An issue that concerns me is the sentences given to people convicted of drink driving offences, especially culpable driving. How much longer will we be forced to endure the pain and atrocities due to the carelessness of drunk drivers? Drink Driving has been a problem in Australia since the introduction of automobiles, but it did not become a social issue until the 1980's. At that time, crime was defined as a problem within individuals. Drink driving is illegal in every state, although the figures show a lot of people do not follow that law. This year, 33% of all fatal road crashes involved alcohol or drugs. Only 9% of those who were at fault were charged, with the average punishment being license suspension for 3 months. My main concern is culpable driving. Culpable driving is defined as recklessly causing the death of another while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The maximum term for culpable driving causing death is 20 years. However, this sentence is rarely given out. Most of you would have heard about the deaths of Josh Martin and Jack Gilhooley on Lower Plenty Road in July 2001. I knew both of them really well, and I also knew the other 2 guys that were in the car that night, and also the driver, Daniel Calderara. I had spent the night with all of them before they decided to go for a drive. The Lexus they were in hit a brick fence, a pole, rocks and a tree before slamming into a brick house. Josh died at the scene, Jack 2 hours later in hospital. The other 2 were taken with serious injuries. Daniel walked away from the accident that killed his 2 best friends with minor scratching and bruises. Daniel was doing at least 130 km/h when this happened and his BAC level was 0.125. He swore under oath to the court that he had only drunk two bourbon cans, but I was sitting next to him the whole night and he drank a lot more than that. There is no way that if he only had 2 cans that 4 hours later, when he was breath tested, he could have been 0.
