Boston Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer Blog
In what appears to be an attempt to curb driving while giving a nod to the cult classic “Super Troopers,” one police force in Canada warned potential drunk drivers that if they drive drunk during the holiday season, the will get caught, pay fines, lose their license, and, as an added bonus/punishment, they will be forced to listen to their copy of a “Nickelback’s Silver Side Up” cassette tape, of which a photo was featured in their warning, according to a recent news release from UPI. We can only assume they still have cassette players in their police cruisers.
While this announcement clearly was made at least partially in jest, the police were very serious about their warnings to potential drunk drivers, and this was just a novel way to get their attention. The reality is that many people drink more than they normally do over the holidays. This is due to office parties, family gatherings, and added stress in general during this time of year. With more people drinking, there will be more people who get behind the wheel while drunk.
While these officers are warning that “a little Chad Kroeger and the boys is the perfect gift” for anyone who gets drunk and then gets behind the wheel, this highlights one of the major issues police have when fighting drunk driving. Before we get to that issue, for those who are unaware, Kroeger is the Canadian- born front man for Nickelback.
The problem in fighting drunk driving is that people tend to focus on the wrong dangers. The clear majority of ads we see that try to curb drunk driving do not focus on what happens to you and other people when you are in a serious drunk driving accident. Instead, we are told what will happen if you get arrested for drunk driving. We are warned that we could lose our driver’s license, face hefty court fines, possibly go to jail (though that is unlikely for a first offense in which nobody was seriously injured or killed), and have a criminal conviction that will haunt us for the rest of our lives.
These things are all true consequences that could happen to us if we drink and drive and get arrested, but there is also a real consequence of causing pain and suffering to others. These are the consequences that paramedics see up close at the site of a serious drunk driving accident. These are also the consequences that our Boston drunk driving accident lawyers seen when working with victims and their families in the many cases that resulted in serious personal injury or even death.
This is not say there are not public service announcements that target people’s fears of hurting others, such as the ones that tell us that buzzed driving is no different from drunk driving, but there are really far more commercials that show us a jail cell and the amount of money a DUI will cost us instead of looking at the personal injury side of the equation.
If you or someone you love has been injured a Boston drunk driving accident, call for a free and confidential appointment at (617) 777-7777.
Additional Resources:
Canadian police threaten drunk drivers with Nickelback, By Daniel Uria, November 29, 2016, UPI
More Blog Entries:
Report: Boston Named as Having Worst Drivers in US – Many Drunk Driving Accidents, July 21, 2016, Boston Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer Blog