Now a day, driving while intoxicated has become America’s deadliest crime. There were more than 11,000 alcohol-impaired deaths in 2008, sadly those death were preventable if we had more severe Laws against this issue. Drivers are well aware of the Laws and consequences against drunk driving, especially after destroying families due to their carelessness decision. Victims’ Families entire life are ruined because of the sudden death of their loved one, and they are never going to be able to reclaim their normal life, while the offenders after a few days in prison reclaims he’s normal life. As a result of our fragile criminal justice system everyday road users share the road with repeat offenders who are highly resistant to change their behavior despite previous sanctions, treatment or education. In my opinion those who cause the death of another person while driving intoxicated should receive a mandatory prison sentence of twenty-five years without the possibility of parole.
In the United States there are many anti-drunk driving organizations with one common goal; preventing alcohol-related traffic incidents. These organizations initiate awareness activities in communities by educating the public about the hazard of drunk driving and the retribution for committing a crime. Also, advertising campaigns in newspapers, magazines and television are placing strong messages to road users not to drive while intoxicated because it’s a crime. Most of the billboards show statistics and photos of deadly crashes caused by drunk drivers. Schools are making sure all students are well aware of the danger of drunk driving and the laws against it. They are increasing field trips to hospitals, and visits to the victims’ families with ...
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...are of the laws and the consequences of their carelessness decision that result in death of innocent road users. Victims’ Family members entire life are destroyed because of the sudden death of their loved ones, which they could never reclaim their normal life of happiness, in the other hand, most offenders reclaim their normal life after a few weeks in prison. Hard core drunk drivers who drive with a high alcohol concentration in their blood, and who are repeat offenders are highly resistant to change their behavior despite previous sanctions, treatment or education and are a great threat to the public. Those families that lost their loved ones in the hands of drunk drivers have every reason to demand severe drunk driving laws, which in the future will save innocent lives. Drunk driver’s murderers should serve a prison sentence like any serial killer, or a rapist.
I think that it is agreed by all parties that the prodigious number of sober drivers in our neighborhoods, city streets, and country roads is at present deplorable to the state of our great nation. Currently, a whopping ninety-eight percent of Americans of driving age feel threatened by those who drive under the influence of alcohol, which means that only two percent of Americans are able to fully relax and enjoy themselves while on the road, and with the growing awareness, this number could be on the rise (MADD Online: General Statistics 1). What a travesty! All drivers, and passengers alike, should be put at the same risk for danger, be it damage, injury, or death.
The facts are plain and simple, that alcohol and driving do not mix. About three in every ten Americans will be involved in an alcohol related crash at some time in their lives. Every single injury and death caused by drunk driving is totally preventable. To curb this national travesty, concerned Americans need to examine the problems, the effects, and the solutions to drunk driving. First of all, America has had a problem with drunk driving since Ford perfected the assembly line. Alcoholism is a problem in and of itself, but combined with driving can have a wide range of effects. The consequences of this reckless behavior can include a first time DUI or licenses suspension; a small fender bender, or worst of all a deadly crash. Most drivers that have only one or two drinks feel fine, and assume they are in control, which is irresponsible and dangerous. Alcohol is a depressant that slows down the body's ability to react and impairs judgment. To drive well, you need to be able to have a quick reaction time to avoid accidents. Unfortunately, people continue to drink and drive. However,...
Drunk driving accidents are the number one killer of adolescents (Teenagers and peer pressures. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2013, from). Mixing drinking while driving can be deadly. Teenage drunk driving accidents not only affect the person drinking while driving, but it also can kill or harm others (Alcohol problems and solutions. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2013, from) (Teen drinking and driving. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2013, from) . Every single accident provoked by drinking and driving could have been prevented. If underage drinking is illegal, why do young people do it ? Teenagers usually are influenced by their elders (Alcohol problems and solutions. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2013, from). In the United States, one out of ten 12 through 14 year olds have tried alcohol and continue to do so on a regular basis . There is a more than fifty percent of probability that young adults that have tried alcohol at a younger age may become alcoholics in the near future (Alcohol fatalities. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2013, from). So, why do teenagers take so many risks with their health and behind the wheel? The answer is simple teen drivers tend to think they are invincible and more needs to be done to educate teens on the dangers of drinking and driving.
