March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

New year, old problem

Perhaps people react to education about drunken driving the way some heavy drinkers react to alcohol: a certain tolerance is built up, and it requires more booze to elicit the same kick. Or perhaps drivers have just forgotten how dangerous the roads were becoming 15 years ago. Whatever the case, revelers on the roads tonight would do well to remember the lessons their MADD mothers taught them.

The alcohol-related death rate on the nation’s highways was up last year for the first time in a decade. There were 17,274 deaths related to alcohol in 1995 on the highways, compared with 16,580 in 1994. That placed the 1995 rate at 0.72 deaths for every 100 million miles traveled; in ’94, the rate was 0.70 for every 100 million miles. By way of comparison, before Mothers Against Drunk Driving and other groups gained national popularity, the rate was more than twice as high, 1.58, for instance, in 1982.

Maine’s numbers, fortunately, continued to fall last year — 51 highway deaths were alcohol-related in the state in 1995. But the stories about the hazards of drinking and driving have fallen off here, too. C. Everett Koop. commenting recently in a New York Times story, said, “If there is not an authoritative voice that continues to hammer away at a single problem, it tends to be missed.”

The former surgeon general was well-known for hammering away at tobacco use, but even he might see the need to change the message regularly to keep the issue fresh. State Sen. Peter Mills is considering a new message, through legislation, to help curb drunken driving: knowingly loan your car to someone likely to drive while drunk and you will lose your vehicle. He also is considering easing some of the restrictions that limit proscecution of bar owners who serve inebriated customers. This renewed concern with drunken driving is timely and needed.

But some well-established options also are available. Seven or eight years ago, MADD began promoting the use of designated drivers. This sensible program worked from the outset, and would work very well tonight. Happy New Year.


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