Drunk Driving As A Personal Freedom

Individual or specific deterrence seeks to deter the offender from re-offending. General deterrence seeks to deter the public from criminal behavior through the punishment of offenders. "Deterrence is based on the perceived certainty, severity, and celerity of detection and sanction" (Vingilis 645). People who support legal measures are calling for harsher laws and tougher punishments. Some of the proposed measures are: 1. Anyone convicted of drunk driving will be required to pay large fines (starting at $5,000 for a first offense). 2. Anyone convicted of drunk driving will be required to spend at least some time in jail or prison. 3. All convicted drivers will be required to have yellow license plates on their cars so that other people will know who they are and what they have done. 4. Anyone convicted will automatically lose their driver's license for one year. 5. Surprise roadblocks will be set up and police will stop all drivers and test them for drunk driving. 6. All convicted drivers who are alcoholics will be required to have psychological treatment. 7. An ignition interlock system will be installed in convicted driver's vehicles. 8. The possible seizure and sale of a repeat offender's vehicle, and 9. Lowering the blood alcohol level from .10% to .08%, since a person can still be drunk at .08%. The goal of legal deterrence is to make the offense a less appealing choice. Brandon Applegate refers to this as "dominant paradigm" (Bandura 177). A major problem the legal side faces is that policies are often subverted by implementation problems. Another problem is that shortly after the announcement of an increase in apprehension and conviction, offenses decline; however, reductions are not sustained and the rates of offending behavior soon return to the original level. Present day penalties for first-time violators are $250 to $400 in fines, twelve to forty-eight hours of required participation in an alcohol program, zero to thirty days in jail, six months to one year loss of driving privileges, and insurance surcharges.