Draconian laws are needed to stop impaired driving here.
Severe measures work in Scandinavia. Our Swedish friends visiting Maui confirmed impaired driving in Sweden is virtually nonexistent. If citizens are caught driving while impaired, they face lengthy stays in jail. The penalties are severe and essentially nonnegotiable.
Here, drunk drivers get fines, wrist slaps and chance after chance, which results in habitual offenders who are completely undeterred by fines, license suspensions or revocations, as The Maui News article (Feb. 2) on habitual DUI revealed.
Why don’t we have such laws here? Businesses that make money selling booze fight them and our lawmakers don’t have the spine to pass them.