State Rep. Kim Koppelman, R-West Fargo, column: Change law and culture to reduce drunk driving
September 28, 2012 at 7:05 pm in Grand Forks Herald
Changes in the law may be necessary but that changes in societal attitudes are essential if we hope to lessen the likelihood of such tragedies in the future. Continue Reading
“Why is it that drinking and driving are all-too-often acceptable?”
Because it’s exceedingly rare to have an actual problem. The problems that do happen are entirely tragic, and also entirely uncommon in relation to the millions and millions of vehicles and the mileage each of them travel.
“Why is getting stopped for DUI considered, by too many, a mild offense and dismissed with a wink and a nod or relief at not being the one who was “caught”… ”
Because, due to Government’s unethical program of pretending that a 0.08 Blood Alcohol Level (BAL) is “drunk”; FAR TOO MANY people who are NOT ACTUALLY DRUNK are arrested and convicted.
“…— yet traffic deaths caused by a drunk driver are an outrage?”
Traffic deaths of any cause are tragic. ANY accidental death is tragic. ANY murder or whatever is tragic. The FACTS are being hidden behind the propaganda line “ALCOHOL-RELATED accident/death/collision”, when the collision rate for folks with less than a BAL of ~ 0.14 is hardly above the general population, and the collision rate for folks with a BAL of greater than ~0.16 is enormous. The dividing line between alcohol-impaired and not alcohol impaired is–in general–very close to a BAL of 0.15. Not 0.08.
Set the law to reflect human biology, not political expedience and social engineering. When the law is more respectable, more people will respect the law. A return to the previous BAL standard of 0.10 would be entirely reasonable as it still provides a CONSIDERABLE “safety margin” for the true impairment point, while reducing the unneeded, unproductive, and excessive arrests and costs associated with the current standard. Re-setting the standard back to 0.10 would return reasonableness to the law, which it DOES NOT currently have.
That was easy. Any other questions you need help with?
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First time ever, I’m partially agreeing with Shurkey. A level of .08 is much more safe than, say, .12. I think tests would prove an enormous difference in agility and ability. I’d like to go a different direction here. The point here is that most of our population finds alcohol consumption acceptable. Unless and until drinkers feel as outcast as smokers, this will be an impossible battle. The article stated, “Blame is easy to assess. But before we point the finger of blame, we must ach look at ourselves as North Dakotans and consider our own ttitudes and our response.”
What a world we could have if we attacked every problem from the inside out.
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