Drink driving with the Libertarians

Our dear leader, Chris Mounsey of the Liberatian party, was on telly, in the audience on Nicky Campbell's Big Question show. The fifteen minute discussion was about whether to get rid of drink driving laws. He was a bit crap, and unable to articulate his points as clearly as either his missus who was also in the audience or the frothing at the mouth righteous folk wanting absolute bans.

There was a lady who son was killed by a gentleman doing 80mph in the wrong lane whilst over the limit, she wanted to change the law, lower the limit and increase the punishments.

Whilst the drunk driver who killed the lady's son was breaking the law, but criminalising thousands of people who didn't kill her son seems a bit spiteful.

Furthermore, road deaths are at their lowest ever, maybe they have bottomed out, maybe they haven't, but think about that. Currently one fifth of road deaths are caused by drunk drivers, these people are already breaking the law, ineffect, the law can't effect this fifth. In the four fifths of 'sober' road deaths there will be people who've had some alcohol but not enough to be over the limit. If the alcohol limit is lowered, then more sober deaths become alcohol deaths. The number of alcohol deaths rise.

Maybe this is a good thing.

Superstition, its where you think some people naturally have bad luck, or are haunted, they've displeased some god or some spirit, and to end their bad luck they need to make an offering or pray, or not build the new flats on the ancient burial ground. Whatever, you can do something, rather than be helpless, at the mercy of fate, you can pay the witch doctor. Futile, it may be, but its something.

So, by attributing more of the random and accidental road fatalities to alcohol, you can tighten up the drink driving sentences. It won't affect the number of road deaths, but it appeases the superstitious.

And if you're lucky, jury nullification will take care of any miscarriages.

What will lead to a decline in road deaths? Weel, that's just going to happen all by itself. Cars are designed safer, softer, less sharp edges, more collapsable shells. And with the price of petrol people can no longer afford to drive.

**UPDATE**
Actually, I've had a look at all the wonder stats and graphs from the Office of National Statistics. You can see from the road deaths graph that every time new drink driving legislation is brought in, road deaths come down. So, it does work and my arguments to shit.

On the other hand, the number of miles travelled in total by the ever growing UK population has been growing steadily year on year as road deaths have been falling.

So, ignoring the warblings of authoritarians, since road deaths aren't increasing, do you want your freedoms curtailed any more than they already are or not? Do you want to criminalise a load of people who currently engaged in risky behaviour, but are currently not criminals?
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