By Stephen Owsinski:
Incredibly, the number of DUI offenders has diminished in the United States. Even including driving while drugged, the number of impairment-related offenses has declined according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in its latest report findings.
Although the data is reassuring, the core method by which their numbers were obtained calls for scrutiny. Measured via self-reporting, the conclusions drawn regarding under-the-influence offenses remain dubious. Please do not puke because it reminds you of Hillary, but “implicit bias,” perhaps tag-teaming with ego, is definitely a common denominator pertaining to the details. Humans sometimes paint a peachy picture when they know the truth is rather drab or when embarrassment gnaws at the psyche.
Moreover, intentionally taking a survey given by a federal agency in which respondents are essentially self-incriminating is suspect, even if no identifiers were required. Nevertheless, let’s suppose the respondents were (ahem) candid, forthright, and had the wherewithal (sobriety) and honesty to report in full scope their alcohol and/or drug use while operating a motor vehicle.
According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a subset of SAMHSA, data compiled in 2014 indicate new lows—11.1 percent of Americans claim they drove drunk, 4.1 percent report they drove while under the influence of one or more illicit drugs, and 2.4 percent admitted they drove under the influence of a blend of drugs and alcohol.
Per the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 10,265 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes in 2015, up from 9,943 in 2014. Self-reporting aside, concrete data gathered from police reports highlight the pervasiveness of driving under the influence.
Dividends from Cops’ Efforts
Pretty much every law enforcement agency in America has some semblance of a DUI Enforcement unit, supplemented by every cop it employs, as is the case at my agency. Every single law enforcement officer investigates drunk driver offenses. As one of my agency’s traffic safety officers, I attended various meetings with LEOs, traffic engineers, and DOT personnel, as well as devoted, vested citizens whose loved ones were killed in DUI incidents. Politicians were present too, each of whom lost a child to a DUI incident. All the people whose lives have been affected were in the room, strategizing to rein in the recklessness.
Similarly, MADD Vigils are an annual congregation of cops, family members, prosecutors, and media folks paying respect to the souls lost in DUI fatalities. Courageously, usually one new face attends each year and, with raw conviction, shares how they drove drunk and maimed or killed others. That epitomizes courage! Some would say it is too late, but there is value in forgiveness and redemption. Those same truth-tellers stand at a podium, tell their story (including introspection while incarcerated), and never minimize how much they consumed or how frequently they drank or consumed drugs before operating a car. They are in the room with the police who clean up the mess, the prosecutors who seek justice, and the many loved ones who carry the broken pieces .
From monthly Community Traffic Safety meetings, family-strength bonds form between cops and survivors. We could argue that cops are also survivors many times over. Tragedy sometimes delivers godsends, and I cherish each and every relationship born from the death and destruction of strangers; however, not for a second should we believe the issue will simply fade away.
Some police officers I have worked with became cops solely based on a DUI-related tragedy they suffered personally. Similar to cancer, we are all afflicted or know of someone who is impacted, and from that, our levels of empathy and oath-bound compassion churn out the conviction to invest our hands in the fray.
There is good reason we have Zero Tolerance Laws in effect. The chance to call a taxi was available before climbing behind the wheel and motoring along a potentially life-changing trajectory.
Self-Reporting Versus Reality
Albeit retired now, as a cop, I liken self-reporting measures to the proverbial “I’ve only had one beer, officer” slurred testimony. Especially when caught in a DUI checkpoint or general traffic stop, people tend to exercise fight or flight dynamics and immediately downplay reality.
Accompanying either alcohol or drugs—or both—is typically a clouded mind. Brain cells are not filling up the bleachers in numbers, and so integrity of self-reporting measures is weak. We must also consider psychology and the Pandora’s box of half-truths or gross falsities inherent in self-reporting studies, especially for this particular subject matter. Embellishments are a thing, as is underreporting. The truth rests somewhere in the middle.
It is the police officer who is out there among under-the-influence individuals operating giant rubber-wheeled land torpedoes. Just ask any loved one of a victim of a drunk and/or drugged driver. In their own emotive fashion, they will reveal how they lost a child, father, mother, spouse, brother, sister, friend…and then follow up with how they gained strangers in their corner. Survivors and law enforcement officers tap into each other for strength to persevere.
Whether this self-reporting study is accurate or not, there is one certainty—DUI Enforcement units are out scouring for buzzed motorists who crossed the threshold several drinks ago, who lost count, and who incorrectly argue that they are just fine to drive. Whether one or nine, each glass, bottle, or can of alcohol is a potion for disaster. Each toke, snort, injection, or pill is slowing the brain of the driver who turns the ignition key.
I’ve spent a career listening to “It’ll never happen to me” knowing it was just a matter of time until I responded to the next traffic fatality and observed yet another drunk driver whose lifeless body was no longer able to communicate. Twisted metal, splintered plastic, and pressed lungs equaled the exclamation point of a storied life extinguished by a motorist who thought “just one” was definitive. How utopian. How sad. How skewed our math and judgments can be!
Automobile Accident News also reports DUI instances are down, equating reductions to a cultural shift: ”Drunk driving arrests are happening at an almost historically low rate across the board though, which definitely shows our culture trending away from this social issue that has almost always plagued us.”
I would argue that just because DUI arrests are reportedly down does not mean folks ceased drunk driving—that someone toggled a switch and our culture said “No more!” Police officers are consistently pounding the pavement to detect DUI violators. Given the mobile nature of this specific crime and not enough cops to cover vast swaths of territory, challenges are everywhere. No conclusive evidence indicates that the reduction comes from a culture-based movement; that is a hypothesis taken at face value, just like unsubstantiated self-reporting measures.
Further, “almost always plagued us” is an interesting choice of words. Defined, plague is an infectious disease, a pestilence. As used by Automobile Accident News, it is contextually debatable.
Humans drink alcohol, humans drive, and some humans drink and drive. Through two decades of policing, I met several sets of parents who lost a child to DUI. Each DUI instance unequivocally obliterates a family. Who gets to categorize DUI frequency as “almost always”? Endemically, DUI has long been a dilemma in the US.
I also argue how police officers passionate in DUI enforcement spend most of their off-duty days in courts of law, testifying in hordes of DUI prosecutions, losing tons of sleep. The cases are being plucked from all streets in all jurisdictions with no signs of stopping.
There are no grand-sweeping things in the SAMHSA study’s numbers. For its efforts, I respect any entity trying to gauge where we are with respect to DUI- and drug-related driving offenses. For some, the “Last call!” could have nothing to do with one final drink but could have everything to do with someone’s last breath, catastrophically forced from their lungs.
For those who are self-reporting driving drunk and/or drugged, please join the control group comprising those who deliberately and wisely tap the shoulders of designated drivers. There are many choices to safely transport anyone, anytime, anywhere. Otherwise, stay home with loved ones, Netflix, and pizza.
What do you think about this study’s numbers and methodology?
Stephen Owsinski is a Senior OpsLens Contributor and retired law enforcement officer whose career included assignments in the Uniformed Patrol Division and Field Training Officer (FTO) unit. He is currently a researcher and writer.
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