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While I agree that all laws should be questioned your example here misses the point. When intoxicated with alcohol your reaction times and concentration level

While I agree that all laws should be questioned your example here misses the point. When intoxicated with alcohol your reaction times and concentration level are slowed. You may obey all road rules perfectly on your normal drive home when drunk, but one night something may be a bit different - a train crossing that isn't normally used, an inattentive driver who pulls out slightly two late, or a pedestrian who crosses a bit slower than most people - and you're now in an accident that would have been avoided had you been sober and had your normal reaction and reasoning skills. It's not the stereotypical swerving red-light-running drunk driver that we target with drink-driving laws, as you've mentioned that's already covered by dangerous driving laws.

aianus 11y ago
When young/old/stupid/tired your reaction times and concentration level are slowed. But there are no laws against those things (unless you're actually driving badly).
- zeroonetwothree 11y ago
  Drunk driving causes 10,000 deaths/year according to the article. How many are caused by the factors you mention? Doubtless some, but it's clearly not our top priority, especially given that it's much easier to give someone a breathalyzer test than to check for "stupidity" or "tiredness".
  - dllthomas 11y ago
    I expect quite a few are caused by tiredness specifically. I would not be surprised if it exceeded the drunk driving numbers (although I wouldn't be terribly surprised if it failed to either).
  - bmelton 11y ago
    To be fair, tiredness is likely attributable to a great deal of road related injuries, but it isn't tracked because being tired isn't a criminal act. I'm not saying you're wrong, per se, but suggesting that you're right due to the absence of evidence is premature. That said, while I don't know how official these numbers are, the NHTSA attributes 100,000 accidents to driver fatigue per year, and while the victim count is currently lower than your assertion for drunk driving, I think that driving while fatigued is underreported for the reasons I mentioned above.
  - stickfigure 11y ago
    Drunk driving causes 10,000 deaths/year Here's part of the problem. The actual statistic is that 10k deaths occur where one driver had a BAC of 0.08 or higher. It's purely an assumption that these deaths would not have occurred if the drivers were sober. Some, certainly; some, certainly not. We need better information. The discussion lacks "scientific integrity", as Feynman would put it.
- sitharus 11y ago
  They do, and almost all countries have a minimum driving age. Some (including where I live) now have compulsory re-testing at intervals after a certain age, and there's the requirement to pass the a practical test to weed out the stupid. Driving while tired is definitely an issue though.
- superuser2 11y ago
  There absolutely are - there is a minimum age, in may states reexamination is triggered above an age threshold, you must pass a test that the developmentally disabled may not be able to pass, and driving while tired is absolutely illegal. It ma be poorly enforced, but professional drivers have to maintain regularly audited logs showing that they are properly rested; trucking companies get fined for having employees driving for too many hours in a day.
- ucho 11y ago
  > But there are no laws against those things Yet. If we are ever able to reduce DUI to almost non existent the focus will move on other incident causes. I am sure there are already some people who would love to place camera inside every car to check if driver was paying attention.

aianus 11y ago

When young/old/stupid/tired your reaction times and concentration level are slowed. But there are no laws against those things (unless you're actually driving badly).

zeroonetwothree 11y ago
Drunk driving causes 10,000 deaths/year according to the article. How many are caused by the factors you mention? Doubtless some, but it's clearly not our top priority, especially given that it's much easier to give someone a breathalyzer test than to check for "stupidity" or "tiredness".
- dllthomas 11y ago
  I expect quite a few are caused by tiredness specifically. I would not be surprised if it exceeded the drunk driving numbers (although I wouldn't be terribly surprised if it failed to either).
- bmelton 11y ago
  To be fair, tiredness is likely attributable to a great deal of road related injuries, but it isn't tracked because being tired isn't a criminal act. I'm not saying you're wrong, per se, but suggesting that you're right due to the absence of evidence is premature. That said, while I don't know how official these numbers are, the NHTSA attributes 100,000 accidents to driver fatigue per year, and while the victim count is currently lower than your assertion for drunk driving, I think that driving while fatigued is underreported for the reasons I mentioned above.
- stickfigure 11y ago
  Drunk driving causes 10,000 deaths/year Here's part of the problem. The actual statistic is that 10k deaths occur where one driver had a BAC of 0.08 or higher. It's purely an assumption that these deaths would not have occurred if the drivers were sober. Some, certainly; some, certainly not. We need better information. The discussion lacks "scientific integrity", as Feynman would put it.
sitharus 11y ago
They do, and almost all countries have a minimum driving age. Some (including where I live) now have compulsory re-testing at intervals after a certain age, and there's the requirement to pass the a practical test to weed out the stupid. Driving while tired is definitely an issue though.
superuser2 11y ago
There absolutely are - there is a minimum age, in may states reexamination is triggered above an age threshold, you must pass a test that the developmentally disabled may not be able to pass, and driving while tired is absolutely illegal. It ma be poorly enforced, but professional drivers have to maintain regularly audited logs showing that they are properly rested; trucking companies get fined for having employees driving for too many hours in a day.
ucho 11y ago
> But there are no laws against those things Yet. If we are ever able to reduce DUI to almost non existent the focus will move on other incident causes. I am sure there are already some people who would love to place camera inside every car to check if driver was paying attention.