DUI: A Terrible Problem

by Errington C. Thompson, MD –

It is time for us to get serious about driving under the influence.

We continue to treat this problem as if it were a college prank. It ain’t. We are talking about life and death.

I believe that cars are a necessary part of American life, of being an American; there are only a few places in this country in which you can get around without one. But whatever state you live in, wherever you need a car, you need to adhere to the local rules that govern who can drive a car. Because even though automobiles are a virtual necessity, driving them is still a privilege, not a right.

Here’s an anecdote: A 20-something with two small children in his pickup truck is driving too fast on his way to Walmart. His reflexes are impaired from his daily usage of methamphetamines. He doesn’t see the red light, or he believes that he can just run it. Halfway through the intersection he slams into the driver’s-side door of a Mini Cooper. The 53-year-old mother of two in the front passenger’s seat, wearing her seat belt, is killed instantly.

In this particular case, the killer had been arrested 18 months earlier for driving under the influence when he hit several park cars. Fortunately, no one was injured in that crash, so he got a pass. How many times does he have kill or injure someone before we understand that cars can be used as deadly weapons when the wrong person is behind the wheel?

His actions are not rare or isolated. In 2013, more than 32,000 people died on American roads. That’s 87 people a day, every day of the year. It’s the entire congregation of a typical medium-size church, every single week. It’s every living soul in Biltmore Forest, Black Mountain, Leicester, Weaverville, and Woodfin – combined. That’s a lot of people.

The good news is that we drive safer cars, and more and more of us are surviving motor vehicle crashes. But what causes the crashes? Alcohol is estimated to be involved in somewhere between 50% and 90% of them. And that doesn’t include other mind-altering substances like methamphetamines, oxycodone, Valium, anti-depressants, or any of a number of other drugs that dull the senses and slow the reflexes.

Note that I call these incidents “motor vehicle crashes.” Trauma surgeons, like me, have been trying for some time now to get the American public NOT to say “motor vehicle accident.” An accident is something that really can’t be prevented, like a running toddler who spills the drink in his/her hand. That is an accident: it really isn’t preventable. As long as toddlers have drinks in their hands, they will spill.

Driving a car is different. The basic operation of a motor vehicle requires – it demands – some thought. Sometimes, we are driving too fast for the conditions. Sometimes we’re enjoying the scenery or daydreaming. Sometimes we aren’t paying attention: we have something “important” on our minds. Sometimes we’re listening to a favorite song, talking on the phone, texting.

But before you back up, you always check your mirrors and look behind you before you backup. Right? You always buckle your seatbelt, and use your turn signals. And keep enough distance between you and the car in front of you. And pay attention to other cars around you. Right?

I think that automated cars will be great help. They will be doing all of the basic “thinking” for us, and many of the crashes that we see today will be eliminated. “Self-driving” cars will be great for anyone who has problems with slowing reflexes and diminishing eye-sight, or sensitivity to glare, or hearing problems. Unfortunately, none of us can go buy a Google car tomorrow.

Until then, we have to deal with the reality of driving a car responsibly – unlike Ethan Couch, the boy whose lawyers claimed he suffered from “Affluenza” (being brought up with too much stuff, too little responsibility, and no sense of the consequences of his actions).

Couch was 16 years old when he caused a motor vehicle crash that killed four people and injured two others. His alcohol level was a sobering 0.24, three times the legal limit. The judge bought the attorney’s defense and decided that for this affluent, irresponsible teenager, the homicide of four innocent people was some type of minor offense. So Ethan got no jail time, just ten years’ probation.

Can someone do the right thing and throw this guy in jail?

I suspect that if I drove my car across the judge’s lawn, he would give me more than just probation. Now, I am aware that there are tons of injustices in our society, and that there are some situations in which we really can’t figure out how to establish true justice. But what to do in this case is NOT one of those situations.

To me, life is gift and should be valued, and protected, and, when necessary, avenged. If you believe in justice, then you have to agree that anyone who deliberately takes mind-altering substances, then goes out and drives a car and hurts, maims, or kills someone, deserves to be thrown into jail for a good long time.

If we lean toward “being nice” and allowing these folks to go scot-free, then aren’t we saying that the lives that were stolen had no value?

I, for one, cannot accept that.