Each year, about 5,000 teens are killed or injured in traffic crashes as a result of underage drinking and about 1,900 are due to car accidents. (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and U.S. Department of Transportation) In the newsletter, safety in numbers by National highway traffic administration and U.S department of transportation “Of all the people who died in motor vehicle crashes during 2012, 31 percent died in crashes involving a drunk driver, and this percentage remains unchanged for the past 10 years” (Vol 1, 2013). Crashes involving alcohol include fatal crashes in which a driver had a BAC of .01 g/ ld. or higher (Underage Drinking Statistics)). Deadly crashes involving alcohol are twice as common in teens compared to people 21 and older. This is because teens’ judgment skills are harmed more by alcohol. Teens who drink not only risk hurting themselves, they risk hurting their friends, family, and even strangers when driving intoxicated. Teens and parents both need a strong reminder that underage drinking is illegal and can have disastrous consequences. According to Health Day News, “one study found that in 2011, 36 percent of U.S. college students said they'd gone binge drinking (five or more drinks in one sitting) within the past two weeks, as compared to 43 percent of college students in 1988. Since 2006, the current law has reduced the rate of drunk driving crashes among young Americans” (Preidt, 2014 and DeJong, 2014). This proves that lives have been saved after the legal drinking age increased. According to an article in Time Magazine called “Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered?”, “lowering the drinking age to 18 would stop infantilizing college students, but it would probably kill mor...
Did you know that every 20 minutes one American life is lost to an alcohol related crash? Or that www.duistats.com states that every year, 708,000 persons are injured in alcohol related crashes and 74, 000 of those people suffer serious injuries. Well according to The Criminal Law Handbook: Know Your Rights, Survive the System if you are convicted of DUI and it is only your first offense you will only receive 3-5 yrs probation, up to a $1,000 fine, and possibly 6 months in jail. Now that seems like nothing compared to someone else’s life don’t you think?
In the year 2001 more then 800,000 injuries occurred in the United States from alcohol related accidents, while more than 40% of automobile crashes were due to the abuse of alcohol (MADD homepage). These overwhelming statistics are just a small piece of the very large puzzle that stuns the nation with deaths every year. For some people, these statistics are more than just phrases on paper they are words that are haunting reminders of the tragedies and losses they have experienced in their lifetime. One such mother was so distraught by the loss of her thirteen year old daughter Carrie Lightner, who was killed by a drunk driver, began the organization Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). On the other side of the country another mother was feeling the same pain as her five and a half month old daughter, Laura Lamb, took her last breath after a drunk driver struck their car. Together these women joined forces to share their sufferings with others in the same situation, while striving to prevent future accidents and conditions such as the ones they had just experienced.
“Drink the first. Sip the second slowly. Skip the third. The speedway ends at the cemetery” (Rockne). Every day, almost 30 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. This amounts to one death every 48 minutes. The annual cost of alcohol related crashes totals more than 51 billion. In Recent discussions of drunk driving, a controversial issue has been whether the driving while intoxicated laws should be increased due to the amount tax payers are paying for drunk driving crashes. On the one hand. Some argue that the driving laws for driving drunk should remain the same and not change. From this perspective the laws about driving under the influence should greatly increase to be stricter, this will help decrease the death rate per year in the United States. On the other hand, however others argue that the laws about driving while drunk are already too strict and should remain unchanged. In sum, then, the issue is whether the laws about driving drunk should be greatly increased to be more effective, or remain unchanged. Because drunk driving can result in unnecessary and premature deaths, unsafe roadways, billions of dollars spent on taxpayers due to DUI’S, and losing a loved one. Drunk driving laws should be altered to be more efficient.
There is knocking at a door late at night, and there a policeman standing at the door with information that a family member was in an accident that involved a drunk driver. This is one of those things people hear and believe that it will not happen, but it happens every day. Every 40 minutes, someone in the U.S. is killed by a drunk driver and in 2008, in Montana, 40 percent of all traffic fatalities involved DUIs (“Drunk Driving” 1). Drunk Driving affects everyone and people in Montana should look at what other states do to find ways to make the laws tougher and more enforced.
