It’s time New Jersey updated its drunk driving laws.
If you get caught drunk driving – and I mean really drunk driving – you should lose your license. For 10 years. I’d even go for some mandatory jail time while we’re at it. Enough of this three-month nonsense. Let’s really do something that’s going to sting.
I write this due to a report I read over at NJ101.5.com, concerning the idea of implementing a “diversion” program in the state for drunk drivers. Basically, it would work like this: You get a DUI, you basically get a get out of jail free card. Instead of losing your license for a few months and having the charge on your permanent record, you would be able to strike a deal where you’re on some sort of probation for six months and where you’d have a ignition interlock system installed in your car.
Incredibly, MADD is OK with this, which shocked me. Generally speaking, MADD is pretty far to the right when it comes to fighting drunk driving, but the group says the idea actually works. Some states – like New York –utilize it to success. Other states – like Pennsylvania – utilize it, but without the ignition interlock thingee, thereby creating a true get out of jail free card.
Well, I’m to the right of MADD on this one. I’m legitimately ready to throw the book at drunk drivers. There should be no second chances.
Although …
Although there should be discretion. Someone blows a .065? Maybe that’s where we go with an ignition interlock for six months. Maybe someone blew a .065 because they had just one more than they should have. Maybe someone blew a .065 but they don’t have a history of problem drinking.
And oh yes: I said a .065. Not a .08, as is currently the law of New Jersey and the rest of America. Newsflash: A .08 is someone who is flat drunk. Don’t believe me? Go to any blood alcohol calculator (BAC) on the web and punch in the numbers for yourself. I bet you’ll be surprised. I consider myself a professional drinker. Been doing it for years. I know my way around booze, know exactly where my limits are.
And for me, a 6-foot-3-inch male who weighs 190 pounds, I’d be barely over the limit if I had five drinks in an hour. Now let me tell you something: If I had five drinks in an hour, I’d be wasted and a legitimate danger behind the wheel. I’d also be a danger at 4.75 drinks in an hour, but guess what? I’d also be legal.
So step one: Lower the BAC threshold in order to keep people who are legit drunk off the roads.
Step two: Rejigger the law so the judge has more leeway when doling out punishments. There should be less punishment for my .06ers, but more for my .08ers. And it’s when we start getting to the .10ers that we need to start getting serious. Again, to give you an idea what a .10 looks like, it would be me slugging back a six pack of 4.5 percent alcoholic beer in an hour, or seven over a two-hour span. I’m very drunk at that point. I’m also someone moving at least 65 MPH in a 4,000 pound car, and Einstein (that dude who used to live in Princeton) said something about mass and energy and believe me, I’m liable to kill someone.
Now to be clear: Could I actually drive a car at .10? Sure. I can. And I bet most times I’d make it home just fine. But alas, there’s other people on the road, other innocent people, and they shouldn’t be forced to take the chance.
So yeah: And if I got pulled over with a .10 – or higher – that should be it. The penalty should be severe enough to keep me off the road for a long, long time.
Step three: Uber, you drunken fools. Just leave the car, call an Uber and be done with it.
There’s no excuse for drunk driving. Not one. And any move by the state legislature that would make it easier for drunk drivers to get their licenses back will be met with loud resistance from this guy over here.
Jeff Edelstein is a columnist for The Trentonian. He can be reached at jedelstein@trentonian.com, facebook.com/jeffreyedelstein and @jeffedelstein on Twitter.
