism therapy although jailed are more likely to become accountable people who abstain from drinking alcohol while driving and less likely to become repeat DWI offenders once they return to society.

Second, compelling and identifiable revisions in our beliefs regarding drinking alcohol need to transpire in our society.  Since drinking alcohol is so available, unobjectionable, and exhaustively ingrained in our society, on the other hand, it has been very complicated for many people, particularly the young people, to truly comprehend the harmful, damaging, and deadly facets of alcohol abuse and alcoholism.  This needs to change.

Our Knowledgeable and Informed Society

Our society has become more insightful and more aware of the physical and mental conditions, hazards, fatalities, and detrimental end products of alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction.  It is therefore time for us to balance the current marketing "message" with a more undeniable and healthy viewpoint regarding alcohol consumption.

Stated in a different way, drinking alcohol needs to be less advertised, less glamorized, and seen as less "cool" while the commercials, ads, and public service messages that underline healthy, safe and sound, and alcohol-free conduct and lifestyles need to be enhanced.

Alcohol Abuse Effects - Drunk Driving:  Conclusion

Clearly, something besides our current anti-drunk driving laws and schemes needs to be done in order to drastically reduce the alcohol-related deaths on our highways.  I affirm that requisite alcohol addiction therapy for individuals who are incarcerated for alcohol-related offenses and obvious and meaningful modifications in our mind-sets toward drinking alcoholic beverages are crucial factors that will contribute to the demonstrative decrease in the multiplicity of people in our society who die in alcohol-related traffic accidents every year.

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