Drunk drivers have caused over ten thousand deaths every year. Drinking and driving is also a big deal, because of how it puts innocent people at risk every day. This issue can also affect the next generation of new drivers too. So since drunk driving has caused many deaths, and continues to happen, it is an issue that clearly needs to be addressed so it can be stopped. Defining and Background: To be considered a drunk driver all that it takes is to be driving while succeeding the alcohol limit. The alcohol limit is 0. 08 blood alcohol concentration.
Which is alcohol in the blood that is how cops can tell if someone is driving drunk, also because at that level people will start to act different. Similarly, another thing cops use is a breathalyzer. Which is a tool which it goes into someone’s mouth so they can read the alcohol that is in the bloodstream. Above all it is still an issue today, because of how many people die just by a driver choosing to drive drunk. According to this article by Gale Student Resources it says that every year their is roughly about 10,000 people who die by drunk drivers (“Drunk Driving”).
In addition to, the biggest age group that is accountable for these crashes are the ages between 21-24 (“Drunk Driving”). It is basically the people who are in college, and young adults who are now legally being able to drink. Effect 1: To begin with there are a lot of effects that can happen when driving drunk. Also, all the effects don’t just happen to the person who chose to drive while intoxicated. For instance there are effects that happen to the other people in the accident. From what Christine Holzmueller said in her database called “Drunk Driving”.
That in 2013 there was a total of 10,076 deaths that were caused by people driving under the influence (Holzmueller). Christine Holzmueller also said, “that 68 percent of those deaths were caused by a driver with a blood alcohol concentration level of 0. 15 or higher” (Holzmueller). Which is crazy, because at the limit 0. 08 people lose judgment, and don’t recognize signs. So to be that much past the limit, and driving is really dangerous. That is why it caused 68 percent of those deaths. Now because of those people families lost people they care about.
Likewise some people that didn’t do anything wrong payed the price for the actions taken by the drunk drivers. Another thing is that people have a higher chance of getting in a car accident, with drunk drivers on the road. Overall, one person’s choices can affect and harm a lot of people, because they didn’t think. Effect 2: On the other hand, there are still a lot of effects that happen to the person. Their are to big things that happen to the drunk driver. First of all, the punishments that are enforced to the drunk driver.
For example, fines, revocation of license, and in cases of deaths jail time. To start off for the fines it could vary from first to second time offenses or the damage that is done to either people or the cars. For jail time it also depends on what happens in the situation. If someone is killed by a drunk driver that is still considered vehicular manslaughter. According, to the people from MADD they could serve up to a year in a county prison, or two to four years in a state prison (“Penalties For Drinking and Driving Vehicular Homicide”).
Above all, the biggest punishment drunk drivers have to face is probably guilt. Mostly because just living the rest of your life knowing that a person is dead because of choices made is pretty hard to do. Also, a family lost someone that they cared about, because a person decide to drink and drive. So all in all drunk drivers should consider what could happen to them if they decide to drink and drive, because those are big punishments to deal with. The second thing is physical effects which is what happens to the body. First of all if in a crash the drunk driver could get hurt.
They could break bones, or could have greater injuries like getting paralyzed or brain damage. Next mostly about drinking, alcohol can hurt the body too. Also from what this article “Alcohol Consumption” says drinking alcohol can increase the chances of cancer, liver problems, Hepatitis, and Cirrhosis (“Alcohol Consumption”). Which are all super big deals that could even kill a person. Drinking and driving has a lot of negative effects that happen to both the driver, and the other people that could be involved in a crash.
Cause 1: There are probably a lot of things that cause people to drive drunk. According to Linda Cosgrove, it was proven that friends were the biggest cause for driving drunk at 33 percent (Cosgrove). Especially for women it was shown that overconsumption of alcohol came more from social influences. It is mostly the things that people do that influence people to drink. For example a host gets way too much alcohol at a party so everyone can get wasted. On the other hand some people want to drink a lot, but hey don’t want to be the only person to do it.
