Drunk drivers should be imprisoned

on the first offense

By Yerbol Bolat

Anthony McCormack

PHI-210

12/4/2011
 Drunk drivers should be imprisoned on the first offense.

How dangerous is drunk driving? The best way to answer this question is to analyze the

data from the car accident fatalities caused by drunk driving. Let’s first define what BAC (Blood

alcohol content) is. According to the Century Council, “BAC is usually expressed as

a percentage of alcohol in the blood. For instance, a BAC of 0.10 means that 0.10% (one tenth of

one percent) of a person's blood, by volume, is alcohol. In 2009, 10,839 people were killed in

motor vehicle crashes involving a driver with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or

higher – an average of one fatality every 50 minutes. Alcohol-impaired driving fatalities

decreased nearly ten percent from 11,711 in 2008. Of the 10,839 people who died in alcohol-

impaired-driving crashes in 2009, 7,281 (67%) were drivers with a BAC of .08 or higher. The

remaining fatalities consisted of 2,891 (27%) motor vehicle occupants and 667 (6%) non-

occupants. In 2009, a total of 1,314 children age 14 and younger were killed in motor vehicle

traffic crashes. Of those 1,314 fatalities, 181 (14%) occurred in alcohol-impaired driving crashes.

Out of those 181 deaths, 92 (51%) were occupants of a vehicle with a driver who had a BAC

level of .08 or higher, and another 27 children (15%) were pedestrian struck by drivers with a

BAC of .08 or higher. The rate of alcohol impairment among drivers involved in fatal crashes in

2009 was four times higher at night than during the day (37% versus 9%). In 2009, 16 percent of

all drivers involved in fatal crashes during the week were alcohol-impaired, compared to 31

percent on weekends. In fatal crashes in 2009 the highest percentage of drivers with a BAC level

of .08 or higher was for drivers ages 21 to 24 (35%), followed by ages 25 to 34 (32%) and 35 to

44” (p. 3).

 The car accident deaths caused by driving while intoxicated proved that how harmful to

the society, and accounts for almost 50% of the total deaths in car accident. Now, let’s consider

what the damages to the driver side are. First, a death- driver could cause a severe accident; as a

result, driver could die. Second, if the drunk driver involves in a minor accident such as hitting

the road curb, fire hydrant, side roads; the car can get damage. Depending on how expensive is

the car, the damage of such minor accident could cost anywhere from $1,000 to $100,000. Third,

if the driver gets arrested, although not causing any accident and driver’s BAC level is .08 or

higher, in most states, it is DWI (Driving while intoxicated) or DUI (Driving under influence).

With any of these charges, depending on first, second, third, and BAC level, penalty of jail time,

fine, loss of driver license, and driving class. To conclude from this, drunk driving is very

harmful, and should be considered very seriously.

According to the Century

Council, “Between 1991

and 2009, the rate of

drunk driving fatalities

per 100,000 population

has decreased 44%

nationally, and 58%

among those under 21.

These statistics and others are positive indicators of the gains being made to fight drunk driving,

and while The Century Council cannot claim to be the sole influence in these reductions, it is

likely we have played a significant role in reaching these historic low levels” (p.10). As we can
see on this table, that driving fatalities caused by drunk driving has been decreasing gradually

since 1991. There are a few reasons behind this. A major reason is that law changes on drinking

age limit, law enforcement, and the penalties on DWI offense.

In order to decrease accident fatalities caused by alcohol content from 32% to lower,

there should be changes on state laws, concerning the penalties for the first offense. To

paraphrase from www.alcoholalert.com, 64% of the drunk drivers that cause accident were with

no prior DWI, and the remaining had a prior DWI. 44% of drivers that had DWI before, their

BAC level was .15 or higher and caused accident fatal (NHTSA). This is a huge numbers of

drivers, which takes attention that there need to be higher penalty for the 1st offense DWI. In the

past, we have a theory that is working since 1991 to decrease alcohol-impaired driving. In order

to help the community, eliminate these deadly accidents, the law enforcement needs to be

reconstituted. The current penalty for the 1st offense for DWI, in most states; BAC level .08 to .

15 is arrest, fine, loss of license, and ASAP driving class; BAC level .15 to .20 is 5 days

mandatory jail time, fine, loss of license for an year; BAC level >.20 is 10 days mandatory jail

time, fine, loss of license for an year. Since it is impossible to teach human ethics, and drivers

will stop driving while intoxicated; only theory that is effective to stop is enforce the law with

the higher penalty for the 1st offense for DWI. Therefore, appropriate penalty for the 1st offense is

mandatory imprisonment for 7 days, fine, loss of license, and ASAP class. If this enforcement

becomes effective, then at least it will eliminate the 44% of drunk drivers with prior DWI that

cause fatal car accident due to alcohol in a blood.

Reference:

Andreuccetti, G., Carvalho, H., Cherpitel, C., Ye, Y., Ponce, J., Kahn, T., & Leyton, V.. (2011).

Reducing the legal blood alcohol concentration limit for driving in developing countries: a

time for change? Results and implications derived from a time-series analysis (2001-10)

conducted in Brazil. Addiction, 106(12), 2124-2131.  Retrieved December 4, 2011, from

ProQuest Criminal Justice. (Document ID: 2502622561).

Drunk Driving Statistic (2009). Alcohol Alert. Retrieved December 4, 2011, from

http://www.alcoholalert.com/drunk-driving-statistics.html

Molinari, Susan. (2009). 2009 State of Drunk Driving Fatalities in America. The Century

Council. (p.1-10). Retrieved December 4, 2011, from http://www.centurycouncil.org/

sites/default/files/materials/SODDFIA.pdf

Peter Schworm.  (2011, October 28). Since Melanie's Law, drunken driving down :Advocates

press for tougher legislation. Boston Globe,p. B.1.  Retrieved December 4, 2011, from

ProQuest National Newspapers Expanded. (Document ID: 2496462091).