Drunk Driving by Carson Jones

       

    You’re out with some friends having a great time. You’re dancing to the music, singing along with everyone to today’s top hits, and you even go jump in the pool for everyone’s amusement. A buddy of yours brings alcohol to the party just to add to the fun, you drink a few yourself. It’s getting late and you have to return home to do some chores, you can feel the effects of the alcohol in your system, but you think you’re okay to drive. On your way home, you lose control of your car and end up crashing into another car. Luckily, no one was hurt, but now your insurance has to pay for the damage and is now more expensive for you. Drinking and driving is a major problem today, the costs totaling to about 44 billion dollars every year in the United States alone  (Drunk Driving). Are there any solutions?

            Drunk driving is fairly new to the world, born towards the beginning of the 1900’s (Hunter). At first, he was claiming 25,000 lives per year, but that number was rising rapidly (Hunter). People didn’t consider him to be a threat, it became somewhat normal, even accepted, for someone to let him take hold of the wheel (Drunk Driving). Luckily, New York became aware of the problems he was causing and took the initiative to stop him, becoming the first state in the U.S. to create a law against him. Other states began to follow New York’s lead, California being right behind them (Hunter).

            The laws helped only a little, but any polishes made through these laws were quickly erased after the prohibition that began in 1919 (Poholek, Catherine H). At first, the prohibition actually did really good, decreasing drunk driving by a whopping 20% as well as doing other good things for America such as: reduce poverty, crime, and had the positive effect in the economy and the American people’s quality of life (Poholek, Catherine H). Unfortunately, people quickly became unhappy about their loss of alcohol (Poholek, Catherine H). Organized gangs started to find ways to sneak alcohol to the public and crime rates rose exponentially (Poholek, Catherine H). The problems were stacking too high, and the government ended the prohibition in 1933 (Poholek, Catherine H). However, the government did not give up on trying to prevent drunk driving, setting a blood alcohol content (BAC) limit at .15% in 1938, but was lowered to .08% in the 1990’s (Hunter). Starting in the 1970’s, penalties for individuals caught driving while the influence was heightened, including fines, license suspension, jail time, or even the permanent loss of driving privileges (Hunter). These punishments vary between states (Hunter). A large portion of these stricter laws came into effect thanks to anti-drunk driving organizations such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and Students Against Destructive Decisions (“Statistics.”).

            The Drunk driving epidemic has had a tremendous effect on both the United States and the whole world. It affects every race, ages, gender, and social status. Property is lost, money is spent, debts are created, lives are affected with permanent injury, or even sometimes even lost. In America alone, thousands of people die every year in car accidents involving someone who was partially impaired due to alcohol and 16% of these accidents had victims between the ages of zero and 14 (“Statistics.”). Only one out of 100 people who are driving while under the influence are arrested every night (“Statistics.”). These accidents make up one-third of all car accidents (Impaired Driving: Get the Facts). Someone dies due to a drunk driver once every 50 minutes in the United States alone(Impaired Driving: Get the Facts). Someone who is charged with drunk driving can face lawyer fees, court costs, and fines, costing anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000. Auto insurance rises when an individual has a drunk driving charge on their record, in some cases their insurance policies are even revoked. Drunk driving frowned upon by society, there are many people who take active roles in its prevention, including activists like Michelle Alexander, who once said,

“Drunk driving contains a far greater risk of violent death than the use or sale of illegal drugs, the societal response to drunk drivers has generally emphasized keeping the person functional and in society, while attempting to respond to the dangerous behavior through treatment and counseling.” (“WISE OLD SAYINGS.”).

            In 2013, 28.7 million people throughout the world admitted to driving to driving while impaired due to alcohol (“Statistics.”). This is more than the number of people who live in the state of Texas (“Statistics.”). With a .08 BAC limit, the United States has one of the most lenient limits in the world (Hunter). In Asia, the BAC limit is .05%, some countries in South America has a limit as low as .02% (“Drunk Driving Penalties in Other Countries.”). Punishment also vary from country to country, most countries have punishments similar to that of the United States (“Drunk Driving Penalties in Other Countries.”). However, there are some countries who have handed down more harsh punishments. In China, a drunk driver was sentenced to death for killing four people in a drunk driving accident (“Drunk Driving Penalties in Other Countries.”). South Africa has been known to sentence individuals to a 10-year jail sentence for driving over the legal BAC limit (“Drunk Driving Penalties in Other Countries.”). In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), individuals lose their license for a lifetime, or even sentenced to a public beating (“Drunk Driving Penalties in Other Countries.”).

            The whole world is searching for solutions to lessen or even end drunk driving. One idea is to inflict harsher punishments on those charged with drunk driving. Another is the presence of more law enforcement during times where drinking is more prevalent. Some would even like to set checkpoints every so often and host “no refusal weekends” which tend to increase DUI arrests. Another possible solution to drunk driving is more education-based programs where individuals learn of the dangers of drunk driving and its consequences. Community programs where an individual can easily access free, or reduced cost, transportation when they’ve had too much to drink is another possible solution, as well as implementing harsher punishments on restaurants and bars who over-serve alcohol to customers.

