I'd nearly been killed by a repeat drunk driver and I was mad enough to climb into that squad car and make sure the driver got a lesson he wouldn't soon forget. I was taken by ambulance to a local hospital for x-rays, my truck was totaled, and to this day the drunk driver or his parents have never reached out and said "sorry our son nearly killed you..." And "are you alright?" Instead there are the disclaimer letters from some high priced attorney outfit; the drunk driver's Dad is a judge. Nice; and the rules of justice bend for the killer he keeps in his house.

This is a true story and it makes you realize that drunk drivers really are killers; they murder people indiscriminately and with arrogance. The CDC (2006) states that male drivers are nearly twice as likely than female drivers to be intoxicated with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% or greater. According to the police report I eventually saw this guy's BAC was only 0.09% and he was beyond being able to reason with. Clearly from this experience the BAC needs to be 0.05% and this is supported by extensive research by Howat P, Sleet D, Smith I. (1991). Third, there's the issue of financial responsibility. Just because this driver's Dad was a judge he was back behind the wheel of the car not due to any legal loophole, but because he could afford to make mistakes and felt entirely above the law. What's needed especially...

it's got to hurt the wallets of even the most prosperous offenders. In California the typical first DUI cost is $8,240 and the second one can cost up to $10,000. That's not enough. A second DUI conviction needs to hurt the wallets of people like the judge whose son nearly killed me. It should be $25,000, now that is the money level that will get the judge involved with his son's drinking problem.
In summary I am thankful to be alive, but I have a vengeance that will last the rest of my days against drunk drivers. No mercy needs to be shown to these killers; the BAC needs to get backed down to 0.05%, young men and teenage boy drivers should be governed by a zero tolerance program for any drunk driving incident when they are underage, and finally let's put some pain where it matters most: in the wallets of people who disregard human life and climb behind the wheels of their cars drunk.

References

CDC (2006) - National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Center for Disease Control. September 7, 2006

Howat P, Sleet D, Smith I. (1991) - Alcohol and driving: is the.05% blood alcohol concentration limit justified? Drug and Alcohol Review 1991;10(1):151-66.

California Department of Motor Vehicles (2006) - Accessed from the California DMV site on October 16,…