The lack of significant reductions in drunk driving deaths over the last several years has officials confounded and looking for solutions. Alcohol related crashes showed a steady decline for most of the last two decades, starting in 1981. This is attributed to increased awareness from publicity, greater enforcement efforts and penalties, and lower blood alcohol concentration (BAC) thresholds across the country. Much of the credit for this progress can be given to Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD).
But now that progress has stalled. Indeed, a Department of Transportation (DOT) memo states "2003 was the sixth consecutive year with no discernable progress in reducing alcohol related crashes and fatalities." Government drinking and driving statistics show that there were about 600 more deaths in 2003 than 1999, when a record-low 16,572 were killed in drunk driving crashes.
Officials and advocacy groups are in disagreement about what to do about it. MADD believes that the solution lies in increasing funding for publicity and more frequent sobriety checkpoints. However, the American Beverage Institute (ABI) disagrees, citing a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) study suggesting that the reason the problem continues is due largely to those with alcohol-use disorders; so-called "chronic" offenders. The ABI argues that roving patrols are more effective.
According to the ABI, expensive PR campaigns, lower BAC arrest thresholds and sweeping roadblocks are no longer needed. They point out that since sobriety checkpoints are publicized in the media, drunks learn the locations and just drive around them.
If roving patrols are effective, perhaps it would be even more effective if the police just went directly to the source. They could wait outside bars and catch intoxicated drivers before they left the parking lot. Better still, they could stand right outside the bar and give breathalyzer tests to the patrons as they leave. Hmm…maybe someone could install a coin-operated breath alcohol tester right in the bar and let the patrons test themselves…