            Drunk driving is a serious, senseless, preventable, and deadly epidemic. The world has a long history of dealing with the effects of it. Despite already establishing laws and regulations against it, it is still prevalent in our society. The varying punishments don’t seem to deter people from taking part in this dangerous act. Some people have taken active roles in the prevention of this epidemic, creating organizations such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Students Against Destructive Decisions (“Statistics.”). There are many solutions that have been many possible solutions that have been brought up and have been taken into consideration. Hopefully one day we will take these considerations and try them to find a way to lessen or even stop drunk driving altogether.

            Albert Camus, born on November 7, 1913, in Mondovi, France and died in 1960,  was known for being many things, including a  journalist, anarchist, atheist, novelist, philosophical essayist, and Nobel laureate (“Albert Camus (1913—1960).”). He hated the governmental system, thinking the laws they set into place limits the freedom of individuals and rigged to support the rich and inconvenienced the lower class (“Albert Camus (1913—1960).”). He once said,

“For centuries the death penalty, often accompanied by barbarous refinements, has been trying to hold crime in check; yet crime persists. Why? Because the instincts that are warring in man are not, as the law claims, constant forces in a state of equilibrium.” (“Albert Camus Quotes.”).

He thought the universe is irrational, and there was nothing man could do about it (“Albert Camus (1913—1960).”). He wasn’t a fan of religion, even going as far as calling religion and the belief of a higher power “absurd” (“Albert Camus (1913—1960).”).

Camus would have felt sympathy for the families affected by the drunk driving epidemic because he was human, however, he wouldn’t think there is any reason this is happening because of his belief of a irrational universe. He wouldn’t spend his time trying to find a solution since some of the deaths caused by drunk driving may open up jobs and opportunities for the lower class. His reaction to the people asking the government for stricter laws and harsher punishments would be disagreement due to his belief that the government and the laws they place limits everyone’s freedoms, but his reaction to the people being angry and blaming the government for not placing stricter laws and harsher punishments would be supportive, contradicting himself. Because of him being an anarchist, he wouldn’t have agreed with the idea of increasing the amount of law enforcement during times when drinking is more prevalent. He would also disagree with the “no refusal weekend” checkpoints for DUI tests because that would interfere with the that individual’s right to travel wherever and whenever they please. I think he would agree with the education-based programs created to teach individuals the dangers and consequences of drunk driving, as well as community programs where an individual can easily access free, or reduced cost, transportation when they’ve had too much to drink because these two ideas don’t go against his anarchist ideas or have anything to do with laws that limit one’s personal freedom. He would definitely disagree with the idea of implementing harsher punishments on restaurants and bars who over-serve alcohol to customers because that limits the restaurant’s freedoms.

Drunk driving is a serious, senseless, preventable, and deadly epidemic. The world has a long history of dealing with the effects of it. Despite already establishing laws and regulations against it, it is still prevalent in our society. The varying punishments don’t seem to deter people from taking part in this dangerous act. Some people have taken active roles in the prevention of this epidemic, creating organizations such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Students Against Destructive Decisions (“Statistics.”). There are many solutions that have been many possible solutions that have been brought up and have been taken into consideration.  Hopefully one day we will take these considerations and try them to find a way to lessen or even stop drunk driving altogether. For the most part, Albert Camus, a  journalist, anarchist, atheist, novelist, philosophical essayist, and Nobel laureate, would disagree with most of these solutions because of his hatred of the government and the belief that their laws limits personal freedom. He may even believe that there is no solution at all because of his belief in an irrational universe (“Albert Camus (1913—1960).”).

Works Cited

“Albert Camus Quotes.” BrainyQuote, Xplore, www.brainyquote.com/quotes/albert_camus_156571.

“Albert Camus (1913—1960).” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, www.iep.utm.edu/camus/.

“Drunk Driving Penalties in Other Countries.” DUI Penalties Elsewhere, webpages.charter.net/ricknet/duilaws.htm.

Hunter, Posted By Brockton D. “Brockton D. Hunter.” The Law Office of Brockton D. Hunter, P.A., 27 Nov. 2014, www.brockhunterlaw.com/blog/2014/november/the-history-of-dui-laws-in-america/.

Impaired Driving: Get the Facts. www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/impaired_driving/impaired-drv_factsheet.html.

jean.yoder.ctr@dot.gov. “Drunk Driving.” NHTSA, 20 Dec. 2017, https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/drunk-driving

Poholek, Catherine H. “Prohibition in the 1920s.” GCSE Modern World History, www.johndclare.net/America5_Poholek.htm.

“Statistics.” MADD, www.madd.org/statistics/

“WISE OLD SAYINGS.” Drunk Driving Sayings and Drunk Driving Quotes | Wise Old Sayings, www.wiseoldsayings.com/drunk-driving-quotes/.