So they start getting more people to over drink, which is the exact opposite of what people should do. Plus, a lot of people will fall for that because of peer pressure. Sometimes peer pressure is good, but in these occasions peer pressure would not be helpful. Cause 2: The second biggest cause to driving drunk was actually personal influence that weighed in at 21 percent (Cosgrove). For two reasons, first of all they want to get relaxed and wasted. So they drink a lot, and with that loss of judgment that is lost at 0. 08 blood alcohol concentration level.
They can’t tell or think they are drunk, so they drive while intoxicated. The second reason is just stress which could be from: school, parents, money, jobs, and friends. People just don’t want to feel all that stress that is overwhelming them so they drink then drive. Overall, they key thing that contributes to both these reasons is the loss of judgment (Cosgrove). That is so big, because if they still had judgment they wouldn’t drive in the first place. Also, people resort to drinking when faced with hard times, which ends up leading to drinking and driving which is what kills people.
Concluding, that all this could be avoided with just better decision making before the drinking even starts. Solution 1: The first solution that could work, would be an interlock ignition system attached to each car when a drunk driver is arrested for their first time. This could help a lot, because it would decrease the number of drunk drivers on the road. The number would decrease, because it wouldn’t let people who are drunk even start their car. Also, this would help other drivers be more safe with less and less drunk drivers on the road.
In addition to, drunk drivers might start realizing that by getting drunk they won’t be able to drive home. So they might start drinking less so they aren’t drunk and can drive home, which would also limit the number of drunks on the road. On the contrary, there are some things that would interfere with the ignition interlock system. For example, the cost for this system could be expensive and there is also a monthly cost too. The monthly cost is basically just for monitoring, but it is still costing people money. As well as the chance of driving a good distance to a party and getting drunk.
Then there are no designated drivers, because everyone drank too much so therefore the drunk drivers can’t get home. So that is another thing that would need to be addressed. Solution 2: Another option could be making the Seat Belt Law a primary law. This would help the issue, because seat belts are meant to protect people. This would also be key to surviving crashes by drunk drivers too. Plus, seat belts decrease the chance of injuries and deaths when involved in a car crash. Also seat belts are one of the only things that help when surviving a car crash.
On the other hand there are situations and things that would stand in the away of this happening. For instance there have been some cases where people who have had their seat belts on actually killed them. It would happen, if people are stuck or crashed in the water, the seat belt could malfunction and then get stuck. So those were some cons that could happen, but all in all the better things of this law outweigh the bad things by a lot. Solution 3: Finally the last solver is an idea made from Professor David J. Hanson who has a Ph. D, which is DWI Courts to be put in place (Hanson).
First of all having a court as a punishment for drinking and driving could get people scared and nervous. So that may cause people to stop driving under the influence. Also, it would help the issue and all the people that contribute to it to justice. However, there are factors that would stop this solution. For example money would be a big deal. For paying for the court, and getting people to work in it. Also it would take a long time to get people in for driving drunk. Mostly because their are a lot of people that do it, and not enough courts and people to prevent everyone from getting justice.
Best Solution: The best solution for this issue would have to be the Interlock Ignition System. For two reasons, the first being it won’t let a drunk person start the car if they are about 0. 08 BAC. That means if they can’t drive, then their will be less drunks on the roads driving. Similarly, if there are no drunk drivers on the roads that means the chances of deaths and crashed decrease. Finally, then drivers can now that the roads will be more safe, and don’t have to worry about getting in a crash. Because of some drunk person who made bad choices and risked other people’s lives to.
Overall, this solution is a great one that can keep drivers more safe on the road at all times. Conclusion: Overall, drunk drivers have continued to be a big problem in our world today. Drinking and driving is still an issue, because it causes deaths, crashes, and is against the law. So finally if drunk don’t drive, because it puts others at risk too. Just get a designated driver to help when drunk. Also, try not to encourage friends to get wasted and really drunk. Mostly because that could be the start of something bad, that could happen later.
