Making A Difference: Drunk Driving

Definition: Drunk Driving Legal Definition: Driving under the influence (DUI)-commonly called "drunk driving," it refers to operating a motor vehicle while one's blood alcohol content is above the legal limit set by statute, which supposedly is the level at which a person cannot drive safely. State statutes vary as to what that level is, but it ranges from .08 to .10. Driving on private property such as a parking lot is no defense, but sitting in a non-moving vehicle without the ignition on probably is (sometimes resulting in a charge of "drunk in and about a vehicle"). This is a misdemeanor and is variously referred to as DUI, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, or a "deuce". My Simpler Definition: Driving a car after one has had consumed an excessive amount of alcohol.

A History of Drunk Driving As long as there have been motor vehicles, there have been drunk drivers. Back then when there was no technology to determine who was drunk. It was all based on opinion of the officer. 1st jurisdiction to adopt drunk driving laws was New York in 1910. The early laws on prohibited driving while under the influence but did not specify on the level of inebriation qualified as being too drunk to drive. The first generally accepted legal limit for BAC, Blood Alcohol Content, was 0.15 in 1938 after studies were conducted to decide when one could be intoxicated.

History continued. In 1954 Indiana State Police Captain, Dr. Robert Borkenstien, invented the first device that could measure BAC by breath. Today its known as a breathalyzer. Starting in the late 1970s to the early 1990s laws and penalties have greatly increased due to pressure from many groups like MADD and SADD. Today the legal limit it .08 BAC. For any drivers under the age of 21 and commercial drivers caught driving drunk the BAC could be set much lower. In July 1984 Congress passed a bill that required all states to enforce a minimum drinking age of 21 or else they would lose their federal highway funding. Drunk Driving has become one of the most preventable causes of death in the U.S.

Causes of Drunk Driving Why do people do it? Peer pressure: Teens feel pressured to drink to fit in and choose to drive because the don’t want others driving their car or want to act like they’re not drunk Lack of preparation. People go to parties not thinking about how they’re going to get home if they are too drunk to drive. Carelessness. Some people just don’t care. They know the risks, but choose to drink and drive anyways thinking that “This will never happen to me.”

Consequences of Drinking and Driving Drinking causes short-term effects such as: slurred speech, delayed reaction, poor coordination, disorientation, blackouts, impaired reasoning and poor self-esteem. Long-term effects: heart disease, peptic ulcers, and cirrhosis (liver disease). Suspended or revoked license for anywhere from weeks to years. Goes on your record. Could lose your car. If convicted you must pay fines and serve jail time. Can injure someone else or yourself. Death ZERO TOLERANCE policy for anyone under the age of 21 to be caught driving with even a little bit of alcohol in their system.

Statistics On average someone is killed by a drunk driver every 40 minutes. About three in every ten Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at some time in their lives. In 2007, 82.6% of 12th graders reported that alcohol is “very easy” or “fairly easy” to get. It is estimated that 24,560 lives have been saved by minimum drinking age laws since 1975.

Statistics continued. During the last 30 days, 28.5% of high school students nationwide had ridden one or more times in a car or other vehicle driven by someone who had been drinking alcohol. The average BAC among fatally injured drinking drivers is .16 On any given weekend evening, one in 10 drivers on America’s roads has been drinking

R.I.P. Brett Lazzeri On August 25,2008 my friend, Brett Lazzeri, was killed. Along with Brett 11 of my friends and co-workers were sent to the hospital. What happened? My friends and co-workers were on their way to Utah for a work convention. I was supposed to attend, but cancelled last minute. It was around 2 am somewhere past Reno when one of the cars got a flat. That car along with Brett’s car pulled over to the side of the road to fix it. A few of the guys, Brett included, got out to fix the tire. While this was going on there was a driver on the road who had not only been drinking, but was sleeping at the wheel. Being unable to stay away this driver drifted to the side of the road and hit the back of one of the cars which in turn got pushed forward and hit the other car and Brett. Brett was sent flying and died before reaching the hospital. Along with Brett’s death that driver broke the legs of 2 more of my friends, sent another into a coma with a head injury, and other various injuries. Not one of my friends walked away without getting hurt. What’s more is that the drunk driver had a passenger who was fully awake and not drunk, but chose not to stop her friend. The driver himself walked away unscathed. This is an important issue to me because Brett was like family to us. He changed my life and without him I don’t know where I’d be.

Special Intrest Groups Government funded independent CDC – Center for Disease and Control and Prevention MADD -Mothers Against Drunk Driving SADD -Students Against Destructive Decisions NMA – National Motorists Association

Works Cited: http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Drunk-driving http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driving_while_intoxicated#History_of_drunk_driving_laws http://www.dui1.com/NewsArticleDetail297.htm http://www.svvs.org/genpics6/1910_Rover_8HP.jpg http://www.drunkdrivinglaws.org/historyofdrunkdriving.html http://web.syr.edu/~su4rally/age_history.html http://www.everettanalyzers.com/causes-of-drunk-driving.html http://www.madd.org/About-Us/About-Us/Statistics.aspx http://drunkdrivinglaws.org/ http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/DrinkingandDriving.html http://www.motorists.org/dui/ http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/drving.htm