Drunk Driving laws in New York Essay

New York’s drunken driving laws, which seem to be adequate on paper, but did not have sufficient focus and cohesiveness to provide a substantial measure of anticipation. The combination of flimsy use of breath test laws, tolerant plea bargaining, grossly insufficient penalties and be short of commitment by the criminal justice system combined to lower New York’s effort for the tragic consequences of the drinking driver. As we know all the states have elaborated system of drunken driving laws, courts, enforcement, and punishment, but unfortunately these systems do not work properly. Arrest rates are considerably low and complex laws allow some offenders to escape any punishment. Other offenders can avoid a drunken driving conviction through an appeal haggle. Sentence requirements are not completed and permits are also not applied always. But unfortunately, these problems are not well known because state does not have good record systems. Drunk drivers have little fear of being stopped, convicted, arrested, and punished so they carry on drinking and driving. On Drunk Driving, the Senate Special Task Force came to know that New York’s laws did not provide strong fines for drunken driving offenders. And it also found that: The experience of other states where ruthless penalties have been tried such as obligatory jail for all convicted drunken driving offenders has revealed that these penalties have had a momentary effect at best. Where ruthless penalties have been susceptible, they should not been applied. Obligatory jail and so called â€Å"hard† license deferments, which outlawed offenders from holding controlled use licenses, provided an escape means for most drunk drivers, because public officials have recognized that efforts to impose harsh sanctions could decrease the possibility that drunk drivers would actually be convicted. Instead, New York stirred away from a scheme that focused on penalties to one that emphasized higher levels of enforcement and tribunal that were coupled with workable penalties and a public information and education crusade. Drunk driving in New York has decreased significantly for the past two decades. As the figures below show, most of the progress ended by about 1994. In 2000, drunken driving deaths increased for the first time since 1995. Traffic victims involving alcohol rose by 4%, from 15,976 in 1999 to 16,653 in 2000. The number of drunk drivers in fatal crashes rose by 6%, from 9,818 in 1999 to 10,408 in 2000. Drunken driving control strategies: Good laws, active enforcement, and effective punishment- Good laws that are strongly supported and enforced with meaningful penalties decrease drunk driving. Three other strategies support this policy. Public education updates drivers, especially young drivers, about alcohol and drunken driving subjects. Alcohol dealing is important for problem drinkers. Alcohol control measures such as minimum legal drinking ages and alcohol server training help diminish drinking in situations that may lead to drunk driving. With tough laws, enforcement, and punishment at the center, these strategies support and endorse a community standard that drunk driving is not tolerable. A strong system that affects everyone- Drunken driving laws and enforcement should send a message: drunk driving is not tolerable. A strong drunk driving control structure increases both the public sensitivity and the truth that drunk drivers will be often detected, arrested, convicted, and punished. The STOP-DWI Program:- STOP-DWI means â€Å"Special Traffic Options Program for Driving While Intoxicated†. It was invented by the State Legislature in 1981 for the reasons of authorizing counties to coordinate local efforts to decrease alcohol and other drug-related traffic crashes within the milieu of an inclusive and financially self-sustaining statewide highway safety program. The STOP-DWI legislation allows each of the State’s 62 counties to launch a county STOP-DWI Program which will qualify the county for the return of all penalties collected for alcohol and other drug-related traffic offenses occurring within its authority. Each county is given broad judgment in the direction of its program. The local option concept set forward by the Legislature just requires that the programs address alcohol and highway safety questions and be non-duplicative of related enduring labors. The strategy includes several serious elements: †¢ Punish all offenders with unswerving and convinced sanctions and increase the severity for second and subsequent offenses. †¢ Evaluate all offenders for alcohol problems and assign healing as appropriate. †¢ Control offenders so that assigned sanctions, healing, and other court-ordered Requirements are completed suitably. †¢ Maintain good records so repeat offenders are identified precisely and apply more penalties on them. †¢ Establish performance measures for state drunk driving enforcement and negotiation. †¢ Establish schemes by which states can support each other in assessing their drunken driving laws or court procedures. †¢ Establish a clearinghouse for standards and enhancements in state records systems. â€Å"Rhode Island has the deplorable distinction of being ranked first in the nation in the percentage of highway fatalities related to alcohol. † In the past year, Rhode Islanders have been bombarded with anecdotes and statistics about the unusually solemn nature of drunk driving in the state as compared to other states. We are also notified about â€Å"loopholes† in the state’s drunken driving laws that permit drunk drivers to getaway punishment, or at least to be treated much more mildly than in other states. These stories inevitably prompt concerned statements from local officials, and fresh calls for tough legislation to address the problem. Among the most important are proposals to criminalize sanctions for breathalyzer refusals, to authorize roadblocks for random alcohol checks, and to allow police to obtain warrants to compulsorily haul out bodily fluids from alleged drivers for chemical testing. Rhode Island’s below-average alcohol fatality records are not now a recent happenstance. That study shows that Rhode Island’s overall fatality rate was lower than the national average every year between 1982 and 2002, and – even more to the point – its alcohol-related fatality rate surpassed the national common only once during those two decades.