MADD has made no secret of its desire to lower the legal blood- alcohol level from the current .08 in most places to .06, .04 or even to zero. This despite studies showing that most alcohol-caused traffic fatalities involved drivers with a level of 0.14 or higher. But rather than focus on the real problems now, MADD has chosen to play Chicken Little, to manipulate data and to advocate public policies that come close to neo-Prohibition.
And here's a Times "Room for Debate" piece about DD. Notice that the only person of the five who, ya know, cites a study with, ya know, numbers and such, is on the side of this law being stupid. I'm sure the prison-industrial complex is on board, however.
This is so typical of the way we "solve" problems. Data be damned! Instead, let's feed the bureaucracy, because we're too chickenshit to do otherwise. Yep. I'm glad I live in a state where the supreme court has deemed these gestapo outposts as illegal. And, of course, there's this:In its eight-point plan to "jump-start the stalled war on drunk driving," MADD advocates the use of highly publicized but random roadblocks to find drivers who have been drinking. Even setting aside the civil liberties implications, these checkpoints do little to get dangerous drunks off the road. Rather, they instill fear in people who have a glass of wine with dinner, a beer at a ballgame or a toast at a retirement party.
In fact, there is little in MADD's plan that would improve traffic safety. A British study found that cell phone use while driving caused significantly more impairment than a .08 blood-alcohol level. And a 2001 American Automobile Assn. study found that eating, fumbling with a car stereo or CD player or disciplining children while driving are even more dangerous than cell phone use.
In Australia, we have random breath testing. Some of these involve huge police roadblocks that stop entire freeways, testing thousands of people in a night. Up until the age of 22 in most states a blood alcohol level of 0.00 is enforced and after that it is 0.05. This allows us to have a drink or two when we go out; any more than that and you are risking you're licence. Needless to say, not many people drink and drive; particularly in my generation.
I noticed this a lot when I was in Australia. People just flat out don't drink and drive, although we did drink in the backseat while driving on some road trips in the country. .08 -> .05 makes a huge difference in what people believe they can get away with. I don't ever drink and drive because the times I have done the breathalyzer machine at the bar, or with a group of friends that has one, I am always over even if I am physically feeling 100%. Sucks being tiny.
Yeah they're pretty bad in LA. It's a complete bitch to sit through them. If my boyfriend and I ever go anywhere on a weekend/holiday I check facebook first. Usually if theres a checkpoint in the area it'll be on the top of my feed and we avoid that route. The worst is they sit cops at the last place to turn before the checkpoint so you have to completely avoid the area. Driving down x street and turning right a block before the checkpoint is a guarantee pull over by the sneaky little fuck waiting for the people avoiding the lineup.