A typical scene from a movie depicting a drunken guy will show him getting up shakily for the bar stool, bumps into a couple of people, manages to reach the car. Tries to figure out the key of the car. Manages to get in and drives off somehow. Then after a while we hear blaring horns, a wide eyed guy swerving off the tarmac down the cliff or hits a tree and he either dies or ends up in the hospital in a hopeless condition.
What we need to wake up to is, that these scenes are not just restricted to reel but are there in real life too. The forces have just pulled up their socks and are ready to deal a killer blow to what we call – drunken driving. The menace will cost approximately 13,000 more lives this year, much like the previous few. Its time we stamped out this fire.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and the U.S. Department of Transportation and with the backing of car manufacturers is all set to launch a new offensive against the never ending problem. They believe the steps taken by them will help wipe out the evil. Since many people who have been booked for drunken driving are not exactly listening to them, they have changed their plan. They say that if they cant stop drunk people from driving, they will stop the vehicles that drive these people around.
Also on the anvil is to make sure that the example set by New Mexico, with their regulations against drunken driving are taken up by the other 49 states too. New Mexico is the only state where first time offenders of drunk driving have to install ignition interlocks, a device which disables the ignition system of the car if the driver has an above limit alcohol level in his breath.
Other states have regulations too but only for repeated convictions for the same offense. MADD wants to make it a first time practice to install the ignition interlocks. Till now it has not had major success with only 1 in every 8 people actually going ahead to install it. MADD wants to the number to go up at least five fold over the next 5 years.
Despite having about 1.4 million arrests for drunk driving every year, the number of ignition locks is still about 100,000 only. People need to realize it is for their safety and put them in place. That is the main point that MADD wants to emphasize. Glynn Birch, MADD's president who lost a 21-month-old son to a drunken driver, kicked off their self-described "audacious campaign to eliminate drunk driving" on Monday compared the ignition interlock devices to a polio vaccine.
The campaign is not going to taste immediate success, but the ground work will be laid for the future and what steps are taken now will bear fruit in the coming years. The ignition interlocks right now are cumbersome, with the driver having to breathe into them every time they need to start the car. For smart devices to replace the current breed of interlocks it will take at least an year. For them to be present in large numbers and also as a standard fitting in the cars.
Volvo and SAAB are working on such systems. They first test runs will be on large fleets before been incorporated in passenger cars. Volvo hopes to have them as a standard fitting by 2009. They hope that it will be a preferred choice for parents buying cars for their teenage children.
Various techniques and devices are been worked upon which can analyze whether the person is over the legal drinking limit and then not allow to start the vehicle. Breath analyzers have not been so successful in curbing the menace because the drunk drivers can ask friends who are sober to blow into them and start the vehicle. We need more fool proof methods and devices.
The success of the New Mexico regulations should be enough to push the other to implement similar rules. Their fatality rate has dropped by 11.3 percent since 2005. A big achievement indeed.
Revoking driving licenses for the drunk drivers has not been a major help as people still continue driving. Also lowering of permissible blood alcohol levels from 0.15 to 0.08 has not brought about a major drop in numbers. Stricter rules need to be in place and also smarter devices. The new set of interlocks should be like air bags working automatically when needed.
The campaign has a solid backing from car manufacturers, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Distilled Spirits Council and the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Top Bush administration officials also will endorse the proposed program.
As always there is someone who is not very happy with the campaign. This time it been The American Beverage Institute, which represents restaurants, their statement said that it was not fair in totality. The spokesperson of the association said that the campaign was not looking at eliminating drunk driving but also responsible drinking and it is this aspect that they did not appreciate. The Americans should be outraged by such a campaign the statement added.
Without doubt we need means to curb the menace, but the fine line of healing should not run over and be a source of trouble. We can just hope that the balance is met and more and more people on the roads are safe.
Just another well intended
Just another well intended organization ruining this county! While madd started out to be a good ideal, it snowball into a big turd. Even the woman that started it quit it. It doesn’t take a genius to see how these organizations (like most of them) fudge number to make you think there is a crisis. Lets count all accident that are alcohol related, even the driver is sober and the passenger is drunk or if a sober person hits a guy that had two beers at dinner. Got to boost those numbers, stab a knife in the emotions of us drivers. I can’t believe I drove last Saturday night and didn’t get slammed into a brick wall. Drunk driving is wrong and I’m against it. I’m sorry for the people who lives were changed but putting blow sticks on every car is pathetic. How far are we going to go to protect everyone? I say we make it mandatory that everybody were a radiation/biological bomb suite before they leave there house. Hey, If it saves one life it worth it, regardless of cost. Life is priceless. Unless you’re at a Mexican or Chinese sweat shop, then it’s only worth $.75 a day. I’m for stiffer fines for repeat offenders. The laws we have now are stiff. Most people who get a dwi realized there mistake. Repeat offenders should be punished accordingly. We have freedoms in this country and with freedom there are risks. With less risk we get less freedom. I would hope we could find a happy medium between risk & freedom but I’m loosing hope every day. It just seem like its one extreme to another.