Drinked Driving: A Short History Of Drunk Driving

Before the industrial revolution, America was unaware of the consequences of drunk driving. With no regulations in place, drivers could recklessly drive without violating the law. It was not until 1939 when Indiana was the first state to enforce a blood alcohol limit of .15. Which is two times the legal limit today ("A Short History of Drunk Driving"). MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) an organization established in the 1980 's, has become "...one of the most influential and widely supported non-profit organizations in America" (Mission Statement). MADD, created by Candace Lightner whose son, Cari was walking to a carnival in mid May. Struck by a drunk driver, Cari later died. The driver was found guilty of drinking and driving; it was

Occasional traffic stops along highways are used to asses each drivers ' BAC. The goal of the sobriety checkpoints is two catch potentially dangerous drivers and eliminate deadly crashes before they happen. Studies have shown that "these checkpoints consistently reduced alcohol-related crashes, typically by 9%" ("Impaired Driving: Get the Facts"). Government has not stated if they plan to continue the use this tactic and make it more popular. One of the oldest techniques, that the government has been encouraging is the school-based instructional programs that discourage drunk driving. Program such as D.A.R.E have taught kids for years about the effect of alcohol and drugs. Special classrooms and courses also have been designed to help educate people about the dangerous consequences of making bad decisions. Drunk driving is more common than most people think "An average drunk driver has driven drunk 80 times before first arrest" ("The Economic and Societal Impact"). For this reason, government has issued DWI license plates or they are more commonly known as "Whiskey plates". These plates look different than the standard blue Minnesota plate and issued for over a year to the owner of the vehicle. These plates not only help police to know that the driver is dangerous, but help other cars on the road to report any suspicious behavior to the

Ignition interlocks are connected to the engine allow the driver to blow into a hand-help breathalyzer that calculates the estimated BAC. The car will not start unless the BAC is under the legal limit of .08 ("Minnesota Ignition Interlock Device Program"). In some cases where drivers have outrageous BAC the government is allowed to revoke or suspend the license of any driver who proceeds as threat to the public. When a license is revoked it is lost for ninety days. In a case of suspension the license maybe lost forever. But on the negative side police have found that most people who have had their license revoked or suspended still continue to drive without being caught. Surely, not the most effective ways to remove menacing driver from the streets, but it may discourage some people from driving. For the ones who loss their loved one, the government strives to seek justice. Prison and jail are likely punishments for a felon who murdered a someone 's family member. Once found guilty, the criminal is sentenced to confined time in a jail cell. They spend their days in a jumpsuit while the outside world keeps going about normal life. The felon is faced with the guilt of unintentionally robbing someone of their own