7-2 Final Project Milestone Three
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Southern New Hampshire University *
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520
Subject
Law
Date
Jan 9, 2024
Type
docx
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4
Uploaded by BaronSandpiperMaster915
1
The needs of the people are few when it pertains to drinking and driving. Keep drunk drivers out
of vehicles and boats. Easy to say but not so easy to do. Start with lowering the average blood
alcohol limit (bac) from 0.08 to 0.05. Sobriety checks are a good deterrent.
Changing the laws
would take strong lobbying from organizations to the courts. Even to the strongest court in the
land. Another way to address the issue of drunk driving would be shaming people. In shaming
them it would need to be the action shamed versus the person. To many people with mental
health issues and that behavior towards them could be more harmful than helpful. This would
start in the courts but would end up in corrections. Inmates doing a specific action in a correction
setting such as writing the family, speaking to groups, etc
....
A possible drawback would be
accountability for this treatment working. With all branches of the criminal justice system
working together, making changes at each level will help keep drunk drivers off the road.
Currently targeting charges and punishments for drinking and driving. Boating, flying, and
driving are all Misdemeanor B. Punishable by up to 180 days in county jail and a fine up to $2k.
The writer believes this is too lenient. Misdemeanor A charges are currently punishable by up to
one year in a local or county jail and a fine up to $4k. (Penal code Chapter 49. Intoxication and
alcoholic beverage offenses, n.d.). Doing away with the MB charge during booking will
automatically put the arrestee in a higher class of offences. On paper it looks good, in person it
would be difficult to enforce without the court lowering the bac of 0.08. To start this, we would
go to the lobbyists. I have been booked in as a jailer what is commonly referred to as regulars,
repetitive offenders. They come to jail for drinking and driving once or twice every month or
two. So, while the courts are still fighting backlogs, we are booking in the same offenders who
drink and drive at misdemeanor B level and will incur more than a few due to the backlog of
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courts. Then each new charge is weighed and convicted or dismissed or bulked in with another
charge. This is the way of the courts who are also understaffed as our law enforcement and as our
corrections. While we all work to do our jobs. Multiple slaps on the wrists waiting on that
conviction. I would recommend, at a state level, a charge that would automatically keep
incurring marks for drinking and driving that have them in front of a district judge at whatever
level they are currently at.
Other recommendations include zero tolerance to drinking and driving. Targeting underage
drinking first. Setting up different locations to stop and administer field stops. Keeping the stops
monitored and well publicized. This way the public is aware if they drive drunk, they will have
to stop and talk to an officer or two. According to the CDC the first way to decrease incidents
involving drinking and driving is to lower the blood alcohol level from the current national
standard 0.08 to 0.05. Utah is the only state out of 50 to lower the acceptable bac limit. “This law
was associated with an 18% reduction in the crash death rate per mile driven in the first year
after it went into effect. The new law was also associated with lower alcohol involvement in
crashes.
”
(
What works: Strategies to reduce or prevent alcohol-impaired driving
, 2022.)
Another
interesting way to inform the public is public messages. In Harris County Texas there are several
small cities and the city of Houston. There are digital signs that are high enough for all to read
that will give you the exact amount of people who have died due to drinking and driving. You
will see these signs all over the Houston area. The local fire departments and TXDoT (Texas
Department of Transportation) will also place vehicles at fire departments that were involved in
drinking and driving incidents. All levels of law enforcement, including the courts and
corrections are receptive to finding what works if it reduces accidents and fatalities. Deterrence
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theorists want the punishment to be enough to keep others from offending and keep offenders
from re-offending. To do so the harsher the punishment is acceptable and even encouraged.
Potential impacts are not possible due to the crisis experienced mainly in law enforcement and
corrections. Arrests are made but there are no keepers. So, chargers are reduced then they pay a
fine and are gone. Changes from Misdemeanor B’s go to C’s which are a slap on wrist and a fine.
To start implementing our department policy we need to start at the courts. Getting people who
are in danger of killing or maiming innocent people is everyone goal in law enforcement. Utah
made it work; 49 states left to see it can be done. After the bac is lowered then raise the penalty
levels to the Misdemeanor A, harsher penalties that embarrass people will get things done.
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References
Penal code Chapter 49. Intoxication and alcoholic beverage offenses
.
(n.d.).
https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PE/htm/PE.49.htm#49.04
What works: Strategies to reduce or prevent alcohol-impaired driving
. (2022, December
28).
https://www.cdc.gov/transportationsafety/impaired_driving/strategies.html
Abramovaite, J., Bandyopadhyay, S., Bhattacharya, S., & Cowen, N. (2023). Classical deterrence
theory revisited: An empirical analysis of Police Force Areas in England and Wales. European
Journal of Criminology, 20(5), 1663-1680. https://doi.org/10.1177/14773708211072415