Education Essential to Decreasing Drunken Driving

Court officials in Royal Oak say it is unlikely that drunken driving can ever be completely stopped.  But good educational resources can decrease the number of offenders, they said.

Judge Terrance H. Brennan of the 44th District Court in Royal Oak, who has been on the bench for 22 years, said that “a high percentage of criminal dockets is drug or alcohol related,” which can lead to jail time along with fines up to nearly $10,000. 

The court administrator and probation officer, Gerald A. Tarchala, said  that alternatives to jail include a mandatory class and community service of 40 to 80 hours

Both Brennan and Tarchala believe that educating not only young individuals but all people on the nature of drunken driving is essential. 

The Michigan Annual Drunk Driving Audit has reported that “approximately 35.6 percent of the total fatal crashes [involve] alcohol and/or drugs.”

Among the many organizations geared toward educating both youth and adults, one of the most prominent is Mothers Against Drunk Driving. MADD, a non-profit organization that began in 1980, says mission is to “to stop drunken driving, support the victims of this violent crime and prevent underage drinking.” 

In 2006, MADD adopted its campaign “Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving.” The campaign focuses on three steps that individuals and the country can take.

The first step is to “support our heroes” -- the law enforcement officers who catch drunken driving offenders and anyone who discourages others from driving impaired. The next step is known as “sober to start,” which would require systems within motor vehicles that prevent a drunken person from starting the car. The third step is “secure the future.” This step focuses on developing technology that would automatically determine if individuals are operating a motor vehicle above the legal limit.

Brennan and Tarchala join in hoping that technology will be far greater than it is today, so that people will not be physically able to drive while impaired.

MADD helps educate young people in Michigan and elsewhere about the dangers of drunken driving. Since its founding, more than 300,000 lives have been saved worldwide, MADD says, including over 27,000 young lives with the passage of laws raising the drinking age to 21.

This article was written by Damon Flemings, a Wayne State University journalism student.