While drunk driving offenses have been a prevalent and severe issue in the United States for decades now, little has been done to truly combat the root of the issue. Driving under the influence of alcohol often results in injury inducing, damaging, and possibly fatal car crashes. Only a mere two years ago, Mississippi was named the worst state for DUI fatalities by the Maggio Law Firm. To add more, the Magnolia State was also ranked 18th of the worst states for drunk driving as of 2023 by Forbes. The state of Mississippi is clearly not doing enough to prevent fatalities or car crashed caused by DUI related issues based on these statistics. While some may criticize DUI laws in Mississippi for being too harsh on those convicted, perhaps even stricter laws on this crime will help fix this awful and ever-increasing problem in the United States today.
It goes without saying that driving under the influence is extremely dangerous. Being under the influence of drugs or alcohol can result in a decreased reaction time, poor concentration, poorer vision, bad judgment, and can even impair a person’s motor skills. This combination of issues that comes with being under the influence while being behind the wheel is a disaster waiting to happen.
And unfortunately, this disaster can lead to precious lives lost.
In the state of Mississippi, it is illegal for a person to drive with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08% or more. For a first time offender, the penalty is up to 48 hours in jail and a fine ranging from $250-$1,000, along with a license suspension of 120 days. From here, the penalties only increase. A third time offender will face one to five years in jail, a $2,000 to $5,000 fine, and a three year license suspension. Mississippi is known for having such strict laws on those driving under the influence. Despite the state not being very sympathetic towards DUI offenders, it still has a high amount of drunk driving offenses compared to other states in the United States. These laws are simply not enough to keep the Mississippi population from committing the crime of driving under the influence. There are measures that could (and should) be taken that will prove to be more effective than Mississippi’s current laws pertaining to driving under the influence.
A change that should be made to decrease the damages of a crash caused by somebody driving under the influence is lowering the BAC required to make it illegal to drive. Mississippi’s laws state that nobody can legally drive with a BAC of 0.08% or more. In some countries, however, it is more common for the BAC to be 0.05% instead of 0.08%. The state of Utah implemented this law (that no one can legally drive with a BAC of 0.05% or more), and saw very positive results. After this law was implemented, there was an 18% reduction in crash death rate per mile in the first year alone, and saw lower alcohol involvement in car crashes.
Another possible solution to this issue in the state of Georgia, is Joshua’s law. The primary driving restrictions of this law fall upon teens who have just received their license. Joshua’s law states that in the first six months of having your license your only passengers may be immediate family, and in the next six months only one passenger can be 21 or younger and all others must be over 21. This law also prevents new drivers from driving between midnight and 5 a.m. for any reason. These laws have a focus on teaching inexperienced drivers how to drive safely without an instructor or parent in the car, but Joshua’s law also imposes higher penalties and fees for DUI offenders. This law not only provides a state with more experienced drivers, but also extremely discourages driving under the influence. After the implementation of this law in 2007, Georgia saw fatality rates from car crashes drop by an astonishing 60%.
In 2022 alone, Mississippi had a whopping 198 car crash fatalities that involved alcohol. This statistic does not even include the amount of car crashes, injuries inflicted, or costs of damages. DUIs are an issue in Mississippi that likely cannot be stopped entirely, but they can most definitely be reduced and prevented. Mississippi will see less DUI offenses and fatalities if they adopted laws that we see work effectively in other states, such as lowering the BAC to %0.05 or even adopting Joshua’s law. Changes in these laws would give Mississippi more experienced drivers and would discourage drunk driving amongst its citizens. In doing this, there would be less drunk drivers, more saved lives, and better prevention of life-altering injuries that would benefit Mississippi in extremely positive ways.
