: Is a drink driving killing murder?

Like all things, we take our chances in life, and just getting into a vehicle drunk or not, is one of many things that can go wrong, like being born for instance.

There's a hundred things that can go wrong at any time "so should all things that cause death be treated in the same way?...... We can call 1000's of other day to day risks that could also come under the same example.

To chance any of the currant laws that are in place, would just be silly.

cc

Good article, drink drivers are very selfish. Fines, demerit points, loss of licence are just aren't enough. Sure, life is full of risks but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to reduce the risk where we can. Young people won't take anti drink driving messages seriously unless there are serious penalties for drink driving. Drink driving is not the same as driving when you're tired - sometimes you can't get enough sleep, but you can always not drink. Also if you make a choice to drive when you're very tired, you can't expect there to be no consequences if you hurt someone.

While I appreciate the sentiment of the article, I've been a bit distracted by the opening sequence of statistics. Hopefully someone will be able to explain where I'm going wrong here, as I just can't make them add up.

We start with 1.2 million deaths in road accidents.

We then learn that 1/3 of accidents are alcohol-related (though no specific statistic for road fatalities with links to alcohol is given - I'm happy to assume that's 1/3 as well). So that's 400,000 each year.

We then learn that there *may* have been over 100,000,000 people killed by drink driving.

For this to add up, we have to assume that:

a) the 1.2 million figure is a historical constant, and

b) people have been drink driving for more than 250 years.

The statistic is alarming and, if true, lends considerable weight to the article. I just can't see it, though.

Hi Otokonoko
Thanks for your comment and I agree with your calculations. Exact statistics do not exist and there is no guarantee that there have been more than 100 million drink driving deaths. The statement that there 'may' have been more than 100 million deaths world wide over all time took into account:
- the possibility that at some times and in some places the percentage of deaths caused by drink driving was significantly more than one third. It may sometimes have been less than this, but it seems more likely to have been higher on average, due to less warnings and rules about drink driving in the past;
- in many countries road traffic deaths have decreased in recent decades due to seat belts; better vehicles, roads and medical treatment; and more enforcement of laws e.g. drink driving laws.
- drink 'driving' deaths from non-motorised forms of road transport in earlier times when roads were poor and rules were virtually non-existent - many of those deaths would have been alcohol related.

Again, no one knows how many, but the numbers are clearly very large. Thanks again for your comment.

< Few acts better exemplify reckless indifference to the value of human life than drink driving. >

William, I share your great concern about drink-driving and road-safety in general, but I think you’re overstating it here.

Sure, it is true for many drink-drivers, but there are also presumably many who are only just over the limit and/or only drive a very short distance home after a night out, and do so carefully, but who get sprung and then get lumped into the worst-of-the-worst category of dangerous drivers.

It is not my intention to defend drink driving at all…. it is indefensible…but let’s be careful about placing everyone in the same basket.

Same thing with speeding. Most people who are caught for speeding are doing only a little bit over the bookable limit.

The problem lies with the policing regime! For as long as many people think that there is only a tiny chance of them being caught, they’ll break the law, sometimes and mostly in a minor way, but break it they will.

The policing of drink-driving is pathetic!

I’ve just travelled for four months through all the major cities in southeastern Australia and all the highways and towns in between. In tens of thousands of kilometres I was subjected to one single random breath test!

For as long as the regulatory regime is so dismally not up to the job, many normal people who are for the most part careful and responsible citizens will push the envelope a bit, with drink-driving, speeding and various other bad driving practices.

The art of driving is to never put yourself at risk of being booked for anything.
A little bit over is putting yourself in the category of being booked.
If you kill someone while you are in this bookable category it has got to be seen as murder no 1.
Driving should be zero alcohol, the same as trucks.