The War On Drunk Driving And Prohibition

Could it be that one could end up like the other-----a failure?

Before you get your blood up over the amount of beer I consumed, bear in mind that I am just a shade under 200 pounds, and I drink beer almost every day of the year. In other words, consuming ten beers over the course of an afternoon and evening is not that big of a deal to me, (and my Mother’s maiden name is Hofmeister, if that explains anything). After the party, I caught a ride up to our team pub and had one more pint with the team.

At the end of the evening, though, I knew that I probably wouldn’t be able to blow less than Mr. Clinton’s requisite and arbitrary .08 BAC, and I decided I probably ought not to risk a DUI. My teammates, however, had already left the pub, and I had no place to stay for the night. So, I decided to catch a ride back to my truck where I could sleep. I spent the remainder of the night in a smashed heap on the bench-seat of my Ford Ranger.

Sounds somewhat responsible doesn’t it? Thanks to MADD’s "War on Drunk Driving," people like me were choosing to sleep off their buzz before driving home. A victory in the battle against drunk driving!

Unfortunately, while MADD can perhaps claim to have kept me from driving while slightly intoxicated, they cannot thereby claim a victory for safe driving. For, the following morning, I did not even remotely resemble a safe driver. After having overslept in my truck, I woke up with the sun cruelly beating down on my face, and sweat literally forming puddles on my vinyl seats. I also had a headache that nearly blinded me, eyeballs totally lacking moisture, and a kink in my neck that felt like I’d fallen down a flight of stairs. I was a wreck. So, while I was driving home sober that morning, I was also driving horribly – and I knew it.

From this example we can clearly see the fallacy involved in MADD’s most deeply-held belief. It is clearly not true that sober men are necessarily safer drivers than intoxicated drivers. I am a larger than average man who drinks beer almost every day, and I can function completely normally with beer in my veins. I am the first to admit, though, that I am a shockingly poor driver when I have even a slight hangover. But, thanks to MADD and the insane drunk-driving laws in this country, I am encouraged to drive when I know that I am not a very good driver. Some people may be worse drivers when they are drunk than when they have a hangover, but I certainly am not one of them. MADD’s "War Against Drunk Driving," and the draconian laws they have pressured Congress to pass, (utilizing the argumentum ad misericordiam to its fullest extent), forced me to wait to drive until I was in a physically and mentally worse condition. Quite simply, MADD and the U.S. Congress made me a more dangerous driver than I otherwise would have been.