Sober Outlook

Now that I'm back in California, fun time is over. There are cards to write, gifts to buy, taxes to plan, and donations to make.

My sober outlook was reinforced by the first sobriety checkpoint that I've ever gone through.

Heading east one evening on San Bruno Avenue toward SFO, traffic was narrowed to a single lane. I held up my driver's license to the window; the friendly cop handed me a MADD flyer (right) so I wouldn't be stopped by another officer 50 feet ahead. No such luck.

Another cop asked me to roll down the window. "Where are you going?" Home, while he inspected my driver's license. "Have you been drinking tonight?" No, I said truthfully, while he gazed intently at my non-reddened eyes and listened to my clearly enunciated one-word answers. He waved me through.

Afterwards, looking at the flyer, I was taken aback by the $15,000 cost of an infraction, $10,000 of which is increased insurance costs.

Mind, we are not talking about causing an accident, just being caught driving under the influence.

Contrast the DUI penalties with those of texting while driving:

With assessments and fees, convicted drivers face a first-time ticket costing at least $159, with a second offense climbing to $279. Hardly pocket change, but far below the penalties for first-time adult DUI offenders, which include fines up to $1,000, plus a minimum four-month license suspension and up to six months in jail.

The LA Times article quoted above stated that national DUI deaths were about 10,000 per year while "distracted driving crashes caused 3,500 fatalities and close to 400,000 injuries", not as bad but clearly in the same league. Whether one believes DUIs are treated appropriately, it's clear that the penalty for texting-and-driving is not proportionate when we look at the consequences of each.

Self-driving cars can't come soon enough.