You know what’s crazy? I’ll tell you what’s crazy.
Utah lowering its DUI threshold to .05%.
If it passes, and it is expected it will, Utah will have the toughest DUI law in the country.
Some applaud the measure. Others say that’s a beer or a glass of wine? Come on, be real?
Some restaurants and bars are obviously against it since it has the potential to hurt them economically.
But if the new law saves one life, or makes one person who was going to drive drunk, rethink that equation, then perhaps it is a worthwhile law.
Most states currently have .08% as the threshold for a driver to be considered a drunk driver. That seems like it is working as well any law governing sobriety can work.
Remember when it is use to be 1.00%?
I’m totally good with any law that makes people think twice about drinking and getting behind the wheel of a car.
Nothing good can come from slamming a few jack and cokes and then motoring down the road.
M.A.D.D. and even the NTSB, years ago, have recommended .05% be the norm, not the exception.
So why is this crazy? Because we are spending time talking about DUI enforcement when America really needs to take that energy and legislative mandate and talk about DWD enforcement.
What is DWD? It’s Driving While Distracted.
A driver texting and driving can blow a 0.0% and be the most dangerous thing on the road.
I’d rather drive beside a drunk, toothless red neck waving a shot gun and the stars and bars from the back of his Ford F1-10 than drive beside a 16 year old high school girl with a Samsung and a Snap Chat Account.
Some states like California have cracked down.
From what I hear, it works. I’ve been on the phone with friends on the road in Cali and they say, “hold on a minute while I put on my blue tooth device.”
The fine is substantial and cops are looking for infractions in these states.
Now the nation needs to adopt a better plan.
I can immediately tell a DWD driver. They drive side to side, like a drunk driver who has been freebasing lead paint. They are oblivious to where they are as their car meanders dangerously side to side at speeds that fluctuate from 20 below the posted limit, to bumper fast, tailgating stupid.
A teenager with a cell phone and a car is more dangerous than a CIA assassin in a bell tower with a sniper rifle. At least the sniper has a plan. The Teen has zero idea of what they are doing and who could get mangled at 65mph.
If I had to choose the lesser of two evils, I’d rather encounter a DUI driver than a DWD driver. Why? Because most DUI drivers try to drive well. Unless they are double and triple the legal limit, they usually try and limp home without causing damage to themselves or others. Some motorists are morons who abuse themselves and the system putting everyone in jeopardy. We should lock them in the stockade and throw away the key. But many DUI’s are people who know better, and they’ve let themselves have that extra beverage they should not have had. They suddenly find themselves on the road, behind the wheel, and they know they are inebriated. They should pull over, and they know that. But they never do, and they motor on, thinking they can limp home and make it safe. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don’t. The constant in this equation of what’s worse, is the DUI driver usually is trying to drive, usually looking at the road, usually cognizant of the fact that one bad driving moment is going to change a life.
Most DWD drivers are oblivious to everything.
They might as well be driving with headphones on, their eyes covered by a mask.
DWD is like the plague. It’s a bubonic strain of infection with 8 cylinders driving right at you without so much as a tap of the brake pedal.
We need a campaign like just say NO.
What are the signs of DWD? Head down, both hands on a device, typing, squinting, totally uncommitted to a 2,000 pound hunk of steel driving 60mph?
If law officers see this, pull it over. Slap the driver with a hefty fine. It’s like drunk driving only worse!
It’s crazy at best. It’s abhorrent at the very least.
There are states like Utah, and California and Michigan, and Oregon that have tough texting and driving laws. That’s good. Now the rest of the nation needs to focus on DWD as much as it does on DUI.
Life’s Crazy™