Why Wait?

Why wait for something bad to happen to install a breathalyzer? Instead let’s install them before anything bad happens. 250,000 people have died in alcohol- related accidents in the past 10 years. 25,000 people die each year in alcohol related accidents. 500 people are killed weekly and 71 people daily in alcohol-related accidents. One American life is lost every 20 minutes in an alcohol-related car crash. Every year, 708,000 people are injured, 74,000 of them seriously, in alcohol-related crashes. About 2,000 people receive injuries each day in alcohol-related accidents. If these people that caused these injuries or deaths had a breathalyzer in their car I am almost certain that all those people who were injured or who died would be alive and healthy today. Why would we have all of these people die and then install a breathalyzer? Installing a breathalyzer in every car will save lives.

I personally know someone who has died in an alcohol-related car accident. One of my friend’s cousins was twelve years old and she was riding in the backseat of her dad’s car. It was 5 am and the young girl’s dad was driving her to her mom’s house so she could see her mom before she went to school. The girl was lying in the back of the car sleeping and then a drunk driver hit them. The twelve year old girl died. My friend and many other people were heartbroken when they found out their beloved friend was killed by a drunk driver. This is just one death of thousands that happen every year because of drunk driving. Drunk driving does not just affect the one person that died or got injured but it also affects all of the people that know that person. If that man who killed my friend’s cousin had a breathalyzer in his car, I am positive that my friend’s cousin would be thirteen today.

A lot of people say if we install a breathalyzer in everyone’s car it would “take too much time” or “somebody else could just blow on it” but these opinions are insane. Blowing in a breathalyzer only takes about two seconds which is the amount of time it takes to put your key in the ignition. Also if you were drunk and you asked your sober friend to blow in the breathalyzer what kind of sober person would do that? You would have to be a very insane sober person to let your drunken friend drive not only themselves home, but also you home. Having a breathalyzer in the car also helps sober friends have an excuse to not let their drunk friend drive.

I do not understand why we wait for something horrible to happen until we take action. Drunk driving is one of the leading causes of death in America. We should take action now. I believe we could really reduce the amount of deaths by drunk driving if we put breathalyzers in every car. If there were breathalyzers in every car it would also make people think more clearly about if they want to have another drink or not. Nobody wants to take a cab home so knowing in the back of your head that you are going to have to breath into a breathalyzer to get home will help people make the right decision. We should take action before something bad happens, not after. I do not believe that adding breathalyzers in every car will fully eliminate drunk driving. But I do believe it will strongly decrease it. There are some crazy people out there that when they are sober they would blow on the breathalyzer for their drunk friend. But there are a lot more sane people then crazy people in the world that would disagree to blow on the breathalyzer.

What is the worst that can happen? If we install breathalyzers on every car what harm would it do to anybody? Think of how many lives would be saved. I truly do not understand why we have not done this yet. If we want to make a change we have to make a change.

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