Psychology of DWI Activism in Cyberspace

      This site, directed under the committee of "Coming Together Against Drunk Driving", provides
interested readers with information regarding the problems with young adolescents and their early
involvement with driving under the influence, and how it effects their driving and drinking habits as
they become adults.   Also the report points out the increasing populations of chronic drunk drivers
as well as prevention methods in making sure this problem does not get any disastrous than it already

is.  The NCADD (National Commission against Drunk Driving) site uses a clever way of breaking
up their individual topics into links so the reader stays interested.  Instead of using a long text to get
their information across, they use a more inviting method of letting the reader look up certain topics
at their leisure.  A reader may want to skip over certain topics that may not be of interest to them
and read only  the articles of  their choice.
 

YOUTH AND ADOLESCENTS

    The article states that scare tactics as well as awareness campaigns regarding drug and alcohol
abuse have proven to not be as successful in changing the behaviors in adolescent teenagers.  In fact,

awareness campaigns may have stimulated teenagers to try substances such as drugs and alcohol.
Other methods such as programs to change the adolescents' attitude have proven to be more
effective and long- lasting.  Enforcing stricter penalties for driving under the influence of alcohol for
teenagers seem to be another great method for controlling the increasingly dangerous problem on our

roadway.  I strongly agree that in order to control this problem of having increasing numbers of
drunk drivers on our roads there must be stricter penalties, especially for repeated offenders.
 

CHRONIC DRUNK DRIVERS

    This article addresses the issue of chronic drunk drivers who repeatedly commit illegal acts of
getting behind the wheel even though the court of law has suspended or revoked their license.  Often

they drive without a license and under the influence at the same time.  It also states that often the
legal proceeding are lengthy which gives the offender more time to drive and drink in the process.
Again stricter penalties such as revoking their license and automobile permanently, or until they show

signs of recovery from substance abuse.  Most offenders do seem to have a drug or alcohol
problem, which leaves them little incentive to stop drinking and driving.  It is literally an illness in
which the initial problem must be solved in order to illiminate the process of drinking and driving.
 
 
 

YOUNG ADULTS

  This article summarizes techniques which experts agree with and techniques, which should not be
used in preventing young adults from drinking and driving. They state that using scare tactics are not
very useful with teenagers since they automatically think to themselves that it could never happen to
them. Instead they emphasize using facts about how much alcohol is lethal when driving, or what can
happen when they drink and drive and its effects on themselves as well as their loved ones. Other
techniques involve using self-empowerment messages and place them in strategic places where these

young individuals may hang out. Also providing positive role models and showing the positive
outcomes are also very helpful in getting the message across. Using direct messages are the most
effective way of getting young adults to listen. The article also talks about developing policies at their
workplace  enforcing zero tolerance for drinking and driving and providing incentives for workers
who drive responsibly whether they are at work or on their day off. I agree with the article when it
explains the importance of a strategy and its effectiveness in getting the message across to young
adults in this country. They are intelligent beings who can decipher between false- campaigning and
the real deal, and are more apt to respect and follow a campaign that treats them as intelligent
beings.
 

  In this article they discuss the inability of our court systems, implementing jail time to drunk driving,
to correct the issue of repeat offenses. Long delays for trials involving drunken driving offenses
enable the offenders to continue their reckless behavior for long periods of time further endangering
our roadways. Jail time does not ensure that the offender will not drive drunk again, especially for
chronic drunk drivers. Experts believe that implementing interlock devices in their vehicles
substantially lower the event of another arrest, especially if it is enforced along with home monitoring
devices. They also state that although these methods are very effective, it does not solve the problem

of the drivers themselves who happen to be alcoholics. In order for these technological devices to be

effective it must be enforced with alcohol abuse counseling as well.
  I agree with the article when they address the issue of repeat offenders being alcoholics and the
only way they will solve this serious issue is to get to the root of the problem, which is to implement
counseling for alcohol abuse. Once they receive counseling, other techniques such as interlock
devices and home monitoring will be much more effective than if they were to enforce technology
alone to solve the problem of chronic drunk drivers.
 
 

  This article focuses on the issue of treatment for chronic drunk drivers instead of the light drinkers
who are arrested for the first time and usually do not get arrested a second time. Experts found that
with the repeat offenders a combined treatment would be the most effective in ensuring that they will
not commit a drunk driving offense again. Treatments such as education, sanctions involving
licensing, counseling, and continued supervision with a probation officer seems to be the most
effective method in preventing chronic drunk driving. I have to agree with the article when it talks
about combining methods of treatment in curing this drunk driving epidemic. With any type of
treatment, whether it is anger management or drug abuse, using several methods of treatment ensures

that the behavior will not occur again, or the probability of that behavior happening again would be
very low. I also believe with chronic drunk drivers the root of the problem would be alcohol abuse
and that problem should be addressed most importantly. A person who is an alcoholic and who
drives drunk all the time can be punished many times, but if they are not treated for the root of the
problem (alcoholism), what good will sending them to jail do?
 
