DUI; is there a cure?

Good Morning, readers.

I saw a commercial this morning for a law firm that handles DUI cases. It was full of anger toward the drunk drivers and compassion toward the victims. Sounding the bell for a noble cause.
And I started thinking.

Are we really trying to stop drunk drivers or are we merely trying to punish someone for our loss?

We keep lowering the level of blood alcohol used to charge people for DUI but does that work?

Are we treating the people who are the greatest threat or is it just easier to expand the net?

Two news stories illustrate my point.
According to MSNBC: an Akron, Ohio school teacher was arrested for her 4th DUI in 6 years. She was stopped for driving erratically.

The nypost.com reports: a Long Island man rents a car to avoid using the court-ordered breathalyzer that was installed in his own vehicle and proceeds to crash into a pole.

Get the idea?

It would appear to me that the greatest problem with the DUI laws is that they don't fully address the chronic abuser. It's easier and cheaper to lower the blood alcohol level than it is to send people with an alcohol problem to rehab. We send these people to classes about the dangers of drunk driving but we don't make them seek help for their problem. We don't address the root causes for their continued abuse of alcohol and their problems with authority.

Now, we can continue to lower the levels to where anyone who has a single drink and drives can be arrested; or we can reevaluate the issue, remove the emotion, and work toward developing real solutions for a very serious issue.

I think we need to stop seeking revenge and start looking for an answer.

Before more people suffer.


Photo courtesy:
www.fotosearch.com/lifeart/emergency-1/LIF128/