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Description and Evaluation
of NCADD's Web Site:
The NCADD, otherwise known as the National Commission
Against Drunk Driving, has put up TSRA's (Traffic Safety Research Abstracts/Applications)
in affiliation with Wichita State University. The function of this
site is to provide the casual web surfer or inquisitive researcher about
the various studies done on the horrible problem that America has faced
for many years, drunk driving. Their staff of experts also make an
attempt to contribute to and review the abstracts, taking an active role
in providing possible applications for the program person in the field.
Some of the areas that are focused on, which will be discussed more in
depth later on in this report, are youth in conjunction with drinking and
driving, drinking and driving with young adults, and chonic drunk drivers
who plague our streets every day and refuse to quit. A few other
topics that the NCADD touches on are the uses of technology to reduce repeat
drunk drivers, treatment of DUI offenders, and how legal sanctions play
a role in the world of DUI.
What I admire of this web site is how they tend
to cover all of the major age ranges when covering a large topic such as
this. I feel that this site allows the web surfer to get a taste
of what DWI activism is in a simple, non-complex way.
Youth
and Adolescents
What this article covers are the tactics and ways
to prevent youths and adolescents from drinking and driving behavior.
What this article also covers is how "scare tactics" seem to take an effect
on the youth's attitude towards drinking and driving and how it may or
may not influence the child in terms of how it is taken into consideration
or refused by the youth.
As for my opinion on the tactics used in the article,
I believe that hard laws should be made up to prevent these happenings
and "scare techniques" should be used, but what I believe is most important
are the connections within the family and how the family communicates about
such issues as drunk driving. Another factor my be to let famous
people, such as sport stars and movie stars, be spokespeople for drunk
driving because youths and adolescents need someone who can act as a role
model to them. That's where I believe can make the most impact.
Young
Adults
This article points out how young adults, ages 21
through 34, tend to view drinking and driving behaviors. This article
also supplies a few do's and don'ts for trying to reach young adults, those
who are at the ripe age for drinking and driving. Here it seems that
it's less of a prevention but more of an intervention because those around
this age, who are drinkers, tend to become drunk drivers. So the
problem here is not to prevent the number of becoming drunk drivers, but
to intervene and help the already drunk drivers.
It seems to me at this age young adults need to
be focused more and be oriented to new goals and ideas that occupy them
to the poing that they don't think about drinking or driving. Allowing
young adults and stay active could be a deterrent or intervention to the
problem, and I believe that creating activities for this age group, in
the community, would cut down on the overall number of drivers, including
the drunk ones.
Chronic
Drunk Drivers
This article goes over some stats about chronic
drunk drivers and the damage to do not only for the ones they hurt, but
for all of us as well. The chocking statistics would definitely wake
anyone up, even those who srive drunk themselves. What this article
also stated was a few preventive measures taken against chronic drunk drivers
to deter their actions behind the wheel after they have had a drink or
two. These preventive measures are methods such as license suspension
along with educational and treatment programs, impoundment of vehicle,
and ignition interlock devices. What this article also points out
is that time and time again, chronic drunk drivers will tend to get back
behind the wheel due to the good chance that they won't get caught again.
Overall it seems that the best treatment would be some material intervention
such as license revocation or car impoundment along with some type of counseling
intervention such as Alcoholic Anonymous or some other type of support
group.
What I feel about all these preventive measures
and other means is that I don't understand how drunk drivers can cause
more damage, in terms of money wise, than the amount of money we punp into
preventing those types of behaviors. That just does not come out
right. I believe that chronic drunk drivers need to be stopped through
the use of intervention devices and any other means possible. That
one extra road block I see at night while I drive will make me feel more
secure as I drive Hawaii's streets.
Using
Technology to Prevent DWI
Reporting that a high amount of drunk drivers continue
to drive after some type of intervention has happened, such as license
revocation, and that the sentence of jail time does not stop drunk driving,
many states have begun to use electronic devices, such as ignition interlock
devices, to take place of the jail time and in hopes of it being a better
deterrent. An evaluation of these electronic devices showed a large
drop in drunk driving when these devices were installed. Although
this requires long use and a large cost, both factors have to be dealt
with by the drunk driver saving the society money as well as insuring their
safety.
