by Christopher Scott

Created on: January 28, 2008   Last Updated: January 30, 2008

The established drinking penalties for most states are commonly known. Being pulled over with a .08% blood alcohol content (BAC) ("State of Drunk Driving" 16) or more will you get into trouble, but is it enough? Is spending a couple nights in jail, being given a license suspension (depending on state), and a large fine really enough to deter those from practicing drunk driving? Apparently for the state of Hawaii, it is not. The state of Hawaii is the largest contributor to the numbers of drunk driving accidents, with a whopping 52% of fatal car accidents resulting from drunk driving. In contrast is the state of Utah has only a 24% fatality rate from drunk drivers ("State of Drunk Driving" 16), which is still not a pleasing number. Society has never captured the importance of staying sober while on the road. Because of this negligence, the penalties for drunk driving should be increased, especially for people with a highly influential status.

After hanging out with a few friends at a local cafe, a Georgetown woman, and single mom, drove home to her suburb in Alexandria, VA. The woman, who had probably not drunk more than one glass of wine, was pulled over and evaluated in a sobriety test (Harsanyi, David 18). The test showed that the woman had a BAC level of .03 (not exceeding the .08 accepted level), yet she was still penalized for not being able to walk in a straight line, stand on one foot or recite the alphabet properly. For a normal size woman, one glass of wine would not normally have any effect, but for a 120 pound woman it makes a difference. According to state laws, the officer had the ability to judge whether the woman was capable of driving or not. The whole thing eventually ended in a 12-week alcohol counseling program, 4 court cases, and a $2,000 lawsuit over a ticket of $400 (Harsanyi, David 18). Dennis Fair, the arresting policeman, made the statement "If you get behind the wheel of a car with any measurable amount of alcohol, you will be dealt with in D.C. We have zero toleranceAnything above 0.01, we can arrest" (Harsanyi, David 18). The officer was clearly using his own discretion in handling the woman. Should this type of police aggression be practiced in every drunk driving or possible drunk driving situation? The real question is, is this type of aggression acted out in every drunk driving situation? The answer to this question is no.

Nicole Richie, a Hollywood superstar, spent all of 105 minutes in the Central Regional Detention Facility

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>