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Originally Posted by openeyes  The main kind of reform I see making a real difference in this area would be auto-piloting cars so that a person's level of intoxication would no longer be of great concern, or inspire people to largely get drunk within walking distance of where they'll be sleeping that night. Or ... create/legalize a party drug that doesn't affect driving ability so greatly.
Prohibition doesn't seem to work very well, we have to provide positive alternatives rather than solely negative reactions if we want a long term solution. Also, driver fatigue is just as dangerous as drunk driving, so if this is an important issue to you, you might also look into that.
The mention of providing more information is good though. I'd like to see people having access to Breathalyzers at bars so they can know how they rate before heading out on the road, even if it'd mostly help people avoid DUIs when they feel fairly sober but are technically drunk (.08 BAC can be a fairly low level of intoxication for a lot of people). One limitation is that most youth likely aren't getting drunk at bars.
The high drinking age and prices at bars/pubs may actually make responsible drinking more difficult for many young people (they're left to drinking at parties where they may not even know what they're ingesting, without having a chance to develop good drinking habits growing up first, making binges more likely). |
Auto-piloting cars is so far in the future that it isn't a practical solution for today's problems. I'm not convinced about making breathalyzers available at bars because I cannot see that as being sanitary. I once read about a program where people learning how to drive were taken to a hospital to see people involved in drunk driving accidents. Seeing one person who is a bloody mess because of alcohol is enough to create a permanent impression on the mind. I think it would be good if more programs tried this. With breathlyzers in cars for repeat offenders, I think it's a good idea, but I wonder how many people cause fatalities during the first episode where they are caught? In other words, they have driven drunk many times before but never got caught and so no one put the mandatory breathalyzer in their car.
I really don't know who are the main causes of drunk driving accidents, whether it is underage people or not. If it is, maybe the people who acquired the alcohol for that person should be charged with a crime. That way people are going to be very careful with giving alcohol to those they know are underage. In any case, all of this involves legislation and there should really be someone at the national level working on this problem.