I hope the previous posts have sufficiently explained why I do not see a discussion over the specific drinking age as all that significant to the problems at hand. Consequently, I will use this post to discuss the issue of drink driving specifically. In addition, this discussion will take place in the form of a comparison between the US and other countries.
Drunk driving is defined differently in different countries. In the U.S. the legal limit for driving under the influence (of alcohol) is 0.08mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood (Blood Alcohol Concentration). This is high compared to many other countries around the world. For instance, in Japan, the legal definition of DUI is 0.03%, El Salvador: 0.05%, Chile: 0.045%, Denmark: 0.05%, 0% if one is involved in an accident, Netherlands: 0.05%, 0.02% for drivers with less than 5 years of experience. The majority of countries in the world appear to have stricter definitions of DUI as compared to the U.S.
But more than simply a definition of DUI, what is important is to compare DUI penalties. For this purpose, I will compare the U.S. and Singapore, as both countries have the legal definition of drunk driving set at 0.08% BAC. Owing to different state legislation in the U.S., it is difficult and messy to pinpoint exact penalties. However, the site of public opinion, Wikipedia, has this to say “Compared to many other countries penalties for drunk driving in the United States are light, unless drink is involved in an incident causing injury or death of others, in which case they are very heavy compared to other nations…Some states, such as Wisconsin, do not revoke driving permits even if the offender is convicted multiple times.” The observation about Wisconsin is true, as listed on the official website for DUI penalties. Singapore too does not revoke one’s license, according to the Traffic Police Website. However, all offenders, first time or otherwise, will have their license suspended for “at least year”. Moreover, the penalties for multiple convictions of drunk driving are harsher, with a year’s imprisonment and a fine, once one receives a second conviction. On top of that, offenders involved in an accident are liable for corporal punishment.
Perhaps one of the ways by which the U.S. can address the drunk driving problem, apart from tussling over the drinking age, is to implement stricter and harsher punishments for offenders. It appears that lawmakers are aware of this, having passed new laws earlier this year.
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Wow...I never knew that the US was less stringent than other countries regarding drunk driving. Is it because of all the "freedom" that Americans have? Why is it so? What makes the US different from other countries?
ReplyDeleteThen again, implementing a universal law would be difficult and would take time.
The US also does not use the metric system, while all other countries do...hmmm...just something else I thought of (random though)
haha. The US is strange! Well, all countries have their quirks I suppose. Regarding your question on what makes the US different, I don't think it's so much because the US is one way and the rest of the world another (as in the case of the metric system :P) but that the US is its own way.
ReplyDeleteI think a huge contributing factor to that difference is the way the government of the US is structured. As you point out, "implementing a universal law would be difficult and would take time." However, that's not quite a good reason not to try, is it? And it need not be universal, it need only reflect certain common principles.
Another possible reason why there seems to be so much "freedom" is probably because of the sheer size of the country. Makes it a bit hard to catch drunk driving offenders, especially once they cruise out of the area of a particular jurisdiction.