It’s a beautiful, warm weekend evening, and booze is flowing. Good times are about to roll for adults all across Iowa.
I’m hoping many of the adults on those fun evenings plan well and make arrangements to get home safely.
I know alcohol is a huge part of both the economy and many a fun time, and we have made huge strides as a society over the last 30 years in education and law enforcement to cut down on serious accidents. However, there are a few more safety adjustments needed in the years ahead.
Half measures won’t change the concerns police and family members have about late-night travel, and how many alcohol-related mishaps tend to happen at night.
There is no such thing as making too big a deal out of alcohol responsibility and safety.
While many of us are quick to judge those who get involved with dangerous, illegal narcotics, we sometimes forget about the liquid that reminds us all the time it is also a lethal drug.
None of us can moralize on vehicle safety in terms of being mistake-free. I’m sure I have some bad habits that need work. I’ve learned many bad driving situations — from rolling stops to driving buzzed or falling asleep at the wheel — have to do with lack of preparation. If you think you might be drinking and then have to get somewhere else, plan ahead.
Law enforcement does its part by trying to be consistent. It’s one thing for a buzzed driver to make it home safely without being pulled over, even 10 million Iowa State Patrol troopers would still miss a few people. But among drivers who are stopped, especially at night, it would help greatly to have even more consistency from agency to agency.
Most of us have heard at least one or two stories about family or friends who have been charged in different ways than someone who seemed to have many of the same circumstances. Even taking the uniqueness of each case into account, it would aid greatly to have more evenly interpreted laws on arrests, charges and procedures — both in terms of police-driver interaction and in terms of police being seen as referees who are an obstacle to be outsmarted.
There are also likely some inconsistencies within each department that should be addressed. I know agencies do their best to minimize this and get everyone on the same page, and I salute any efforts to have a police enforcing laws in the same ways.
Hopefully, police know they can take suggestions and needs for policy improvement as coming from the same citizens who honor them in ceremonies and who call upon them for help in tough times.
Ultimately, however, policy consistency is not as important as adults being responsible for planning well. Driving drunk or stoned is not really like cheating akin to an illegal hold. It’s more like swinging at other drivers with a 3,000-pound (or more) baseball bat.
As the literature of the highly successful 12-step program, Narcotics Anonymous, reminds us, alcohol is the legal drug that requires the most delicate care.
“Thinking of alcohol as different from other drugs has caused a great many addicts to relapse,” NA’s pamphlet “How it Works” reads. “We cannot afford to be confused about this. Alcohol is a drug.”
Contact Jason W. Brooks
at jbrooks@newtondailynews.com