Lauren Schultze
Final Policy Paper
Issues in Public Health
12/11/18
Policies are made for many reasons, but one of the most important reason is keeping people safe. DUI laws help control the number of drunk drivers on the road, and limit the number of crashes. The Pennsylvania Act 24 is an important policy to lower the number of DUI crashes, and DUI related deaths in the state of Pennsylvania. Hopefully this policy encourages and inspires other states to lower the BAC percentage, and create harsher punishment to discourage drunk driving behavior. Drunk driving accidents is a major public health problem, that has been addressed by a number of policies enacted in every state. Even though these policies have been made, unfortunately people have not been following them and that is why we see so many DUI related deaths.
Drunk driving accidents, leading to fatalities is a public health problem that affects families, friends, health care professionals, and public safety officers. This issue affects people of all ages, sex, ethnicities, and socioeconomic statuses. According to the CDC, everyday 29 people in the US die due to motor vehicle crashes that involve a alcohol-impaired driver. This statistic means that it is one death every 50 minutes(CDC, 2017). In 2016, in the US there have been 10,497 deaths relating to alcohol-impaired driving. This accounts for 28% of all traffic-related deaths in the US (CDC, 2017). Another startling statistic is that of the 1,233 children deaths due to traffic-related crashes, 17% of these involved alcohol impaired deaths. It is so unfortunate and sad that so many young people are losing their lives to do other people’s irresponsible actions (CDC, 2017). The people that are most at risk being a drunk driver are typically younger drivers. The largest age group of drunk drivers are 21-24 years old Traffic Safety, 2016). This is mostly due to being irresponsible, young, and having the feeling of being invincible (Traffic Safety, 2016). To emphasize the magnitude of this problem the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that in the US, drunk driving is the most common type of arrest made by police (Traffic Safety, 2016). Drunk driving deaths don’t only affect the individual who was killed. It affects their friends and families. Vehicles are destroyed along with roadways, telephone poles and other structures on the roadway. Police officers, fire, and EMS personnel are all affected by this due to PTSD, and also while responding and working on these accidents, other incidents are being put on hold, or not responded to as quick as possible (Center for Problem Oriented Policing, 2006). Some of the factors that contribute to why people choose to drunk drive include cultural and economic factors(Center for Problem Oriented Policing, 2006). When talking economically, it can be cheaper for some people to get behind the wheel, while being drunk instead of calling an uber or a taxi. Unfortunately what this person doesn’t know is that the cost of drunk driving is much more pricey, than the cost of an Uber or taxi.
A policy that has been put into place across the United States, is the developing of DUI laws or driving under the influence laws. The basis of this law, forbids individuals from driving behind the wheel with a blood alcohol concentration larger than a certain percentage. Whatever percentage that is allowed, depends on the state. Along with the percentage, another factor that is considered in certain states is the age of the person. If a police officer sees a car on the road that is driving abnormally, not in a safe manner, or if a person is pulled over and are acting or seem that they have been drinking and officer can breathalyze them. Also, if there has been an accident and the person cannot consent to a breathalyzer their blood is drawn in the hospital and this can reveal their BAC. If it is found that this person is over the legal limit they are charged and the penalties they face are more severe after the more offenses they have. One of the most strict states with DUI laws and penalties is Pennsylvania. In 2003, Pennsylvania made their DUI more strict by enacting Act 24 (DMV, 2018). This policy made it easier for law enforcement to charge drunk drivers by dropping the legal limit for drivers down from .10% to 0.08%, and introducing treatment plan into the penalty package(DMV, 2018). In PA there are different rankings of BAC, these are General Impairment, High BAC, and Highest (DMV, 2018). This is important because the higher your blood alcohol concentration, the worse the penalty would be. This policy is in place to prevent drunk drivers from getting on the road, and having these penalties set up to make sure the same mistakes won’t happen again, or at all. Along with Act 24, Pennsylvania has a zero tolerance law, meaning if someone is convicted of DUI under the age of 21 they punishment they face is severe. They have their license suspended for a year, jail time at a maximum could be 6 months, and the fine can go up to $5,000 (DMV, 2018). Pennsylvania takes DUI crimes very seriously, so to combat minors from drinking and driving, they also had to implement harsh punishment for underage drinking. If you are in the state of PA, and are caught drinking underage you receive a $500 fine, court costs, and your license can get suspended (DMV, 2018).
There are many counter arguments from law officials and important people in the judicial system that do not agree to lowering the BAC level from 1.0 to 0.8. Their reasons are as follows. Lowering the BAC level criminalizes social drinking. Someone that is drinking at a social event could have a couple drinks and be a “criminal” for driving home (US Department of Transportation, pg. 2) Another counter argument is that lowering the BAC would hurt the state’s economy. People would be less inclined to go out and drink in fear of being charged with a DUI, so restaurants, taverns and other alcohol serving places would lose business(US Department of Transportation, pg 8). Overwhelming the justice system is another issue that some people have with this policy. There will be an overwhelming amount of arrests, and this would put pressure on the judicial system and the limited resources in the police departments and create more cases in the courtrooms (US Department of Transportation, pg 15). There is also another issue that they bring up that because of this, it makes it a single step closer toward zero tolerance which would be not allowing anyone to be on the roads with any alcohol in their system, which for some would be a struggle. This leads into the next point because it is very common for blue collared workers to grab drinks together after a long day at work, and then they would drive home. This lowered BAC wouldn’t allow them to have time to themselves after a long day at work because they cannot drive back(US Department of Transportation, pg 30). While these counter arguments make sense in some ways, the biggest concern people need to take into account is safety and if it is a problem for people to watch what they are drinking and not drive, they should consider others around them.
Since Pennsylvania enacted Act 24, alcohol-related crashes have decreased from 10,558 to 10,256, and fatalities involved have also decreased from 345- 297 (Pennsylvania Crash Facts and Statistics, 2016). This is progress, which is great to see, but the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation who collected this information says that they are struggling managing the number of drunk drivers under the age of 21. I believe that a large issue as to why people in Pennsylvania and even people all across the united states sometimes ignore the legal limit and get behind the wheel anyway, is because morally it is very difficult to change someone’s mind. You can have the laws set in place, but it is difficult to tell someone to simply just be a good person. It is unfortunate that the people that make the decision to drunk drive are more worried about themselves then the other people on the road, and very often cause harm. The policies that are in place to reduce the risk of drunk driving incidents have helped reduce the number of accidents but these shouldn’t be happening at all. No one should be getting on the road after having a couple drinks, but people still do it. In order to deter people from getting on the roads after drinking along with there being a limit on your BAC, there should be mandatory training sessions in schools for people in communities to come to, and raise awareness about this problem we have at hand.