“Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does”,[font="times new roman"] said [/font]Jean-Paul Sartre. According to [font="times new roman"]Jean-Paul Sartre and the constitution of the United States, we are born with one of the basic rights as a human being - the freedom to choose. This is one of the most precious rights among the rights as a human being. The freedom of choice explains itself quite perfectly; it enables all human beings to have control of their life, making whatever choices that they want to, which also mean that they are free to decide what actions to take. However, this right comes with a side effect, which is the responsibility that we are to bear that result from the choices we make. But regardless, we still possess the ultimate power to choose, including the choice to drink and drive. Although “drink and drive" is a choice that is free for all human beings to make and no one have a specific right to stop you, the freedom in issues like these should be stopped or controlled, because this is a decision that could take away another person’s freedom of choice by taking away their lives.[/font]
[font="times new roman"]First of all, what is this substance called alcohol, how does it affect our body and how will that interfere with our driving? Alcohol is basically a drug that acts as a depressant and it is an active ingredient in beers, wines, and liquors. The intrusive nature of alcohol cause damages to our stomach, esophagus, liver, pancreas, heart, and, the most obvious of all, the brain. (Spencer, 2005) Prolonged drinking also damages the nerves that allow us to control our muscles and sense pain, temperature, pressure and position of body. (Spencer, 2005) In driving, the use of alcohol slows down our reaction and affects the skills necessary in the driving task, such as eye and hands coordination, eye movement control, tracking and steering, as well as information processing and judgment. [/font]
[font="times new roman"]That is just part of its disadvantages. What if our choices affect the lives of other people? What if our choices would limit the range of choices that a person could make by disabling the person, or even taking his right to choose by taking his life away? During 2004, 16,694 people in the U.S. died in alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes, representing 39% of all traffic-related deaths (NHTSA 2005). Of course, many people do survive terrible accidents but are disabled for life and require specialized therapy or supportive care. (Disabled-World, 2006) [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I met a person that, because of a drunk driver, broke virtually all her bones in a car accident and barely survived the accident. Right now, with her right arm immobilized and bruises all over her body, she stands as a testimony of the result of drunk driving. How could these people have to suffer from the lost of a loved one or become physically disabled for the rest of their lives while others drink and get drunk irresponsibly? What makes it worse is the fact that there are even drunk drivers that even refuse to admit their wrong doing and give excuses to get away from the crime! (Hanson, 2005) Therefore, I think that this choice to drink and drive should be controlled, and this could be done through many ways, namely through the government, the host of the drinking party, and finally, the drinker himself.[/font]
[font="times new roman"]The government, currently, is the major “controlling agent” in the drunk driving issue. Nineteen states (including Virginia) consider drivers to be intoxicated if their blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is 0.08 percent or higher. (DMV, 2006) It has also increased the number of BAC checks on the road. Nevertheless, the efforts are still not enough. I think that there should not even be a BAC limit and drunk driving should be “banned” completely. This is necessarily because a lot of people underestimated the amount of alcohol they consumed because one of the effects of alcohol is making you “feel” that you are alert and awake. One of the excuses that drunk drivers give for their actions is that they don’t think that they are impaired at all. (Hanson, 2005) This also reduce the effort of the drinker to figure out the amount of alcohol in his blood and whether he should drive or not as it limits down to one simple answer, no. Higher penalties could also be imposed on law offenders to “scare” people not to drink and drive. Another action to be taken is for the government to invest in commercials and advertisements to remind and promote anti-drunk driving.[/font]
[font="times new roman"]The party host also plays a big role in controlling drunk driving. By hosting parties and providing alcohol beverages, the party hosts serve as a “starter” for drunk drivers, providing them with the main substance that made drunk driving a dangerous act, alcohol. To prevent the worst from happening, certain measures should be taken by them to help in the effort of controlling drunk driving. Firstly, the party host should collect the car keys of every guest whether they are planning to drive or not, and return the keys to them at the end of the party once it is confirmed that they are alcohol free. Secondly, the party hosts should appoint a designated driver at a party that should not drink at all. This driver would then be responsible to transport back home guests who had even a little drink of alcohol back home. Lastly, party hosts should be prepared to have guests spend the night if there is a transportation problem.[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Finally, the drinker, who is the most important figure in this whole picture, also serves as the most important “controller” in this issue. Drinkers should take note that no matter what the other “controllers” do, they only serve as the resistors in the drunk driving issue and the final decision still lie in the hands of the drinker himself. Similar to the government and the party hosts, there are also simple preventive measures that one could do to stop one’s self from drunk driving. First, is to derive a “after-drink plan”, whether it involves appointing a designated driver or arranging public transportation, and tell a few friends about your plan and ask them to make sure that you follow that plan strictly. Second, is to give your car key to a trustable adult to keep while you drink and tell him/her not to give them back to you unless it is certain that you did not have any alcohol at all. [/font]
[font="times new roman"]In short, God created humans with the freedom to choose and to “drive” our lives, but if our choices, like drinking and driving, would affect the lives and freedom of other individuals, it should be controlled or limited. [/font]