According to the most recent statistics for 2008, 11,773 people were killed across the country in alcohol related car crashes. This represents a 9.7 percent decrease from 2007 in alcohol impaired driving fatalities. A DUI lawyer Tampa, Florida credits this drop in alcohol related fatalities to a number of things: the failing economy in which people do not have as much discretionary spending money for things such as alcohol; tougher repeat offender laws in many states and many states most recent implementation of a new program in which younger adults convicted of DUIs are sent to their county morgue or are forced to spend a night in prison as a way of ‘shocking’ them into stopping their dangerous drunken driving behavior. There is currently no official data on if this ‘shock therapy’ is working or not.
A Tampa criminal defense lawyer, who also represents DUI clients, remarks that many cities and states allow DUIs to pile up before the person is slapped with any jail time or unless they have killed someone while drinking and driving. In Wisconsin for example, in order to enact tougher penalties on drunk drivers, for people convicted of seven or more DUIs, which will be placed in prison for an amount of time to be determined by the judge. This prompted Mothers Against Drunk Drivers to say that Wisconsin is a state in deep denial because the first DUI offense is nothing more than a civil penalty.
Mothers Against Drunk Drivers or MADD are strong proponents of the ignition interlock systems in which the driver must basically take a Breathalyzer test before the ignition of the vehicle will start up. It matters not whether the person been drinking beer or wine, it matters the amount of what they have been drinking and if the ignition interlock system detects anything near the .08, or if it’s set at .04 or anywhere in between, then the vehicle will not start and a driver must call a cab or another way home.
There is no one single thing that will deter people from drinking and driving, however a tougher law is a step in the right direction.