Sandra Bullock, Husband James Hit By Drunk Driver

A Massachusetts woman whose blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit run head on into a vehicle carrying Sandra Bullock and her husband Jesse James. Neither Bullock or her husband James were injured in the collision, but the DUI driver - Lucille Gatchell was arrested. This latest accident involving an intoxicated driver is just the latest example of the ongoing problem of normally good and decent people getting behind the wheel of a car and driving while they are drunk. It has been proven over and over again that one of the major effects of alcohol on the human brain is that it cuts off the good judgment part of the brain to the point where normally well adjusted and mature people believe that they can drive when in reality they are in no condition to drive or make any logical choices.

While Sandra Bullock and her husband are OK and did not require hospitalization, thousands of times per day DUI drivers are responsible for sending people to the hospital and in some cases to the local morgue. While conservatives believe the best way to deal with this growing problem is to continue to pass stronger laws and incarcerate drunk drivers for longer periods of time. In reality, long prison sentences and even expensive fines have not slowed the ever growing problem of drunk driving in the United States. So what are Americans to do about this ever growing problem of drunk drivers taking to the roadways and risking the lives of other drivers? Rather than focusing on the DUI act itself, maybe citizens convicted of drunk driving should be forced to not only surrender their drivers licenses - but also all motor vehicles that are titled in their name. In addition to taking away the weapon that causes injury and death, maybe convicted drunk drivers should be forbidden from registering any motor vehicle in their name for a period of several months to a year?

In reality, even these new ideas to slow the growth of drunken driving will not work on the most hard-core cases, but it is a step in the right direction. Since society has been unable to scare drunk drivers into not committing their crimes, maybe stronger laws that will confiscate their property might give added strength to getting the drunk driver to obey the law. The reason most DUI laws are ignored is because the actual drunk is the only person that is held accountable for their criminal actions. If a drunk driver faces the lose of the family vehicle, other members of the family that need that vehicle for their own personal needs might put more pressure on the one family member that always drives drunk. Without pressure both from home and law enforcement, most die-hard drunk drivers will not stop their criminal behavior.

In recent years, there seems to be no stigma to any bad behavior anymore. Since most people don't give a darn what other people think about their actions, maybe laws should be constructed in a way that the families of drunk drivers are encouraged to help fight this problem? While putting more pressure on the families of habitual drunk drivers to help keep their family members off the road while they are drunk might sound like I'm going after innocent people, in reality no one that continually allows a family member to habitually drive drunk is complicit in that crime, as well. As any parent already knows, when their minor child is involved in criminal activity - the parents are held financially responsible for damages committed by that child. I do not believe it is that much of a stretch to also hold other family members accountable when someone in their family continues to ignore the law and put innocent people at risk because of that criminal behavior.

Title: Sandra Bullock, Husband James Hit By Drunk Driver
Written: April 20 2008
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