That’s what half of Oregon thinks right now
Mind enlightening me… What’s going on in Oregon?
They legalized mushrooms and some other drugs and then (if I recall) made it to where possession wasn’t a crime. Half of Oregon (I imagine you can identify it based on population density) now most likely thinks legalizing drugs means allowing the bad behavior that comes from some of its users. Rather than realizing that alcohol is legal and has bad users as well that cause major harm to our communities but we wouldn’t dare take that away again.
I’m interested in what the harsher dui laws have done to drunk driving rates. Are less people doing it and less people dying? Or are there just a lot more fines and arrests from people driving home from restaurants and bars?
I’ll clarify I refuse to drive with more than two beers in me, I really only have more than that at home, but I do feel like the somewhat arbitrary alcohol limits seem harsh And the fact you can be pulled over and forced into a BAC test for really any reason feels a little ‘Minority Report’.
Again I’m not condoning drunk driving, just interested in the shift in effected lives.
Better public transportation, walkable streets, and non car-centric urban planning in general has done far more to prevent drunk driving than harsher laws. Data shows that the incidence of DUIs are more or less proportional to the need for residents in a city to drive in general. DUIs are rarely premeditated, purposeful crimes. Very few people are at the bar rubbing their hands together as they down their fourth shot, anticipating the moment when they get behind the wheel. The vast majority of DUIs are the result of poor planning and poor decisions when you just want to get home, and in situations like that the threat of punishment or simply the voice of their conscience is also a lot more likely to be ignored. Providing easy alternatives to droving goes a long way to preventing DUIs. People are way less likely to be in a position to DUI when the metro is the most convenient way to and from the bar.
