driving under the infulence

Running Head: DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE LAWS 1

DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE LAWS 2

Khory Smith

Strayer University

ENG 215

Professor William Verrone

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The choosing of the topic on ‘Laws on Driving under the Influence’ was determined by existing horrifying statistics that show the fatalities caused by drunk driving and the need to change existing laws into stricter laws. A convenient thesis statement for this article is ‘The Impact of Current Driving under the Influence Laws and what effect changing these laws would have on the society’. The audience for this article is made up of majorly students who have limited or no decision-making powers and who have an interest in the chosen topic as they are both victims and offenders of Driving under the Influence incidences. This article looks into the statistics available for Driving under the Influence incidences, the effect of existing laws and possible outcomes if laws are changed and challenges encountered in changing the existing laws.

‘Driving under the Influence’ is defined as the operation of a motor vehicle after alcohol consumption. The existing statistics on incidences of Driving under the Influence show a grave problem that needs to be addressed. In California, 1233 deaths in the year 2000 were related to cases of driving under the influence. In 2015, it is reported that 1,171,093 arrests per month were related to driving under the influence and 29.25% of traffic-related deaths were related to driving the influence. In 2013, an estimated 32 deaths per month were related to driving under the influence cases.

Changing the existing laws on driving under the influence is a topic that has brought about a major and unending debate across the nation.Existence of laws discouraging drinking and behaviour associated with drunk driving might have little effect on the perpetrators; however enforcement may push culprits to reconsider their actions (Bertelli& Anderson, 2008). There are arguments that changing the law shall not be effective while other argue that changing the laws shall be a major boost at reducing fatalities. Due to this debate, different states have different laws on the same. However, despite all arguments, it is evident that the leniency of some existing laws is a major contributor to increasing cases of fatalities related to driving under the influence (Martens, 2016). The incorporation of laws such as the introduction of Ignition Interlock Devices shall result to a decline in fatal cases, driving under the influence cases and a decline in consumption of alcohol.

Though efforts have been made towards enacting stricter laws, the same has been coupled by challenges such as America’s love for alcohol consumption, inadequate public means of transport, backlash against prohibition and the nation’s love for driving (Lerner,2011).

References

Bertelli, A. M., & Richardson, L. E. (2008).The behavioral impact of drinking and driving laws.Policy Studies Journal, 36(4), 545-569.

Martens, C. (2016). California DUI Laws: Do they Work?

Lerner, B. H. (2011). One for the road: Drunk driving since 1900. JHU Press.