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I was arrested for DUI several years ago. There were many penalties, all justly deserved, and the whole ordeal took hundreds of hours and over $10K to resolve.
by duithrowaway 7y ago
I was arrested for DUI several years ago. There were many penalties, all justly deserved, and the whole ordeal took hundreds of hours and over $10K to resolve. I am fortunate to be able to afford this, but not everyone can.
I fully understand why many people have zero sympathy for DUI offenders. I certainly expect none. But I'd like to shed some light on the fundamental cause: alcoholism. The average DUI offender has driven drunk over 80 times before their arrest.
When sober, I know as anyone else what a bad idea it is to get behind the wheel. The problem is, it is darned hard to avoid taking that first drink. Then the second. Alcohol is everywhere. And when you are drunk enough, you don't care how bad the criminal penalties might be.
Deterrence is not enough. And out of all the treatment programs, financial cost, etc, the only thing that was really helpful in curbing my alcohol use, strangely enough, was the interlock.
Addicts don't think ahead. But sober addicts can, albeit with difficulty. Sober addicts know that if they have an interlock, and if they take that first drink, they won't be able to drive, and they'll be stuck. So they might not take that first drink. My pattern of drinking was to stay late at work, drink there, then drive home. With the interlock, that meant sleeping in my office, not an attractive proposition. Sometimes I did take that first drink, and did sleep in my office. Or I took a Lyft. But at least I wasn't on the road.
So I think interlocks are good. The technical issues raised here about them are real, though. It bricked my car for weeks, once. Also, the one I had not only had you breathe to start the car, but randomly while driving, and there was a time limit. This could lead to very dangerous situations where I was trying to negotiate difficult traffic and blow in the damned thing simultaneously. Not good design for something intended to improve traffic safety.
- duithrowaway 7y agoI will also add this. If you or someone you love has an addiction, or if you're just interested in the societal problem, you need to understand this about addicts: they don't have much, if any, free will when it comes to their addiction. Even if they want to change, which is not a given, it is very hard and does not happen overnight. The only truly effective way to deal with it in the short term is to make it impossible, or as hard as possible, for them to perform the behavior. This is why the interlock works. If you want to understand why criminal penalties don't work well (although I'm not opposed to them), think of it this way. An addict is like a lab mouse, operating purely by stimulus and response. For every one time a person is caught for DUI, they get away with it 79 times. They learn that they can get away with it. In a sense, they are actually rewarded by getting away with it. I have long thought that it would be incredibly helpful if DUI offenders were required to have a special decal on their licences, that would prevent anyone from selling them alcohol. Non-DUI alcoholics who wanted to get sober could also get one. This would be virtually cost-free to society and I believe it would save many lives and help many people get clean.
- RickJWagner 7y ago"There but for the grace of God go I." I fully understand your post. I wish I could say I never had the good sense to drive impaired, but it's not true. Thankfully, I've been sober a few decades now. Your story reached me.. Thanks for posting.
- duithrowaway 7y agoI saw below that you lost a brother to a drunk driving accident. I have hesitated for days about replying. I don't know which side of it he was on, but I know it could have been me who did that. I haven't hurt anyone, but I could have. I am so very sorry for your loss.