In 2000, drivers with blood alcohol contents of .10 and above were involved in approximately 2 million car accidents that killed more than 12,000 people and injured more than 400,000 others in the United States, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The cautionary statistics serve as a grim reminder of the danger inherent in traveling our roads and highways.
This message is especially pertinent in light of two tragic automobile accidents befalling LSU students this summer – in one of which alcohol may have played a part.
Brian, Kellie and Nicole Murphy, all LSU students, were visiting South Africa this summer for the FIFA World Cup. On June 16, the three siblings were struck by a suspected drunk driver. Kellie sustained a concussion, Brian was critically injured and Nicole was killed. Nicole Murphy was a third-year medical student at the LSU Health and Science Center in New Orleans.
The Murphy family has incurred extensive medical fees as a result of the accident, and a Murphy Family Support Fund is now accepting donations through Home Bank.
The social fabric of the LSU community would be strengthened, and the Murphy family helped, by a robust outpouring of donations to the Murphy Family Support Fund.
The nebulous problem of impaired driving in the United States remains. Non-profit organizations, such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving, seek to eradicate drunk driving via educational programs and lobbying for stricter laws to crack down on offenders.
MADD cites statistics from the the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to dissuade motorists from driving while under the influence of alcohol or other drugs. The organization aims to promote awareness of the deadly consequences of impaired driving. MADD’s aim is ”to stop drunk driving, support the victims of this violent crime and prevent underage drinking,” according to the organization’s mission statement.
MADD’s crusade targets alcohol-intoxicated drivers in particular, since alcohol-related crashes are deadlier and more serious than other crashes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
A driver with a .08 BAC is 11 times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash than a driver who has consumed no alcohol.
In 2007, MADD helped to enact anti-drunk driving legislation in our state. Louisiana DWI law now requires convicted drunk drivers to install an ignition interlock device in their vehicles. The alcohol ignition interlock is a type of breathalyzer wired into the car’s ignition, and registers a driver’s blood alcohol content.
Drivers blowing a .02 BAC or higher will be unable to start their cars – the ignition will be locked for a half hour, at which point the driver may submit a new breathalyzer sample.
The alcohol ignition interlock also runs retests while the car is in motion, to prevent a drunk driver from conscripting a sober friend to start the car for him and subsequently driving away drunk.
More orthodox penalties for driving while intoxicated include suspension of driver’s license, vehicle impoundment and the offender being placed on house arrest.
The punishments may seem harsh to first-time violators, but as preventative measures these restrictions have all proven effective in stymieing the number of alcohol-related traffic accidents.
Prevention of intoxicated driving saves lives — and boosts the efficacy of our government’s fiscal policy.
The NHTSA estimates the United States’ automatic driver’s license revocation policy reduces alcohol-related fatalities by 6.5 percent and saves $54,000 per driver cited with the offense. Zero tolerance laws for minors, the .08 BAC limit for adults and intensive sobriety checkpoints on roadways all help to mitigate the societal damage exacted by drunk driving.
Our community must continue to exercise precaution while driving and continue to support these safety ordinances in order that we might curtail impaired driving, diminish preventable accidents and curb the injury and loss of human life.
—-Contact Trevor Fanning at [email protected].