Why Lindsay Lohan is News
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These are statistics from 2005. While I cannot agree more that Lindsay Lohan and her cohorts are receiving more media attention than any teen star should, their stories point to a more serious situation in our Country that would be greatly ignored if these annoying little stars weren't screwing up by the numbers. DUI is a growing problem and deserves attention. We need higher consequences for offenders of this tragedy. The old slap on the wrist is not deterring anyone and we put offenders back on the road to repeat this until someone dies. Once someone is dead then we want to have a public outcry. The time for an outcry starts now and a message needs to be sent by our legal system that we will not stand for this behavior anymore. We need to stop making these young stars famous through their irresponsible actions and if they want to be examples then let's make examples out of them. The below statistics are grim and I am sure they are only increasing.
Impaired Driving
Overview
Alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes kill someone every 31 minutes and nonfatally injure someone every two minutes (NHTSA 2006).
Occurrence and Consequences
During 2005, 16,885 people in the U.S. died in alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes, representing 39% of all traffic-related deaths (NHTSA 2006).
In 2005, nearly 1.4 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics (Department of Justice 2005). That's less than one percent of the 159 million self-reported episodes of alcoholâ?"impaired driving among U.S. adults each year (Quinlan et al. 2005).
Drugs other than alcohol (e.g., marijuana and cocaine) are involved in about 18% of motor vehicle driver deaths. These other drugs are generally used in combination with alcohol (Jones et al. 2003).
More than half of the 414 child passengers ages 14 and younger who died in alcohol-related crashes during 2005 were riding with the drinking driver (NHTSA 2006).
In 2005, 48 children age 14 years and younger who were killed as pedestrians or pedalcyclists were struck by impaired drivers (NHTSA 2006).
Cost
Each year, alcohol-related crashes in the United States cost about $51 billion (Blincoe et al. 2002).
Impaired Driving
Overview
Alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes kill someone every 31 minutes and nonfatally injure someone every two minutes (NHTSA 2006).
Occurrence and Consequences
During 2005, 16,885 people in the U.S. died in alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes, representing 39% of all traffic-related deaths (NHTSA 2006).
In 2005, nearly 1.4 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics (Department of Justice 2005). That's less than one percent of the 159 million self-reported episodes of alcoholâ?"impaired driving among U.S. adults each year (Quinlan et al. 2005).
Drugs other than alcohol (e.g., marijuana and cocaine) are involved in about 18% of motor vehicle driver deaths. These other drugs are generally used in combination with alcohol (Jones et al. 2003).
More than half of the 414 child passengers ages 14 and younger who died in alcohol-related crashes during 2005 were riding with the drinking driver (NHTSA 2006).
In 2005, 48 children age 14 years and younger who were killed as pedestrians or pedalcyclists were struck by impaired drivers (NHTSA 2006).
Cost
Each year, alcohol-related crashes in the United States cost about $51 billion (Blincoe et al. 2002).
I don't watch TV>
Who the hell is Linsey Lohan?
Lohan is a young actress with much talent whose picture is plastered on the front of the papers - at least in New York City - with great regularity because of her substance abuse problems. Though it's annoying to be bombarded with every day, it truly is a shame - on several levels.
As our poster points out, on the one hand, DUI and related offenses are on the rise and are serious social problems.
On the other, it does take away from the media's already inadequate focus on what's really going on in this country - the erosion of our civil liberties, the undermining of our democracy and the dismantling of checks and balances through the administration's super-charged imperial presidency and refusal to tell the truth to Congress or the American people.
Some might say that's enough to drive one to drink, to which I would add, in the spirit of the post, to always consume in moderation and never drink and drive.
Happy Friday everyone.
Alcohol on the streets and roads is indeed a serious problem. However, the media's fascination with Lohan, Hilton, Spears, etc. has nothing to do with pointing out the problems of drunken driving. If the news outlets were concerned with drunken driving there would be reports about the statistics you just cited and calls for tougher laws.
These 'celebrities' are covered ad nauseam because the stories are titillating and Americans love to see their heroes and celebrities fall from grace.
I hope you're right - there should be plenty of that in the coming months with this Administration in power. I can't wait until the terms most associated with our current chief executive - in the main stream media - are disgrace and failure.
Bull crap. DUI's and DUI related incidents have been on the decline for decades.
"The old slap on the wrist is not deterring anyone"
Excuse me? Do you consider a night in jail, thousands of dollars in fines, the loss of your driver's license for a year, and tens-of-thousands in additional insurance cost - "A slap on the wrist"?
I say "bull crap" again. The penalties are severe. For many of us, a DUI conviction could easily lead to the end of our careers.
I will allow that DUIs and the affects of DUI-related accidents are big problems, but to say they are increasing is simply not true.
Perhaps the current penalties are a "slap on the wrist" to a Lindsay Lohan, but they are very frightening to me.
It's a politically correct thing to pile on and advocate Stalinist type penalities for this offence, but a lot of good people will make mistakes at some point in their life - and I don't think we should ruin their lives because of bad judgement and one night behind the wheel with an illegal blood alcohol content.
I would agree with you if it was a matter of just one night behind the wheel. Unfortunately the majority of those arrested or involved in an DUI accident it is not their first time behind the wheel in that condition. Most people who are caught have willingly placed themselves behind the wheel of a car under the influence numerous times before finally being arrested or causing an accident. In my personal experience (note: my personal experience) nearly every person who I have stopped for DUI or directly responsible for an accident say's "I normally drive better when I am drunk". This statement alone proves that in those cases DUI is not a one time mistake but a habitual lifestyle of choice.
I think we also have to realize that in many states the prisons are already beyond capacity - and if we increase prison-time for DUIs, we'll have to decrease prison time for other offenses, because there just isn't room for more people.
I do stand by assessment of the costs of DUIs - from my viewpoint - the penalties are pretty scary.