Safe Driving
Almost 17,000 people were killed in traffic crashes involving alcohol in 2004 in the U.S.
That's more than half the students at CMU.
Michigan has begun media campaigns to crack down on drunken driving and has stepped up enforcement of drunken driving laws in recent years.
Now another piece of legislature could help protect drivers from those stupid enough to get loaded and think they can make it home.
The Michigan House of Representatives recently approved a measure to install breathalyzer ignition interlock devices in the cars of first-time drunk driving offenders. The devices don't allow a driver to turn on the car's ignition until they pass a dash-mounted breathalyzer test.
Essentially, the breathalyzers would prevent first-time offenders from becoming multiple offenders. The law as it stands requires interlock devices in the cars of multiple offenders, but not in those of people who have been convicted of drunk driving only once.
But the bill is a great idea, and the Michigan Senate should approve it soon. Currently the bill is being reviewed in the Senate's judiciary subcommittee.
This law can only benefit Michigan. Drunk driving often has greater consequences for drivers who were not drinking - when drunk drivers crash, they usually crash into other cars.
When someone makes the decision to drink and drive, they put the lives of everyone else on the road at stake.
Michigan would do well to enforce even stricter policies against anyone who is willing to put others at risk on the road, and this bill is a big step in the right direction.
While some might argue that first-time offenders' rights are at stake with the installment of the breathalyzer - it's not as if they go around driving drunk all the time, after all - the statistics indicate that drunk driving is too big a problem to be handled delicately.
The risks are just too great. Anyone who drinks and drives can handle breathing into a tube before driving for a year, if it will mean fewer innocent people have to die.
