Ethics & Religion
Column #1,880
September 6, 2017
How To Reduce Drunk Driving Deaths
By Mike McManus
Nevada
and Oklahoma became the 29th and 30th states to require ignition
interlocks after a first drunk driving offense. Louisiana is one of
those states that require the driver to blow into a device which
measures their blood alcohol content. If the person is legally drunk,
the car will not start.
From 2006-16, there were 2.3 million halted drunk drivers due to the
interlock, according to Ron Replogle, law enforcement manager of Mothers
Against Drunk Driving (MADD). In just 2016, 348,000 drunk drivers could
not start their car!
The result is that the number of drunk driving deaths in America have
fallen 51% from nearly 21,000 in 1982 to only 10,265 in 2015. MADD
deserves credit for this plunge in alcohol related deaths, since it has
been the major advocate for ignition interlocks to reduce drunk driving.
Florida debated a similar law this year, but did not pass it. Florida
recorded 797 deaths due to drunk driving in 2015 - 103 more than the
previous year, the biggest percentage jump of any state. Currently,
Florida requires the ignition interlock only after a second drunk
driving offense. The question is why didn't Florida vote to impose the
interlock after a single offense? And why haven't 19 other states passed
similar laws?
First-time offenders have driven drunk an average of 80 times before
they are arrested!
What most other states do is suspend the drunk driver's license for a
first offense. However, 50% to 75% of convicted drunk drivers continue
to drive on a suspended license. Many states like Florida require the
interlock only after a second offense.
(In some states, the definition of drunk driving is if a person's blood
alcohol content (BAC) is .10, although most states have set the level at
.08, as the official definition of drunk driving.)
Alcohol-impaired driving fatalities accounted for 29% of the total
traffic deaths in 2015. Two-thirds of the 10,265 killed were due to
drivers with a BAC of .15 or higher - double the usual drunk driving
level.
One bright spot in this story is that the number of persons under age 21
killed in drunk driving crashes decreased 80% from the record high of
5,215 in 1982 to only 1,021 in 2015.
What's needed are laws that prevent first offenders from becoming repeat
offenders, so that more lives are saved.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving was founded by Candy Lightner in 1980
after her daughter was killed by a repeat drunk driving offender. Few
people have had such an impact in saving lives. MADD is now the largest
nonprofit fighting to end drunk driving. It also works to reduced
drugged driving and has supported more than million victims of these
violent crimes.
MADD has helped save 340,000 lives as it has cut drunk driving in half!
How effective are ignition interlocks? New Mexico and Arizona were among
the first states to pass laws requiring those convicted of one drunk
driving offense to install an ignition interlock in 2006 and 2007. In
the decade since their drunk driving deaths have fallen 30%.
These devices cost drivers an initial $75 to $100 for installation and
then $2.15 a day or $785 over a year. That's not a small sum, but think
of the saved lives.
Here are the 20 states that do not require the ignition interlock after
a first offense: California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa,
Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, North
Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South
Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
It is time for the people of those states to demand that their state
legislatures pass a law requiring an ignition interlock after a first
offense.
A great step to save thousands of lives!.
___________________________________
Copyright (c) 2017 Michael J. McManus,
President of Marriage Savers and a syndicated columnist. For previous
columns go to
www.ethicsandreligion.org. Hit
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