The news is full of stories about people being upset over the number of deaths attributed to guns or illegal drugs. It seems each day there is a new story about people in Louisiana who have died due to these things, and people get outraged. They demand tighter regulations and new laws to stop the accidents. However, there is something else that is regularly in the headlines and that causes many deaths, but there seems to not be the same outrage over it. What is it? It is drunk driving.
Have we become numb to these incidents? Are we becoming blind to the many deaths drunk driving causes that could have easily been prevented? Why is nobody calling for the overhaul of laws that relate to drunk driving?
According to The Fix, the outrage over drunk driving and alcohol abuse hit an all-time high in the 1980s. While drunk driving was something known to be a problem before that, the founding of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers really made people more aware of the issue. Laws were tightened, people took notice and things began to change. The number of drunk drivers on the road went down, but the problem didn’t go away.
Many people do not think of drunk driving as a serious issue. Society does not look at drunk drivers as criminals until it is too late and they have seriously injured or killed someone. Many times, if you are convicted of an offense, you face a minimal penalty in court and are on your way, even if you have previous charges. Having this laissez-faire attitude towards drunk driving means we are no longer outraged over it. We accept it, and allow the alcohol lobby to stop lawmakers from enacting new laws that would help prevent people from driving under the influence.
Until we as a society begin to be more serious about DUIs, they will keep happening. This information is only intended to educate and should not be interpreted as legal advice.