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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (March 13, 1960)
DRINKING DRIVERS ARE GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER! By HORACE E. CAMPBELL, M.D. CHAIRMAN, AUTOMOTIVE SAFETY COMMITTEE, COLORADO STATE MEDICAL SOCIETY Experts can spot a deadly drunk yet laws still free him Last year an estimated 15,000 people were killed . and 800,000 injured by drinking drivers. Yet in all but four of our states, unrealistic laws have per mitted nearly three-fourths of these drivers to kill without suffering legal penalties. Hie situation is deplorable. Something drastic must be done soon! In my home town of Denver, a man whose blood alcohol tested 20 percent in a chemical analysis struck another car and killed both its occupants. After a year of legal sparring, he was acquitted by a jury because his lawyer cast doubt upon the tech nical competence of the police chemist. Such things shouldn't happen, yet they do almost daily. Most states have laws reading something like this: "Any person under the influence of intoxicating liquor or narcotics who drives any vehicle upon any high way... shall be guilty of a misdemeanor..." The crucial phrase is "under the influence." When is a driver "under the influence"? How many drinks does it take to make him dangerous? Somehow, the figure of .15 percent alcohol con tent in the blood has become ingrained as the edge of intoxication, although it has been proved scientif- ically that a. much lower blood-alcohol content im pairs the acuity needed to operate a car safely. Even so, only four states New York, Kansas, Idaho, and Utah have laws requiring chemical tests of drivers involved in accidents upon penalty of losing their licenses if they refuse. Dr. Herman Heise of Milwaukee has made exten sive studies of the effects of alcohol. In one study, he gave a group of drivers five ounces of whiskey; in no instance did the blood-alcohol percentage ex ceed .10. Dr. Heise reported: "With no exception, these subjects were able to pass creditably the ordinary tests used to determine drunkenness and perform adequately routine actions of driving. "However, there was a definite variation from the normal in actions that had not become a habit, such as avoiding obstacles placed in the road, backing the car, and substituting an unusual action for the one normally used. Reaction times were somewhat in creased, and all subjects lacked appreciation of changes in judgment and motor control." This might be the man approaching you on the highway today. Legally, he isn't "under the influ ence." But he would be a bad risk, indeed, in an emergency situation. Numerous other studies have borne out Dr. Heise's conclusions. The Holcomb study in Evans ton, 111., showed that casualty risks began increas ing at an alcohol concentration of .05 to .06 percent Despite such evidence, highway safety statistics have consistently hidden behind this .15 percent fig ure in assessing sobriety. The latest National Safety Council figures show that 21 percent of the drivers . involved in fatal accidents had been drinking a figure even council officials admit is low because of the way individual states report their statistics. In contrast, council investigations into holiday acci dents show that more than half of the fatalities in volve drinking drivers. What can we do about it? Plenty. For example, I suggest these four simple steps which, if adopted by every state in the nation, would drastically cut highway accidents caused by drinking drivers: 1. We must have legislation which makes it spe cifically illegal to drive with a blood-alcohol level of .05 percent or more. 2. We should have an "intermediate offense law" which carries an automatic penalty for any driver whether or not he has been involved in an acci dent who has a blood-alcohol level of .05 percent or greater. The new intermediate law with certainty of conviction would make most drivers think twice before taking that second drink. 3. A blood-alcohol test (known as "implied con sent" in the four states which now have it) should be mandatory in every traffic accident The results of this test should be admissible and incontrovert ible in court It can be made easily and accurately. 4. There should be a mandatory jail sentence for all drivers found "under the influence," with no plea of extenuating circumstances permissible . The purpose of legislation embracing these four points would be preventive, not punitive. Only by convincing drivers that they will have the book thrown at them if they drink can we get at the evil. Just a few police patrol cars, equipped with port able kits for the analysis of alcohol on the breath plus the assurance of an automatic jail sentence for drinking drivers could dissuade a good many millions of people from drinking before driving. Education, of course, also is needed. One excellent educational tool is the newly released cartoon film, "Stop Driving Us Crazy," produced by the Meth odist Church. It deals with the problem on ethical and moral grounds without being "preachy." But, in the end, responsibility is a personal thing. Remember, the next time you have two drinks you are not capable of operating a motor car safely, no matter how sober you think you are. We've been kidding ourselves for years about the seriousness of drunken driving. We can't solve it with new safety slogans or padded statistics. We can solve it only by getting tough with the drunks. And we'd better start doing it soon. IIIM mi mi II I ill m 1 1 III I II I ll i COVER: Heavyweight boxing champion Inge mar Johansson is snapped by Jerry Yulesman in New York's exclusive Gaslight Club, where Ingo samples the orange juice. To find out "What Makes Ingo Run" see p. 6. LEONAtO S. DA VI DOW President end Publisher WALTER C DKEYHIS Vice President PATRICK E. OYOURKE Advertising Director Send all advertising communications to Family Waakty, 133 N. Michigan Avo., Chicago I, III. Adams all communications about editorial foaturos to Family Weakly, 60 E. 56m SJ, Now York 22. N. Y. . March 13. 1960 Board of Editors i- r- it MM IflirtMlf l mm nwiiwmwi Harold London, Jack Ryan; Pi ERNEST V. HEYN Editor-in-Chief EN KARTMAN Executive Editor ROtERT FITZGIUON Msnaging Editor MARGARET KU Feature Editor PHILLIP DYKJTRA Art Director MELANIE DE PROFT Food Editor H. r. Hoi! O IMO, FAMILY WEEKLY MAGAZINE, INC, 153 N. Michigan Avo.. Chicago I, III. All rights mewl.
