I’m interested in what the harsher dui laws have done to drunk driving rates. Are less people doing it and less people dying? Or are there just a lot more fines and arrests from people driving home from restaurants and bars?
I’ll clarify I refuse to drive with more than two beers in me, I really only have more than that at home, but I do feel like the somewhat arbitrary alcohol limits seem harsh And the fact you can be pulled over and forced into a BAC test for really any reason feels a little ‘Minority Report’.
Again I’m not condoning drunk driving, just interested in the shift in effected lives.
BAC limits are at least supposed to be based on averages recorded from “test subjects were impaired / affected at this level or higher”… It’s not a bad metric to use in itself, but the level applied and how it’s enforced are definitely able to be questioned harder.
The fact that cops use “they seemed influenced” as a catch all to threaten and excuse shitty behavior is the bigger problem by far. It’s squarely under the other traffic laws in my mind … While well intentioned, the vast majority of people will just behave the same regardless. Only 2 real things happen:
Abuse of said laws for monetary / power gains
Actual death/harm caused by major infractions holds a real chance at penalty or enforcement
Balancing between them is the bigger problem.
Ultimately, societal change on personal responsibility would be the better solution, but humans will always be “but I should be allowed to break the rule because I won’t hurt anyone!”… Or they are sociopathic and just don’t care if their fun hurts others.
I think BAC is probably the best real indicator we have, the issue that stands out to me about it is (unsure if state or national) the legal limit has been lowered twice in my memory, and it was due to groups like MAAD pushing, not scientific studies.
Note: MAAD was just an example I chose, I really know nothing about them. They could be complete abolishonists or concerned citizens, I have no opinion.
Conclusion: There was a marginally significant [p = 0.07] higher incidence rate of drunk-driving episodes among residents of states with no minimum jail sentence compared to those in states with a minimum jail sentence for the first time DUI.
Minimum sentences for first offense are correlated with lower rates of drunk driving. This doesn’t prove causation, of course, and continuing to ratchet up sentencing will obviously have diminishing returns, but it does seem to help a bit.
I’m interested in what the harsher dui laws have done to drunk driving rates. Are less people doing it and less people dying? Or are there just a lot more fines and arrests from people driving home from restaurants and bars?
I’ll clarify I refuse to drive with more than two beers in me, I really only have more than that at home, but I do feel like the somewhat arbitrary alcohol limits seem harsh And the fact you can be pulled over and forced into a BAC test for really any reason feels a little ‘Minority Report’.
Again I’m not condoning drunk driving, just interested in the shift in effected lives.
BAC limits are at least supposed to be based on averages recorded from “test subjects were impaired / affected at this level or higher”… It’s not a bad metric to use in itself, but the level applied and how it’s enforced are definitely able to be questioned harder.
The fact that cops use “they seemed influenced” as a catch all to threaten and excuse shitty behavior is the bigger problem by far. It’s squarely under the other traffic laws in my mind … While well intentioned, the vast majority of people will just behave the same regardless. Only 2 real things happen:
Balancing between them is the bigger problem.
Ultimately, societal change on personal responsibility would be the better solution, but humans will always be “but I should be allowed to break the rule because I won’t hurt anyone!”… Or they are sociopathic and just don’t care if their fun hurts others.
I think BAC is probably the best real indicator we have, the issue that stands out to me about it is (unsure if state or national) the legal limit has been lowered twice in my memory, and it was due to groups like MAAD pushing, not scientific studies.
Note: MAAD was just an example I chose, I really know nothing about them. They could be complete abolishonists or concerned citizens, I have no opinion.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36178871/
Minimum sentences for first offense are correlated with lower rates of drunk driving. This doesn’t prove causation, of course, and continuing to ratchet up sentencing will obviously have diminishing returns, but it does seem to help a bit.
That number is not insignificant though. I appreciate the recent study, thanks.