Science Group Calls for a National Crackdown on Booze to Achieve 'Zero' DUI Deaths

Reason Magazine ^

[a fool in paradise]

.15 used to be the threshold for DUI.

[a fool in paradise]

Lower numbers is about easier convictions, not safer roads.

And just because you blow below the number doesn’t mean that you are “innocent” in the eyes of the legal system, blowing above the number just means that you meet that standard. They can and in some cases do prosecute below that (down to 0.01).

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

I think that has already been tried. 1919-1932. How’d it work out for America!

[dfwgator]

I guess they don’t know much about history.

Or biology, a science book, or the French they took.

[IronJack]

What happens when you sell the car?

[Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Crap, that would be enough to make just about any guy chug the nearest container of alcohol he could get.

[hanamizu]

For one thing, it would require another Constituional amendment,

---

Alas, it wouldn’t, not now. The 18th Amendment was passed at a time when the Constitution was believed to mean what it actually said. Powers not granted to the Federal government were reserved for the states. States could prohibit alcohol but the Federal government could not. Legal thinking has “evolved” quite a bit in the last century. Congress could outlaw (and apparently mandate—see ObamaCare) anything and it would pass Constitutional muster.

[Cowboy Bob]

If you get rid of all the Mexicans, DUI deaths will drop to almost ZERO!

[Afterguard]

I have no real objection to your plan, the only problem is that it is more severe than the penalties for 1st degree murder (in most states).

[EdnaMode]

Yeah that really went well the last time.....

[servo1969]

This seems really familiar..... hmm.....

[Nifster]

Stupid academics. Do they want to stop all DUIs then do something about drug use

[Ronald_Magnus]

DEAL!

[vpintheak]

These scientists are classic naval starers. No common sense, but hey, look at that!

[AndyJackson]

The NAS report is available online RIGHT HERE

The NAS is not a scientific body, but another political prostitution ring, as this report demonstrates. There is nothing scientific about it.

2/3 of accidents are not alcohol related and only 1/3 are suggests that increased booze consumption will improve traffic safety. It certainly could not harm the quality of science practiced body of hacks in the name of science.

There are a number of facts not addressed. For instance a bar chart showing fraction of accidents where the driver determined at fault under the traffic laws, vs blood alcohol level at the time of the accident. Include null results as well.

Instead this so-called study takes as a given the data provided, without question or examination and immediately leep into the socialist policy formulation - WHICH IS NOT THE JOB OF THE [Trump's alleged favorite swearwords excluded] NAS. The NAS is supposed to be where the country can go to get scientific advice on matter important for public policy - not to advocate that policy or decide what that policy should be.

The NAS has become just another K-street lobbying outfit, this one funded, richly, through taxpayer dollars.

[AndyJackson]

And let's consult the bio of the study chair

Steven M. Teutsch is an independent consultant; Adjunct Professor at the Fielding School of Public Health, UCLA; Senior Fellow at the Public Health Institute; and Senior Fellow, Schaeffer Center, University of Southern California. He was formerly the Chief Science Officer, Los Angeles County Public Health where he worked on evidence-based public health and policy.

IOW this guy is, surprise surprise, a policy hack.

[HotHunt]

"....Science Group Calls for a National Crackdown on Booze to Achieve 'Zero' DUI Deaths...."

I call for a national crackdown on scientists at the National Academy of Sciences to achieve "zero" stupid ideas.

Why not just eliminate all cars so the chance of drunk driving in one of them would be zero?

Or why not just ban the drivers of those cars so nobody can drink, drive or cause DUI deaths?

Or why not just go all the way and ban all people on earth before they do something these scientists don't like?

Oopsie! My bad. The climate scientists are already suggesting that.

[vette6387]

“Yes. Ban booze!
What could possibly go wrong.”

Replace it with Marijuana?

[vette6387]

Yeah, those 1974 cars that had the seat belt interlock were sooo popular with the citizens that they lasted one model year, along with the 80 mph speedometers. Back then, it was so much fun to peg the needle!

[who_would_fardels_bear]

That won't be a solution. Let's say that two self-driving cars crash into each other and one person in one of the cars had "too much" to drink.

The authorities will declare the accident "alcohol related".

That's what they do now if a taxi crashes into another car and the only drunk person is the passenger in the taxi.