Drunk driving has claimed thousands of human lives and the trend goes on. People do not hesitate from drunk driving even after they read and hear almost every day about it in newspapers and on television. Drunk driving is a very common problem and is a major concern for the law implementing authorities in almost every society. Drunk driving is completely avoidable and human lives that lost due to drunk driving can be saved by paying a little amount of awareness and attention. This paper discusses drunk driving, talks about related laws along with discussing several other related aspects of the subject matter.
A person with 0.10 or more Blood Alcohol Concentration is several times more vulnerable than other normal people. A driver with such amount of BAC is a threat to others on roads. In other words more a person drinks more prone he or she becomes to causing accidents while driving. Drunken motorists causes more harm than several other destructing factors. Motor accidents are a nightmare for the law implementing authorities as well as for other related parties like insurance companies. Accidents due to drunken driving claim a larger share of such motor accidents on American roads.
Research suggests that a huge number of people die in car accidents due to drunk driving. Thousands of people lose their lives and thousands become injured but even then people commit this offense knowingly or unknowingly. People, who are under influence of alcohol, lack the ability to command and drive vehicles. When people drive vehicle in such state of their mind, they lose command and met with accidents. Law implementing authorities are worried and they take several steps to create awareness among people in order to reduce such unfortunate incidents.
Drunk driving is a criminal offense in almost every country of the world. In US, The limit of consuming alcohol is fixed and those who violate this rule are liable to be punished. Blood alcohol concentration determines the ability of driver to control the vehicle and when it exceeds from a limit, driver starts losing the control of vehicle and becomes helpless. Higher level of driver’s BAC attracts severe restrictive actions and punishments as driver is in not in a balanced state of mind but still drives the vehicle and creates danger to pedestrians as well as to other vehicles.
There are different laws for drunk driving in different states in United States of America. These laws include criminal as well as civil penal provisions that vary according to amount of alcohol consumed and severity of the offense. Age of accused and circumstances of accidents also affect the punishment. Damages caused in the accidents due to drunken driving are also taken into consideration while trial of the offense and determining punishments for the drunken drivers.
New work is strict on the incidents of drunken driving and governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo signaled a no tolerance zone for drunk drivers (Insurance Journal, 2013). Several severe penal provisions are introduced in the very recently proposed law related to drunk driving. New laws suggest that people who commit offense of drunk driving with a conditional license will be facing trial for felony. At present such crimes of drunken driving are treated as a traffic violation but now on drunk drivers will be treated in the same manner as if they are driving vehicle without a valid driving license.
Several other provisions are introduced in the existing Leandra’s law which was made on the name of an innocent teenager victim of drunken driving and currently governs crimes related to drunk driving. These provisions intend to enhance the security measures for the drunken driving and minimizing the risks of it. New York’s existing law related to drunk driving also suggests strict penal provisions for offenses related to drunken driving. New York Vehicle and Traffic Code Article 31 deal with the subject and consist of several penal provisions that discourage drunken driving (SafeNY, 2013).
A very unfortunate accident took place in July 2011 when a 17 year old girl, Alix rice was hit by a BMW car driven by Dr. James corasanti. James was alleged to be under influence of alcohol and was driving the car. He was charged with second degree murder but was acquitted later on for murder. Later on he was charged and convicted for driving while intoxicated of alcohol, a misdemeanor (Milligan, 2012). The case attracted huge public uproar and authorities were blamed for Doctor’s acquittal.
Drunken driving is a major issue that our society faces today. Some very serious steps are required to be taken in order to reduce unfortunate incidents of drunken driving. A lot has been already done by policy makers, law implementing authorities and several other sects of society but ultimately this is the responsibility of people to not to commit such offences. Though all efforts are not in vain and incidents of drunken driving are reducing but a lot more has to be done to make roads safer from drunken drivers.
Drunk driving is a social problem but it is also a problem of law and order. Incidents of drunken driving suggest that some addition steps are required to be taken in order to rein in the problem of drunken driving. Existing laws should be made more stringent and new penal provisions should also be taken. Since drunken driving is not only dangerous for drivers only but it also causes danger or travelers and other passengers, it should be tackled harshly.
Driving licenses should be automatically revoked of those who drive vehicles under influence of alcohol. Permanent revoking of driving license and seizure of vehicles are also a way of discouraging offences of drunken driving. Along with revoking Driving license, provisions of hefty monetary punishments and strict jail term should also be made in cases of drunk driving. Some technical equipment like alcohol sensors should be fitted in vehicles to prevent them from being start in case a drunken driver starts them.
The problem of drunken driving cannot be controlled merely by making laws or introducing penal provisions. Complete awareness among people is inevitable in order to rein in this issue. A broad campaign against drunken driving should be launched and supported by all famous people who influence the masses. Actors, politicians and other eminent personalities can play a significant role in reducing incidents of drunken driving. After having observed the above mentioned detailed analysis of the subject, it can be concluded that drunken driving is a threat to society and Thousands of human lives are lost due to it. Some stringent and additional steps should be taken in order to curtail it.
Works Cited
Insurance Journal. (2013, November 5). Retrieved November 6, 2013, from insurancejournal: http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/east/2013/11/05/310345.htm
Milligan, S. (2012, August 17). News Opinion. Retrieved November 6, 2013, from USNews: http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/susan-milligan/2012/08/17/new-york-needs-to-close-drunk-driving-loophole
SafeNY. (2013). Retrieved November 6, 2013, from safeny.ny: http://www.safeny.ny.gov/alco-ndx.htm
