Drunk driving is not a joke

Recently, Paris Hilton was sentenced to jail for driving without a license, her driver's license having been suspended after her conviction for drunk driving. In her first public comments since she was handed a 45-day jail sentence for a driving related offense, she stated: "I feel that I was treated unfairly and that the sentence is both cruel and unwarranted and I don't deserve this." The predictions are that her incarceration will only benefit her, and that is probably true.

However, I would hope that this incident might help us focus on the tremendous problem of drunk driving, and how lightly our society continues to treat this crime. Drunk driving is a crime, not a mere infraction. What is actually cruel about punishment for drunk drivers is that it usually comes too late, meaning after they have already caused harm or even death to innocent victims. It is impossible to overstate the amount of suffering caused by drunk driving.

There were 16,885 alcohol-related fatalities in 2005  39 percent of the total traffic fatalities for the year. This tragic statistic represents an average of one alcohol-related fatality every 31 minutes. An estimated 254,000 persons were injured in crashes where police reported that alcohol was present -- an average of one person injured approximately every 2 minutes. In 2004, the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reporting Program estimated that over 1.4 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics. This is an arrest rate of 1 for every 139 licensed drivers in the United States.

The plain truth is that the crime of drunk driving is treated far too lightly, and every one of us potentially could pay the price for this excessive leniency. Driving a motor vehicle is not a right; it is a privilege, and that privilege ought to be revoked when a driver becomes dangerous to society.

Let us be clear. The automobile is a lethal weapon. Let us consider what happens when a more commonly accepted lethal weapon is used carelessly. Suppose that someone would discharge a handgun at a public gathering such as a baseball game or Taste of Chicago. Even if no one was injured, that person would be arrested immediately and would face almost certain punishment, and certainly the gun would be taken away.

Yet, every single day, an average of over 3800 people are arrested for DUI, yet very few are ever incarcerated. Drunk driving is a menace and lenient enforcement is a moral outrage. Every time we get into our car or even cross the street, we are potential victims of drunk drivers.

I firmly believe that anyone apprehended for DUI should face jail time on the first offense, that they should lose their driving privilege for a significant period of time (assuming that they have received due process), that their vehicle should be temporarily impounded, and that they should be compelled to undergo rehabilitation before their driving privilege is restored. Zero tolerance is the only way we will ever be able to reduce the mayhem on our roads and thereby make us all safer.

MADD has been attempting for years to reduce the great harm caused by drunk driving. They have had significant success, and they are deserving of our unequivocal support. "The real possibility of eliminating drunk driving in this country is a powerful, even audacious, idea. Yet the tools are now at hand. Using technology, tougher enforcement, stronger laws and grassroots mobilization, the goal of eliminating a primary public health threat that has plagued the United States is within our reach," said Glynn Birch, national president of MADD, whose 21-month-old son was killed by a drunk driver in 1988.

On the very same week that Paris Hilton was sentenced, a drunk driver here in Chicago plowed into a school bus. Fortunately, the bus was not transporting children at the time. The newspapers reported that this driver had a history of 10 previous DUI arrests! This story speaks for itself. Ms. Hilton's mother termed her daughter's sentence to be "a joke." No, this is no joking matter at all. It is dead serious.