DUI
Why is this issue important? Consequences are life-long and serious it effects on many: Not just the driver and the person injured or killed but also the family members on both sides. 1 in every 3 people is involved in at least one alcohol-related crash in their lifetime. Number of repeat drunk drivers.
Driving under the influence is a crime in all states that if you any type of motor vehicle and consumes alcohol that excess the legal limit you are in violation of the law. Depending on what you’re doing you can also get a DUI or DWI while operating certain types of heavy machinery. The legal age is 21 and the legal limit is set anywhere between 0.05% and 0.08%. While driving under the influence your judgment and reaction time decreases for every drink you have. Every 30 minutes someone is killed in an alcohol related crash and every 2 minutes someone else has been injured according to Edgar Snyder & Associates.
Field sobriety testing
Is a way for police to be able to determine whether or not you’re operating a vehicle while intoxicated. There are some different ways a police officer may figure out if you’re sober enough to drive a vehicle. One of the ways is to walk a straight line heal to toe; another is to lift one leg while counting. The most effective way is to use a breathalyzer that is hand held.
BAC (Blood Alcohol Content)
Is the most commonly used way to measure your alcohol intoxication for legal or medical purposes. You can trace the breath test back to the 1874 discovered by a scientist. But the first roadside breathalyzer was developed in 1931 by Professor Rolla N. Harger (Head,Thomas, Webb & Willis LLC 2014). It is used now and will be used until we either ban alcohol or people will wise up and get a driver who doesn’t drink. There are three technologies that are used in doing the test of BAC: evidentiary machines, less accurate hand-held electrochemical fuel cell-based instruments, and semiconductor oxide based testers (which are the cheapest and least reliable). The national BAC limit is .08.
Driving Laws
Driving laws are different in every state. Some make you do community service others just require you to do piss test every week
Punishment for people caught for DUI in one county is a DUI court which, “participants are subject to random visits from law enforcement officers, must attend treatment and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, and perform community service and submit to frequent urinalysis tests.(Olson,2007) If all courts went to this program it would cut down on repeat offenders. That program also according to Olson states that in order to renew your driving privileges they must get an ignition interlock device on their vehicle. What happens if your drunk and someone else blows into the ignition interlock device and you drive around and get into an accident, does the person that unlocked the vehicle get into trouble, if so his punishment should be as equal as the drunk drive or worse to prevent people repeating the act.
Solution to lowering DUI
Have a designated driver. Call a taxi. Create awareness. Support foundations that stop drunk driving. Most known MADD foundation. Stricter Laws on repeat offenders.
Citations
Olsen, R. (2007, December 30). DWI court succeeds by keeping keen eye on offenders. StarTribune.
This article is mainly about how this one county district judge started a trial run of a program as a