Another electronic intervention is the electronic
monitoring system. As this basically tracks the drunk driver under
sentence, the police or whoever runs this service will be able to track
the individual at all times and if drunk driving does take place, prompt
arrest does take order deterring the driver from harming others as well
as him/herself.
I believe that electronic intervention is the key
to establishing a new and improved society. Definitely, interventions
such as these should be implemented because jail time alone does not have
any affect at all. The driver is just locked away from us for a little
while, but is not actively engaged in counseling or other preventive measures
that need to be actively implemented.
Treatment
of DUI Offenders
Reports have shown that although license suspension
and other similar types of intervention has been effective against non-chronic
drunk drivers, the same interventions have little or no effect on those
who are chronic drunk drivers. Further educational programs about
drunk driving has help minor offenders, but as for the chronic drunk drivers,
some educational interventions seem to increase their drunk driving behaviors.
"A review of 215 studies found that, compared to
traditional legal sanctions, a combined intervention approach consisting
of education, licensing sanctions, psychotherapy/counseling, and follow-up
supervision, such as regular contact with a probation officer or aftercare,
reduced recidivism and alcohol related crashes 7-9%." This quote
taken from the actual report demonstrates the amount of work and prevention
our society must endure in order to reduce the fear of chronic drunk driving.
Furthermore, these intervention programs have to be implemented for, sometimes,
as long as 2 years.
It's certainly unfortunate that during this time
we have to offer interventions as extreme and costly as this, but as it
is necessary to protect our streets and societies, the price may have to
incur the costs that it causes to our community and our highways.
This site is run by Mr. Lawrence Taylor, a former
prosecutoe and Fullbright Professor of Law, who is nationally recognized
as, "the formost authority on DWI/DUI." Being that the site is run
by a lawyer, it is very law oriented, but it also contains a lot of useful
information on DWI activism and other factors relating to drunk driving
such as explaining what "mouth alcohol" is in the FAQ section and also
to the extent of providing transcripts and audio of lectures given by Mr.
Taylor about DUI.
I find that Mr. Taylor's approach to DWI is very
convincing due to his expertise in the law field, as him being a former
prosecutor, and also to his extensive knowledge on how DUI and the law
mix together. Being that this is a site dedicated to educating others
about the law and DUI, it is certainly important because it offers content
directly from a lawyer's point of view. There's no need for a costly
consultation with a lawyer in your town, just come to Mr. Taylor's page.
New York's DWI (NYDWI) site is a site geared to the
citizens of New York as well as the rest of the United States. Providing
NY DWI bulletins, they provide some of the latest information cometributing
to the education of DWI laws, regulations, and fatalities.
Relating to anyone who wants information about DWI,
even though you're not from New York, is their DWI Info page which provides
information on topics such as selecting a lawyer, breath anlyzers, and
the latest technological intervention devices.
As it is a site concerning issues is DWI, it is
supported by Fiandach & Fiandach, a company founded by Edward Fiandach,
"one of the best-known DWI defense lawyers in New York." Being that
this site is supported by such a well known lawyer and by providing content
that is informative and educational, I find that this site is convincing.
Relating to issues such as DWI makes any page like this important as well
as effective because it provides great info on the latest technologies
in DWI/DUI intervention and issues in that area.
How My Report Compares
to Others:
I found that others who also did this report to
be very involved and filled with great content to the point where they
can be souces for anyone looking for DWI activism pages. Everyone who did
this report was successful in finding the gist of the articles by reading
them with an analytical frame of mind and I found that the other's responses
to the articles were throughtful as well as intriguing.
Others presented their pages well and were filled
with appropriate graphics and nice use of different color letters to indicate
purpose and to draw attention to the main words. I hope that my page
compares to theirs as well as it can.
Conclusion:
DWI activism is widespread on the internet.
Almost everyhting you need to find out on DWI or DUI is on the internet
and beyond as some sites relate it to law while others focus more on statistics
and general findings. Explore in more depth the pages that I have
proposed and read my report to conjure up new questions such as, "What
else can I do about DWI activism? Is is possible to promote DWI activism
on my web page?"
Take everything that you read as a possible intervention
to DWI or DUI because those things are something that we all should and
must be aware of and the only way that we will all know about it is though
education and helping each other. Take the time and learn about these
things and then imagine what you can do to address that problem.
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