Are we as the State of New Mexico doing everything we can to stop DWI?
“2 Killed in DWI Collision” was the headline on the top front page of the newspaper just one day after the New Year started. Our state has a problem when it comes to drunken drivers. Every year families are killed on our roads because someone drives drunk in our state. Governor Bill Richardson, Mayor Martin Chavez, and local law enforcement have all tried their hardest to put a stop to this annual event. Our state is not the only state to have to deal with drunk drivers but we do appear to have a higher rate then most states.
We have done many things to try to put an end to this tragedy in our state.
1. We have commercials that show the pain that drunken driving cause to families, friends and themselves.
2. We have provided free rides or free tows so people won’t drive drunk.
3. We have #DWI to call law enforcement for assistant with drunk drivers.
4. We jail people who serve drunks more alcohol.
5. We have increased law enforcement.
6. We have purchased equipment such as the batmobile to aide in law enforcement.
7. We force those convicted of driving drunk to have devices put on their vehicles that prevent them from being able to start their vehicles once they are drunk.
8.We have made the laws harsher by creating laws that provide for longer jail terms for those convicted of more than three offences of drunken driving.
9. We take the vehicles away from drunken drivers.
10. We put their names and faces in the local newspaper so everyone knows them.
Yet nothing appears to stop these individuals from driving drunk. The only good news is that the number of people killed by drunk drivers has gone down in the past few years. Yet the number of people getting caught driving drunk has stayed the same. In our county on the last night of the year 13 people were arrested for driving drunk.
The only component that this state has not put a lot of money into is treatment centers for people who suffer from alcoholism. State Legislators should look into increasing the funding put into the treatment of alcoholism. Families need to force individuals with this problem into treatment before they end up killing somebody on our state roads. Companies need to force their employees into treatment. There are no easy answers for how to solve this problem but it is going to take whole communities to put an end to the annual deaths on our roads because of drunken drivers.
We need to make it clear to everyone around an alcoholic that they need to make it crystal clear to those individuals that are driving under the influence if they are caught it will be a fast way to put an end to their life as they know it. People should understand being under the influence of alcohol is no excuse for killing anyone in our state and they will be forced to face the consequences of their actions if they are unwilling to get the help they so clearly need with their problem.
I would like to strongly suggest that the State legislators should look into crafting a law where metro court judges could require self payment of treatment as part of a first time offender’s sentence for drunken driving. The offender could be forced to pay for the treatment or spend time in jail. If we can take their vehicles from them or make them pay to put devices on their vehicles then we should be able to force them to pay for their own treatments to put an end to their problem with alcohol. Make no mistake people who drive drunk have a problem with alcohol.
