July 25, 2007

Civil Liberties

On-the-Spot License Suspension

Carroll Andrew Morse

Utilitarian or libertarian? Choose your side, with respect to this Bruce Landis article in today’s Projo…

In 41 states, if you drink, drive and fail the breath test, your license is suspended on the spot.

And that, a national study released yesterday said, is the way to cut drunken-driving deaths: quick punishment, it said, brings a significant, measurable reduction in the death rate.

In Rhode Island, one of the nine states without such a law, it can take weeks or months to suspend the license of a drunken driver…

The study found that the pre-conviction suspension laws reduced alcohol-related fatal accidents by 5 percent, which they estimate would have saved at least 800 lives per year in the United States.

The study’s central point is that immediate punishment is essential to effectiveness.

Note: All “driving is a privilege” based arguments will immediately be ridiculed. The government doesn’t have the power to create "privileges" that it can choose to bestow upon some citizens, but not others.

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