When it comes to driving any type of vehicle, we should always consider the interest and safety of our passengers. Accidents that happen on the roads were generally caused by drivers who neglects on following safety measures, one of which is drunk driving which endangers the not only the lives of the drivers but their passengers and the pedestrians as well. According to the United States Department of Transportation, drunk-driving causes fatal accident which happens every 31 minutes and a road injury every two minutes. In 2005 alone, 254,000 people were injured and 16,919 poor victims died in alcohol-related vehicle mishaps as reported by the police units. In addition, the Federal Bureau of Investigation roughly estimates that above 1.4 million incidents of alcohol and narcotics-related arrests were made by the proper authority. These cover the at least one for every 139 licensed drivers in the U.S. Therefore, alcohol intake is definitely not advisable when planning to handle the wheels.

In recent developments, the administrative license revocation laws were enacted by the government to allow an on-the-spot driver’s license suspension if the driver was proven to exceed the allowed limit of blood alcohol content (BAC) or if he refuses to take the BAC test. These laws also lessen the legal limit of BAC to 0.08, hence, reducing the occurrence of alcohol-related accidents at night time by an estimated 11% according to some researches. Other helpful laws such as the Safe, Accountable, Flexible and Efficient Transportation Equity Act or the Federal Highway Funding Bill of 2005 were signed by the president to provide incentives for states that will ratify laws which apprehends the three types of drunk drivers. These include repeat violators and drivers found to have over 0.15 BACs. Furthermore, this law holds back some percentage of subsidies to states that refuse to adopt the open container law which rules out on drivers carrying an open alcohol container inside their vehicles. The failure to abide to this law is punishable with license revocation or vehicle impoundment.

In respond to these laws, more and more civilian supported its passage and anti-drunk driving campaigns which aim at drivers below 21 years old and repeat violators have greatly increased. And to make those unruly liquor sellers and servers cautious in vending their products, most of the states including California, presumes added legal liability to the liquor servers for whatever damages or injuries which may be brought about by these undisciplined drunk drivers.

Nonetheless, these laws also boost the morale of the injured victims to file the necessary charges and demand for sufficient monetary damages against the drunk drivers who have caused them their pain and suffering. They even employ the legal assistance of their trusted personal injury lawyers who are experts in handling these certain types of cases to help them increases their chances of acquiring favorable outcomes in their lawsuits. These further instigate awareness to the drivers to refrain from drinking alcoholic beverages before and in the process of driving.

To sum it up, drivers should have to follow these existing laws which covers drunk driving cases not only to prevent being penalized but as a sign of respect and concern for their passengers. In this manner, they may help in minimizing the road accidents and further reducing the probability of people getting harmed.

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