Driving Under The Influence – Gambling With More Than Lives
Who needs to go to Vegas to gamble? Even people who would say they are not gamblers roll the dice every time they get into a car. Approximately 33% of Americans will be involved in a traffic accident associated with alcohol at some point in their lives and 39% of auto deaths are related to alcohol. Driving under the influence is akin to playing a very high stakes game. Not only with the highest stakes of all, human lives, but the loss of freedom through increasingly invasive laws designed to deter or prevent drunk driving. In Vegas, the house always wins. When a drunk driver causes an accident, nobody wins.
In September of 1897, London taxi driver George Smith was the first person to be convicted of drunk driving. His fine was 20 shillings. Guess he lost that bet. The first drunk driving laws in the United States were adopted in 1910. Those early laws only required proof of intoxication and not specifically what state of intoxication. Initially, observations of erratic or impaired driving, such as weaving in and out of traffic were used to establish guilt. Later came field sobriety tests; such as walking a straight line or standing for 30 seconds on one foot. Demonstration of guilt utilizing these tests was based solely on the police officer’s opinion as to possible impairment. They were subjective at best and wholly inaccurate at worst. A poor
bet indeed.
In 1936 Norway, the first laws based on a specific amount of alcohol in the blood were introduced. With the invention of the BAC (blood alcohol content) test, objective, but some would say not so reliable, chemical tests have been added to supplement those based on judgment alone. The stakes have grown. Guilt is assessed based on a percentage of alcohol in the blood by weight.
Next came sobriety checkpoints where drivers are stopped seemingly without probable cause to effect field sobriety tests or alcohol breath tests. This activity would appear to violate the 4th amendment to the constitution but was deemed constitutional by the Supreme Court in 1990.
Criminally negligent homicide, murder and manslaughter are some serious charges drivers can receive. For convicted drunk drivers, the minimum punishment is license suspension, in some areas short jail sentences for first offenses and/or mandatory treatment programs. The stakes have grown higher.
So think twice, or even three times before you get behind the wheel because you are not only gambling with our lives but with our continued freedoms as well. No one holds all the aces in this game.
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