WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 — The threat of arrest and punishment, for decades the primary tactic against drunken drivers, is no longer working in the struggle to reduce the death toll, officials say, and they are proposing turning to technology — alcohol detection devices in every vehicle — to address the problem.
In the first phase of the plan, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, backed by a national association of state highway officials and car manufacturers, will announce here on Monday a campaign to change drunken driving laws in 49 states to require that even first offenders install a device that tests drivers and shuts down the car if it detects alcohol.
Many states already require the devices, known as ignition interlocks, for people who have been convicted several times. Last year New Mexico became the first to make them mandatory after a first offense. With that tactic and others, the state saw an 11.3 percent drop in alcohol-related fatalities last year.
2 thoughts on “A New Strategy to Discourage Driving Drunk”
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I’m all for it. It’s certainly not fool-proof, but nothing is.
I’ve always been amazed at how readily and UNECESSARILY a person will risk throwing away his life (and taking others). How many times over the years — as a bartender — have I seen a person FIGHT with a friend over a set of car keys when that person very obviously does not need to have them? How easy to accept that ride — or call a cab — and save oneself from a lifetime of misery and guilt/regret. But fight they will.
Watching that same scene over and over and over throughout the years has always made me wonder if ANYTHING short of locking this kind of person up for life will actually make a difference. With some people, the sheer determination to get behind that wheel and out on that road after drinking is overwhelming, and I have to wonder, in the end, what (if anything) will actually stop them.
We have to try, of course. Sadly though, I worry that it’s all just an exercise in futility.
The people who make me sick are the ones who drink so often that they always think they’re fine to drive. Drinking is such a normal part of their daily lives that it would never occur to them that they should not drive after having three-four drinks. That, to me, is worse than someone who drinks too much one night and gets behind the wheel. These alcoholics continuously put the lives of themselves and others at risk.