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
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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
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H.
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