Q: The Cleveland, Ohio suburb of Brooklyn has a new law banning mobile phone use while driving. It's based on a New England Journal of Medicine report which concluded that cell phone impairment is equal to driving with a .10% blood-alcohol concentration, the threshold for drunk driving in most states. Since talking on a cell phone while driving is equal to driving drunk, and we put people in jail for being marginally drunk, what is the fine for impaired cell phone drivers in Brooklyn, OH?
A: Three dollars. Yet if you're equally "impaired" at the threshold arrest level for DWI, you go to jail, forfeit your license and kiss more than $15,000 goodbye in various fines and other costs. No one condones drunk driving or alcohol abuse. But the growing cultural bias against adult beverages is creating a vindictive anti-alcohol climate in which political rhetoric, more than hard data and safety factors, dictates our policies.
Q: An adult male spends an hour drinking two beers at a bar after work and then immediately drives a half-hour to his home. A second man stops at a convenience store, buys one can of beer and drinks it while driving the same distance. At any point in time, his blood alcohol level is lower than the two-drink driver. Who will be punished if stopped at a random roadblock?
A: Despite having less alcohol in his system, the one-beer driver will face arrest. And the penalty for one drink while driving would be severe in most states. Having two drinks before driving, on the other hand, is OK. (It's not the distraction of drinking that triggers the penalty. After all, there's no penalty for driving while drinking orange juice.) No one condones drunk driving or alcohol abuse. But the growing cultural bias against adult beverages is creating a vindictive anti-alcohol climate in which political rhetoric, more than hard data and safety factors, dictates our policies.