The month of December is one of the busiest on the nation’s roadways, and also one of the most dangerous, due to a high incidence of alcohol and drug-related traffic crashes. During December 2010, 25 people were killed in drunk driving crashes per day on average.
December has been designated National Impaired Prevention Month, a time to raise awareness about the consequences of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. In issuing his proclamation, President Obama urges all Americans to “make responsible decisions and take appropriate measures to preventimpaired driving.”
MADD has these tips to help ensure everyone’s safety this holiday season:
- If your plans involve alcohol, plan ahead for a safe way home. Even one too many drinks increases the risk of a crash. Designate a sober driver, Give the Gift of a Designated Driver®, or arrange another safe way home.
- If you’ve been drinking use a taxi, call a sober friend or family member or use public transportation.
- If someone you know is drinking, do not let that person get behind the wheel. Your actions may save someone’s life.
- Always buckle up, drive with caution, and don’t hesitate to call 911 to report a suspected drunk driver. Just because you made the right decision to drive sober, others on the road may not have.
No one thinks that their holiday celebration will end in tragedy. But for those who include alcohol in their celebrations and then get behind the wheel, this is too often the case. Drunk driving deaths and injuries are 100% preventable, so do your part this holiday season by choosing to drive safe and sober and help others do the same.
Why exactly is drinking and driving a crime? Is the potential to cause a deprivation of rights a crime or must the rights be deprived firstly?
drunk driving? Poultin, you can mimic, plagiarize, and intimidate with the best of your cop bully friends. It will not change reality. You lost. You continue to loose, and you can't control your compulsive, dishonesty. Congratulations, you are the joke of Patch.
I have been arrested, jailed and in financial and other difficulties because of it. In all those years, I never found the time to spend hours posting online talking in generalities about conspiracies and the like. I was doing busy putting my beliefs into action. David Irons mentioned Googling you and you seemed to be offended. Feel free to Google me. I'm proud of the ways I've been able to help.
There are all kinds of things we could do to prevent a drunk "driver from killing, mutilating or maiming [a] member of [my] family," or anyone else's. For example, a device can be attached to a vehicle's ignition system that driver must breathe into before operating -- if the driver has been drinking, the car won't start. Courts sometimes require people convicted of DUI to install these devices in their cars. Every vehicle in the State could be required to be equipped with such a device, which would be far more effective than any roadblock preventing a drunk "driver from killing, mutilating or maiming [a] member of [my] family," or anyone else's. The problem is these devices cost tens of thousands of dollars, and, if required on every vehicle, every citizen would be required to pay to have the device installed on every vehicle that he/she owned. This would be a heavy financial burden on every vehicle owner. A balance must be struck between the risk to be avoided (here, drunk drivers), and the efficiency and cost of the counter-measure(s).
The fact of the matter is that these road blocks very rarely result in the apprehension of ANY drunk driver, and more typically yield only a handful of arrests for minor traffic offenses, e.g., expired driver’s license/registration, expired emissions inspection, etc. The costs are never disclosed, but I have observed that roadblocks typically involve 4 or 5 police officers (typically being paid overtime rates) for an eight-hour shift. Do the math. Citizens pay for this through their tax dollars. Private businesses make judgments like these every day. They assess the expense, effort, etc., of a certain measure, and the likely return on their investment. If we turned over DUI enforcement to a private company and paid them for every drunk driver that they got off the road, I doubt that they would use roadblocks on account of their inefficiency. They also are an inconvenience to the motoring public.
andrew z, would you choose to be a victim of a dui driver or would you rather be stuck behind one waiting to be screened at a dui checkpoint? or would you back away and find another route? the critical link here seems to elude some, being, the connection between impaired beyond reasonable capacity to control a vehicle safely VS the genuine social desire to participate in the deprivation of your personal freedoms. (approach with full coherency, it might throw you otherwise) the long and winding road to maturity is fraught with great sacrifices, despite what some say. (plagiarism is sooo much fun, more so than driving the same road every day!) (time for me to make my donuts, hava nice day !)
I remember extremely well the day two very nice police officers and town doctor came to the front door to tell my family that my brother had been killed by a drunk driver. He was only about 25 feet from safety when he was hit at 75 miles an hour. You cannot imagine the wreckage, the heartbreak, the nightmares, and all the pain and wreckage that a family experiences from this. I would give my right arm to change that day and have him back alive and smiling and enjoying life. I too was hit head-on by a drunk driver. My Life was changed forever. I will never be the same. My other brother was also hit by a drunk driver head-on and suffered injuries that you would not like in your life. to insinuate or bring up the word Nazi when an officer is doing a job to protect innocent lives shows an incredible lack of depth, intelligence, and common decency for your fellow man. I hope this never happens to you. But if it does, I hope you remember the Nazis that were not there for you
Hasn't the Christian church tried to legislate morality in their own way unsuccessfully? I hope you're Christian. Got a love those pedophiles, you know, the priests.
Thank you for your comments and sharing your story Jody k
Just tired of the apathy . Any takers , Jody k
You know the reason they get away with stuff like the Patriot act is because of people like you. The reason they get away with drone wars overseas is because of you. The reason the TSA molests grandmothers and children, it's because of people like you. It's because of people like you that the government puts black boxes in our cars, reads our emails, and all without a warrant. As long as you are innocent why be afraid of a search right? You will give it all up just for the promise from government to be safe from the boogyman. If you look at what made America great, I don't see tyranny anywhere. If you look at what made America horrible and is leading it to a societal and fiscal total collapse, then all you can see is soviet/ NatzI Germany style government, laws, and sheeple who follow their government and laws. Hitler was elected by people. Control the group and you control the individual. This is their goal.
Also, it is illegal to stop someone and search them like that. Now if we as a country want to elect people who will make a constitutional amendment, then yes, in a democratic REPUBLIC, that can happen. Unfortunately the constitution is randomly crossed out by executive order now. So even if you claimed it was moral to search every single person who's going down a certain road, you can not say that it is legal. The idea that "I'm not doing anything wrong so I don't care if they search me" is the weakest argument and shows how easily people will give up their rights nowadays. It shows how much we have been spoiled rotten with freedom in this country. People should learn their history and apply it to the future.
Why is that?