Abstract This paper reflects the author's personal experience of being hit by a drunk driver. According to the paper, no mercy needs to be shown to drunk drivers; the maximum allowable blood alcohol content (BAC) should only be 0.05%, and there should be a zero tolerance program for young men and teenage boy drivers caught driving while intoxicated.
From the Paper "My truck wasn't drivable but the door worked. I got out and could hear the glass pop off my clothes and make weird sounds like Rick Krispies popping in a cereal bowl, and when I got to the Mercedes I could see these two guys, drenched in gin, beer, and glass. They were laughing. From ten feet away you could smell the alcohol. When I asked them if they were alright, they gave some quick answer and tried to get the car to move. It wouldn't. I asked them for their insurance and they rattled off some expletives and told me to go to hell and asked if I knew who their father was. However he was, he was going to be very angry when he saw that brown Mercedes, it was totaled."
Abstract There are at least three counties in the State of New York that have enacted laws or implemented polices allowing for the seizure and forfeiture of privately-owned automobiles upon arrest for a Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) offense. In some counties vehicle seizures are made upon a defendant's first arrest for DWI. In every county, seizure of a defendant's vehicle precedes an adjudication of guilt. After the paper compares the laws between the three New York counties, it examines important Constitutional issues which have arisen from these policies.
From the Paper "Like New York County (City), Nassau County also utilizes a currently existing Code section concerning the disposition of property held by the property clerk as authority for and enforcement of the DWI vehicle forfeiture. Among all three counties examined here -- New York, Nassau and Suffolk (Suffolk County has adopted separate, offense-specific legislation) -- the rationale for application of vehicle forfeiture to DWI is that, since a vehicle is a necessary element of a "Driving While Intoxicated" charge, it is thus an "instrumentality of a crime," and is therefore governed by local law dealing with property disposition held by the property clerk of the local police department."
From the Paper "There are at least three counties in the State of New York that have enacted laws or implemented polices allowing for the seizure and forfeiture of privately-owned automobiles upon arrest for a Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) offense. In some counties, vehicle seizures are made upon a defendant's first arrest for DWI. In every county, seizure of a defendant's vehicle precedes an adjudication of guilt. As a result, important constitutional issues have arisen.
COMPARISON OF LAWS IN THREE NEW YORK COUNTIES
The first of the three policies, placed into effect on February 20, 1999, governs the County of New York, which consists of the Borough of Manhattan. The forfeiture policy is not a separate law written specifically for DWI, but is an..."
Abstract Facts and statistics are presented and different methods to reduce the problem of alcoholism is analyzed. Property damage, rapes, DWI's and other damages are investigated. Blood alcohol level chart and a look into several recent deaths on campuses due to binge drinking. Alcohol abuse among college students is considered.
From the Paper "Laws in every State make it illegal for anyone under the age of twenty-one to purchase or possess alcohol (Toomey 1996). College students report that alcohol is easy to obtain and they drink for one goal ? to get drunk. Binge drinking is defined by researchers as consuming five or more drinks in a row for men and four or more in a row for women (Bishop 1998). Alcohol abuse has long been a problem on college campuses. Currently, approximately eighty-five percent of college students drink alcohol (Philpot 1997). Many students on college campuses drink to excess. Binge drinking is associated with tragic consequences, health issues, and destructive behavior. Binge drinking must be curbed due to the consequences suffered by students who over imbibe and for those innocent students who are harmed by binge drinkers (NIH 1999)."
Abstract This paper discusses the laws surrounding drinking under the influence (DUI) and whether they are effective. The paper discusses the laws in the United States (and how they vary between the different states) and describes how the laws and the consequences of breaking the laws, have helped to reduce the incidence and severity of DUI.
From the Paper "No matter what may be the problem that may have caused the driver to consume alcohol, the DUI law, as in the 'Alcohol impaired driver act' would bring the offender to the court, in order to enforce a certain level of discipline and restrain him from committing any such similar offences in the future. (Science and Transportation; Subcommittee for Consumers United States; Congress; Senate; Committee on Commerce, 30) Reed states, "...it is doubtful if severe penalties would be applied often, even if they are authorized by law", but at the same time, one must remember that most states have started to realize the gravity of the problem of drunken driving, and have therefore started to take things into their hands, so as to bring in improvements and changes wherever applicable. (Berstein; Olson, 39) There is a noticeable reluctance on the part of the law enforcement department to impose strong punishments onto offenders. Maybe one of the primary reasons for this phenomenon is the latent confusion over the exact nature of the offence being committed. (Berstein; Olson, 39)"
