Comparing Accidents

There are five fatal, two-car wrecks. In each case, the survivor was at fault, and the dead are a family-- two parents and a kid. In the first accident, the driver was legally drunk. In the second, the driver was trying to get home for the weekend after staying up for the last two days. In the third, the driver was a teenage boy that was showing off. In the fourth, the driver was a standard "aggressive driver"-- mild speeding, frequent lane changes, failure to yield, doesn't know where the blinker is--- you know them, if you've driven on a crowded freeway lately. In the fifth, the driver was on prescription anxiety medications. In all of these cases, the driver that was at fault made a choice-- they altered their systems, or they acted stupid. So, why is only the first example the one that makes people want to write laws to prevent even the chance of it happening? Why is it only one of the three examples of impaired driving has laws specifically against it? Laws which, incidentally, don't accurately model who is impaired-- at my first command we had a pilot pop on a random breathalyzer (they were given after flights because it's too much of a pain to make sure it's done properly otherwise) at over double the legal limit. He'd been pickled since about a year after he left boot camp, and had a perfect flight record. Who doesn't know functional alcoholics? Maybe a more accurate question would be, who doesn't realize they know functional alcoholics.... I knew several when I was growing up, but until it was pointed out, I had no idea. Here's another thought experiment: Same accidents as above, but the person at fault was the driver of the family car. Even though they're all impaired, which of the victims of that accident would probably end up charged with murder and sent to jail? I'm all for throwing the book at those who drive when they are causing hazard-- be it alcohol, lack of sleep, illegal drugs, prescription drugs, old age, pissed off at someone, showing off, or too Fing stupid to follow basic traffic laws. If you're driving dangerously, the police should enforce the laws and make it so you are not doing so. Don't even get me started on the stupid garbage that happens to pump up "drunk driver" arrests and alcohol related accidents. Drunks sleeping it off in the back of their car are not drunk drivers. China Lake NAS had multiple cops brag about these arrests in the yearly "don't drink and drive" briefings. Hitting the diesel leaking out of a beer truck on an icy road and flipping is not an alcohol related accident. (actually happened to a friend) Three drunks in a car with no keys, at a gas station, while their designated driver is inside paying for the gas, is not drunk driving. Stepping on a beer bottle and getting an infection is not an alcohol related accident-- this one was actually overturned by the CO, who didn't make any friends with the base police. This site seems to have some pretty good info on problems with breathalyzers. Here is another, from a Lawyer POV. Now, the most common response I get to this argument is "but drinking is bad for you! Alcoholism is bad!" True. So? These are driving laws. Not your doctor, not your mother, not your master. Road safety is the point. I'd lay five bucks that removing all males ages 15-30 would result in lower car accidents than an entirely "dry" area-- doesn't mean that we should ban guys from driving. Reminds me of another "safety" issue.... where states are raising the driving age to 18, on the logic that the younger, inexperienced drivers are more dangerous. All I can think about is that old joke, where the hillbillies moved 30 miles away because they read that 90% of car accidents occur within 20 miles of home..... Finally: The most common accusation I get on the internet is that I'm a guilty drunk driver. Head here. Neat little calculator. I like table wine-- undercutting my weight a bit, it says I'd need a bit over four 4oz glasses of wine an hour to get almost legally drunk. I'd pu--- I'd be physically ill. I know this, because on the few times I've gotten distracted with a conversation and drank faster than I realized, I get ill around 8-10 oz in a bit over an hour. I can't imagine drinking more than two beers an hour-- let alone four. It takes me two hours to drink a high ball in the few bars I've been to-- it's just too much alcohol. I'm a light weight, pure and simple. Although I am guilty of driving when I was so tired I only kept going by giving myself mild caffeine poisoning... had a lovely black wolf-cat thing loping along beside my car for a good hundred miles. That was dangerous, it wasn't very bright, and thank goodness I had the sense to time it for a time when I'd pass a total of two cars in a three hundred mile trip.