Main Point I: I’d like to start off by talking about the penalties of drinking and driving. Did you know that drunk driving is the nation’s most frequently committed violent crime? A chronic drunk driver is a person who has driven over 1,000 times before being caught. They do not respond to social pressures, law enforcement, and the messages that have been combined to reform the drinking and driving behavior of our society.
Impaired driving is a major issue in our society and is an issue that can easily be preventable unlike many other legal issues. The punishment of impaired driving is barely considered when impaired drivers operates a vehicle while under the influence. It is seen as lenient and study shows that it is a conviction that is repeated multiple times. In order to avoid all of these issues and to fill in the flaws of our government system, the punishments regarding the accused’s conviction of crimes related to impaired driving should be far stricter than the current punishments in order to completely stop impaired driving within our flawed
Driving under the influence is extremely dangerous. Those who drink and drive tend to have an increased risk of car accidents, highway injuries, and vehicular fatalities. However, there are countless ways to prevent drunk driving. Professor David J. Hanson at the sociology department at the State University of New York states that “designated drivers have saved nearly 50,000 lives and spared many more thousands of people from suffering injury from drunk driving. It is a proven fact that almost 30 people in the US die every day in a motor vehicle accident involving a driver impaired by alcohol.” Every accident caused by drunk driving is one hundred percent preventable.
There is a need for the introduction and implementation of new drunk driving laws by the legislature, because presently the united States drunk driving laws are too lenient. The continuous rate of drunken driving fatalities makes a case that the united States drunk driving laws are too lenient and makes a call for stricter laws. According to Valenti “countries with strict drunk driving penalties have a far lower incidence of accidents than the United States (1). The United States being a first world country is weak in enforcing strict punishment for drunk drivers. Valenti is emphasizing on the fact that the united States need to improve their present laws and be firm in enforcing these new laws. There is a need for the United States to improve on their severity of its drunk driving penalties just the way the other part of the world have done and this is giving them a reduced rate of drunk driving fatalities. The claim of the leniency of the United States drunk driving laws is further stated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), this is a prominent body when it comes to the issue of drunken driving fatalities. It claims that the drunken driving laws are severe enough. “Despite great strides in awareness, education and enforcement in the last two decades the United States still has one of the most lenient drunken driving standards in the world”. (NHTSA of existing laws. There is a need for stricter laws to be introduced as the United States ranks behind the world when it comes to effort to combat drunk driving and more efforts need to be put in place by the implementation of harsher laws so as to reduce the high rate of repeat offenders and first time offenders.
Driving under the influence is one of the most common and dangerous situations in which anyone can be or be placed. Drinking and driving is a serious offence that can cause someone to be physically harm or even killed. Not only are you putting yourself at risk but you are also risking the lives of passengers in the car as well as any other car and occupants sharing the road with you. Many people believe that increasing fines for drunk driving offenders will play a compelling role in cutting down the occurrences of driving under the influence. However, while harsher DUI laws will look effective on paper, they will not make a significant step in the fight against drunk driving. Although there is a law enforced for drinking and driving in the
The growing awareness of alcohol hazards has made people more cautious of their drinking habits, particularly young adults. At present young adults have the highest prevalence of alcohol consumption than any other age group. They also drink more heavily, experience more negative consequences, and engage in more harmful activities, specifically drunk driving. Although surveys have documented a decline in recent years, consumption rates remain highest from late teen years to the late twenties (Johnston1-3). Despite the long-term decline since 1982 in alcohol related traffic deaths, a 4 percent increase occurred between 1994 and 1995 among young adults age 21 and over (Hingson 4). As alcohol-impaired driving persists, legal and community initiatives intervene to help reduce the problem, as well as, continuing research on possible solutions.
Wald, Matthew L. "Senate Version of Bill Pushes States to Adopt Stiff Drunken Driving Penalties." New York Times, Late Edition (East Coast) ed.: 0. Jun 17 2005. ProQuest. Web. 3 Apr. 2014.