 

  In this article research has shown that arresting chronic drunk drivers does not work and that
stricter, more severe methods of punishment should be implemented. By enforcing severe
punishments for drunk driving society will be less likely to commit this crime. This is not the case for
chronic drunk drivers who are alcoholics. Most of the time, these offenders will drink and drive even

after they have been arrested. That is why experts believe that instead of waiting for their trial date to

revoke their licenses, they should have their licenses taken away instantly at the time they are
stopped by a police officer. If the offender continues to drive even without a license, they will have
their car impounded and their license plates revoked, making it literally impossible to ever attain
another vehicle, legally, again. This article also mentions the use of interlock devices and home
monitoring to help drunken driving offenses from being repeated by the same offenders. Another
sanction that can be enforced would be to revoke the license of a youth that commits this crime and
be treated as an adult would under the same circumstances. Although I have to agree with the article,
for the most part, I believe that first time offenders should be given some leniency. It is the repeat
offenders who should be severely punished and have their licenses revoked.
 
 

DWI DEFENSE CENTRAL

    This report was made by an attorney named Richard Stefan who specializes in defending people
who have been arrested for DWI or DUI .  I thought it was interesting since he had made a library of
information regarding procedures involved with alcohol testing and science of alcohol, an attorney
one could consult with, sites one could look at related to DWI issues, and a chat room where one
could talk about their issues with other drivers in the same situation or talk with other professionals
and counselors. I think this website is important for individuals not knowing what to expect when
arrested under this serious charge of driving while intoxicated. It is effective in making the
resources readily available for people who are in serious trouble with the law.

STOP DWI PROGRAM
 
    This article was about a Deputy Bureau Chief DWI Coordinator named Dennis Lavelle who committed himself to enforcing strictor penalties to drunk driving offenders by enhancing the level of prosecutorial services in this area.  This office in conjunction with the Nassau county police department  are working together to speed up DWI cases in order to make prosecution more efficient and, therefore, prevent the increase of drunk driving offenses in general.  One of the ways in which they are improving this process is by developing good trial attorneys to make prosecution more effective and prompt.  Another method the bureau is using  is making sure police officers give a demonstration of the Intoxilyzer 5000, which measures the level of alcohol in the defendant's blood, a major part of the trial.  Educating the public is another way of improving the system by giving lectures at middle schools as well as high schools about the dangers of driving while intoxicated and the severe consequences that could follow if they choose to break the law.  I believe that the system of prosection takes too much time and allows for system overload.  As a result, the legal system cannot function at it's optimal level, therefore, it is unable to enforse the law as effective as it could.
 

    In looking at other student reports from my generation, I was very impressed with the icons I saw.
They were definitely a treat to look at. Since I still have not figured out how to use the icons for my
own report, I was definitely surprised at how highly technical they can be. For example, the types of
movements they were capable of doing such as the flashing of words they would exhibit, or the way
they moved across the page really captured my attention. The student's creativity definitely makes for a more interesting read.  Personally, since I have no knowledge in icon area, I am too afraid to attempt to make icons since I may do more damage to my report and will not be able to correct it!
Although in context I feel as though I contributed quality work to this assignment,  so did many other students from my generation.
 

    Future generations can use my report for reviewing the different types of information that is available concerning  Driving While Intoxicated  My report also serves as the very basic model of how a report can be done.  If they want to add images or icons in strategic places they may click on the Format link on the top of the page.  In order to look for images to use they may open new image files by clicking on the Image icon at the top of the page, or other students used search engines and typed in" images", or "icons" to find the ones they liked. There are thousands to choose from and once they have chosen them they would open their own icons file. Since I knew nothing about the internet, I was leary about being too adventurous and chose to do a basic report. My advice, as a beginner, to other students would be to do things step by step, and be sure to upload your new information each time you accomplish a certain phase of the assignment so your work does not mysteriously get erased by the computer ( I learned the hard way!).  I first set up an outline of each different heading I was going to write about and then proceded to fill in the different areas from top to bottom.  I also did my links and the tedious work first and then the basic information last. I am not sure if it will work well for the more experienced students, but it worked for me.