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Research Paper On Drunk Driving

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Each year, 13,000 people are killed by drunk drivers with a blood alcohol level above .08. Advocates of a new standard for in-car breathalyzers say that most, if not all, of those accidents could have been avoided if the drunk driver hadn't been able to turn his or her car on. If Congress and Mothers Against Drunk Driving get their way, could your next new car could come with a breathalyzer pre-installed? Much confusion surrounds in-car breathalyzer devices for those convicted of a DUI (driving under the influence) or DWI (driving while impaired), their nationwide rollout and several bills going through Congress on the matter. Some predict we'll all be driving a car with a similar device in future -- guilty or not -- whereas some …show more content…

Local, national advocates
Carl McDonald, of MADD, is quick to point out that while the campaign group is in favor of mandatory interlock penalties in all cases of DUI or DWI, or for about 1.5 million Americans convicted each year; the group is not in favor of a rollout of breathalyzers in every new car.
"Some say that MADD is in favor of putting interlocks in every car," McDonald said. "This is not the case. An interlock device is a method by which people demonstrate sobriety by actively doing something. We would never subject the population to that kind of thing by car. That's only for offenders." Citing "remarkable progress" in the number of states signing into law mandatory interlocks for all offenders, he says the law is an "easy sell to lawmakers" -- even in the face of opposition from states' rights groups. He adds that safety legislation on airbags and seat belts also became a federal issue and puts a timeframe of about ten years on a majority of states adopting, and enforcing, an interlock law for all offenders.
"What happens in real life...there are people who have been arrested and convicted of drunk driving," McDonald said. "Following that conviction they were suspended. People we know violate those laws repeatedly and they may have been picked up repeatedly. We know they're driving without insurance and often intoxicated. We want to make sure that if they're driving at all, they're driving sober."
New Mexico was the

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