Most of the individual has got the message that you should not drink while driving. Every year, there are more than 16,000 alcohols related driving sufferers in the US alone. Moreover, this number does not include the hundreds of thousands who are hurt, injured or maimed in alcohol related driving accidents.
The good news is that these numbers have been decreasing steadily over the past 25 years. The bad news of course is that over 16,000 deaths each year is still far too many. The simple fact remains that drinking and driving continues to destroy many people’s lives every year.
The problem does not seem to be that people haven’t gotten the message but that people just don’t listen to it. No matter how many statistics, photos, proof or anything else; many people still have the idea that drinking and driving won’t affect them.
Drinking and Driving
They may think that, “Oh, I haven’t had that much I am still OK to drive,” or even worse “Other people, can’t drive well after a few beers but I can.” The fact is that drinking and driving affects all drivers. Just because you have done it in the past and not gotten caught does not mean that it will not happen in the future.
One group that is particularity prone to drinking and driving are, not surpassingly, alcoholics or those that are problem drinkers. Estimates vary on the percentage of the population who are alcoholics or abuse alcohol depending on the criteria used to determine who is or is not one. However, most estimates say that between 3-6% of the American population are prone to be problem drinkers or are full blown alcoholics.
Nevertheless, this group makes up the vast majority of the car crashes every year that are related to alcohol. This group is especially prone to the idea that because of their familiarity with alcohol they are better able to operate a motor vehicle than their less experienced counterparts. So what should be done about the problem?
Well the first thing is that if you or someone you know is an alcoholic or problem drinker make sure they do not have access to an car, especially while drinking. Ideally, people with drinking problems should get some form of alcohol counseling, but not everyone is going to do this. So, the issue is harm reduction. We want to make sure that the people most prone to drinking and driving don’t have access to automobiles after drinking.
This should be done by any means necessary, because the consequences of not doing it are so sever. To put it more bluntly if you don’t stop yourself or someone you love from drinking and driving they will eventually get caught. Hopefully, it will be before they hurt somebody but most likely it won’t be. In either case failure to stop drinking and driving now will mean that you will have to hire an experienced DUI attorney to get them or you out of jail.
In the longer term the ideal situation is for those with drinking problems is to get the help and treatment they desperately need. For more information on helping yourself or someone you love most with their drinking problem please contact a local AA office in your region. Keep in mind that the life you save will not only be your own but that of the person not hurt or killed by a drunk driver.