When individuals drive while intoxicated, their behavior endangers their own lives and the lives of everyone within range of their vehicles at any given moment. Oftentimes, sincerely responsible adults drive while illegally drunk based on a misperception that they are actually sober. Because alcohol metabolizes differently in the body based on a host of factors, one can feel sober and still be illegally “drunk” for the purposes of legally operating a motor vehicle.
When adults are unintentionally driving drunk and they are pulled over, they tend to be much, much more careful about letting an accidental DUI occur ever again. However, there are those individuals who remain negligent, reckless or act as a result of an addiction to alcohol. When these individuals become repeat offenders, their infractions become true cause for concern in terms of public safety.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Association is directly tasked with ensuring the safety of the nation’s roadway travelers. As a result, this agency has a unique interest in the matter of drunk driving recidivism. A single, unintentional and accidental DUI is (for better and for worse) understandable and relatively excusable. Repeat DUI offenses require swift action in order to ensure that the cycle of repeat drunk driving offenses is halted in regards to any particular motorist.
The NHTSA has recently taken some interesting and promising actions in regards to this specific issue. Please check back in later this week as we continue exploring this issue generally and explaining the NHTSA’s recent actions specifically.
Source: PRNewswire, “NHTSA Releases New Study on DUI Recidivism,” Alcohol Monitoring Systems, May 14, 2015
