Without banning alcohol, what would you do to totally stop drunk driving?

Well, post police officers outside of bars, for one. But that’s a no-go because it adversely affects the income of the bars. And it would do nothing to stop people who got drunk in their homes and left.

I would never have a goal of passing a law to try to totally stop some behavior in a population, because I think that’s both unrealistic and control-freak behavior that creates a dysfunctional patronizing relationship with people, backfires in various ways, and creates an oppressive environment for everyone.

I think the real solution is improving the way our society functions, not making it worse.

The people who don’t drink and drive are the responsible mentally- and emotionally-healthy adults who understand the consequences and behave accordingly. So have as many people as possible be like that, by raising children to adulthood without creating dysfunctional relationships and trauma and craziness that leads to addictions and dissociation and irresponsibility and acting out and drunk driving and killing sprees, etc.

Sensors in the car that detect alcohol in the air, and prevent the car to be turned on.

@ragingloli Such a car couldn’t be used to drive home drunk passengers.

@ragingloli they do have that type of sensor on the ignition of some cars that is a condition of some people getting their driving license back.
Should that type of thing be installed on all vehicles regardless if the person ever had such a problem?
Would you want one on your car?

It would be a hassle @SQUEEKY2, but I’m for it.

@SQUEEKY2
I exclusively use public transport, and I also do not drink alcohol, so I would never encounter that problem anyway.

Alternatively, once alcohol is detected, the car will only function via AI autopilot.

A car trying to sense alcohol is going to:

* Prevent sober designated drivers from driving home intoxicated people.
* Get bypassed by people.

Make driving a capital offense. (Please note that I did not say “drunk driving”.) If you make it impossible for people to drive at all, then you might be able to limit drunk driving. Maybe.

You cannot legislatively stop bad behavior. I wonder when people will wake up to this simple fact?

@CWOTUS
So you are against all laws, since they are useless.

Totally, would be impossible. There are ways to circumvent most things…

Hmm. @CWOTUS and I kind of agree… As far as the only way to totally stop it…

I mean, even banning alcohol wouldn’t stop it…

I hardly know where to start to dissect the flaws in your assertion, @ragingloli. I’ll give it a go while my lunch is warming up:

1. I’ve never claimed to be against all laws, nor have I made any claims about uselessness – in general. Your assertion in either way is a straw man argument.

2. In fact, if my tongue-in-cheek suggestion were to be implemented that would require, well… a law (probably several).

3. My assertion was a response to the “total” aspect of the OP’s question. There are no legislative or administrative absolute prohibitions against bad behavior.

Well, lunch is done. Must go now.

A friend of mine had a DUI conviction and spent a year on probation. During that year, she had limited driving privileges (just to-and-from work), and her vehicle was outfitted with a special device – a breathalyzer that prevented the car from starting unless she’d successfully used it.

My husband’s new car has every gizmo and gadget imaginable. It parallel-parks itself; it beeps if he veers out of his traffic lane or gets too close to any object; if he’s not far enough behind the car in front of him, the car slows down. Given all this technology, I wonder how difficult it would be to attach a breathalyzer to every ignition.

It wouldn’t be good to have a sensor for the general air within a car. There’d be issues if the passengers, but not the driver, were intoxicated. A designated driver, looking after his tipsy friends and behaving responsibly, is something to encourage, not make impossible.

(By the way, my friend is fine. She faced her problems and hasn’t touched alcohol in about 20 years.)

Breathalyzer interlocks are the most effective preventive. While you might get someone to breathe to by pass it, that means a sober person is consciously helping a drunk person drive. That pretty much stops it.

I am in favor of capital punishment for second offense DUIs.
I saw a news bit once about a guy who was driving drunk regularly, and he had the breath gadget. He was bringing his little boy with him each time to breathe into it for him.

Drunk driving has been HUGELY reduced in the past 30 or 40 years, by increasing awareness of the dangers and increasing the penalties.

That said, some US states are better than others. I was surprised when my brother told me he had an employee in Wisconsin who got his 7th DUI. What? Why isn’t the guy in prison?

I was arrested for it once, lo these many years ago, at about age 22. Pled down to a misdemeanor. Spent a weekend in the county jail. Lesson learned.

Having free taxi service at night.

The public should be allowed to shoot drunken drivers before they injure someone.

^^They do that in Turkey, but that isn’t even a little funny with all the firearm debate we have been having here lately.

Invent cheiloscopical ignitions on vehicles. Then invent the plastic bag to blow in.

autos that require breathing into a breathalizer before they will start. yes, I know that someone else could do it but it is a start and if you make the penalties for such actions prohibitive enough then it would at least reduce the number of people willing to do such

Allow drunk driving but make all vehicles out of hard rubber.
Make crashes more fun say I & I am unanimous in that!

Laws DO work. Thanks to MADD drunk driving deaths have been halved, since 1980. Yes there are people who will break the law, but most people won’t, especially if the consequences are harsh enough the first time, like getting a DUI is today. No one that I’ve known who has gotten one will ever do it again. They know they’ll lose their license.
Gun laws should be at least as strict as car laws. Have to take classes and pass tests and receive a license. In Kansas you have virtually NO laws surrounding getting a gun, especially if you buy from a private individual. No registration, no background check, no nothing. You don’t even need a permit for open carry.