TWO WEEKS ago, sororities and fraternities across Grounds welcomed new members into their spring 2002 pledge classes. The new membership serves to revive student interest in going out on weekends, whether to show off their new Greek letters or to visit their friends now pledging a fraternity. It is a well-known fact that alcohol is readily available to students when they go out on weekends, and underage drinking occurs. If a student decides to drink, that is his or her own prerogative, but under no circumstance is it acceptable for someone that has made the choice to drink an alcoholic beverage to then drive a car.
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There seems to be a common phenomenon here at U.Va. Students enter the University with high school substance abuse lessons still fairly fresh in their memories and consciously will walk or make use of University-offered transportation when they go out at night. Unfortunately, as the months and years go by, the risks associated with drinking and driving fade away and become significantly less serious in the minds of students. One or two drinks can't impair the driving capabilities of an experienced driver, right? Wrong. People should not attempt to drive after even one drink. Whether they feel affected by the alcohol or not, it is in their system and is working its magic somewhere within, even if not noticeable on the outside yet.
Students who drink and drive probably don't know the overwhelming statistics of alcohol related car accidents. If they were aware of the real life numbers, hopefully they would make smarter choices. In 1999, 38 percent of the 41,611 motor vehicle deaths were alcohol related, representing an average of one alcohol-related fatality every 33 minutes (www.nhtsa.dot.gov). In 2000, the numbers rose to 16,653, making up 40 percent of the 41,821 people killed in traffic accidents (www.pbs.org/justone). With the number of alcohol-related car accidents rising, actions must be taken as soon as possible to halt this rise.
Unfortunately, the University must deal with its own portion of drunk drivers. "This year has been about the same as previous years as far as numbers of people drinking and driving," Captain Michael Coleman of the University Police Department said. "There is always a certain percent of people who have it in their minds to do this and are going to drink and drive." Peer counseling and substance abuse programs offered by the University do not always succeed.
Virginia does not yet have zero tolerance laws in place for underage blood alcohol content when driving. It has been proven that zero tolerance laws reduce young drivers' alcohol-involved crashes by 20 percent (Hingson, Herreen and Winter, 1995). Without Virginia's legal help for zero tolerance, students must take the initiative to prevent anyone driving under the influence. It's not acceptable to let your friend drive you home when you both have been drinking and are too lazy to walk.
If the state won't recognize the danger in allowing people to drink at all before sitting behind the wheel of a car, then we as friends should take charge. Parties should have designated drivers available and friends should make their own arrangements before leaving home. If everyone puts forth an effort, risks can be minimized and hopefully fatalities can be avoided.
Students may think that they have acquired expertise about drinking and its effects due to weekends filled with parties and trips to bars. But, contrary to popular belief, beer does not make you smarter. Another myth that should be dispelled is that eating a big meal before you drink will help to keep you sober. In fact, food in the stomach merely delays the absorption of alcohol into the bloodstream, but in no way prevents it.
Many students also believe that cold showers, fresh air or hot coffee can help to sober a person up. In reality, time is the only cure. It takes the body an hour to eliminate one beer or a glass of wine. Give a drowsy drunk a cup of coffee and you only will be left with a wide-awake drunk.
Police only can do so much to stop drunks on the road. "There is no way for us to tell how many people are drinking and driving, we can only account for the people we are able to arrest," Captain Coleman said. With police doing their best to keep the roads safe, classmates and friends should do all they can to ensure their own safety as well as that of our peers.
Be aware of people driving to and from parties and don't let someone drive when you know that they've had any alcohol at all in their systems. If we use a self-inflicted policy of zero tolerance, hopefully one day the trend will catch on and the roads will become that much safer. Don't drink and drive; you got into this university for a reason. Don't turn stupid now.
(Alex Roosenburg's column appears Mondays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at aroosenburg@cavalierdaily.com.)
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