To the Editor:
I want to raise public awareness about the extent of drunk driving in the United States by "young people" and its danger to college students.
On September 25, 2005, the sheriff of Greene County, New York got busted for DWI. The kid was 65 years old.
On June 19, 2004, a Detroit police lieutenant got drunk and drove the wrong way down a one-way street, causing a head-on crash. That kid was even younger. He was 56 years old. The crash killed 20-year-old college student Nehemiah Thompson.
On October 7, 2000, a Honolulu cop got drunk and sped through a red light, causing a crash. That kid was even younger. He was only 48 years old. The crash killed 19-year-old college student Dana Ambrose.
On March 2, 2006, a motorist with eleven drunk-driving convictions got drunk and drove a pickup truck onto the wrong side of Tavern Road in Burton, Ohio, crashing head-on into a car with three Hiram College students. He was only 47 years old. Grace Chamberlain and Andrew Hopkins, both 18, were killed. Evan Dasilva, then 19, spent weeks in the hospital getting his face put back together with metal plates.
Naturally, more victims were added to the official tally of teenager casualties in drunk driving crashes -- a tally that fuels political debate, guides the legislative process and promotes prejudice against teenagers.
What should be done to mitigate the danger faced by college students? More sting operations at liquor stores? Making ID's tougher to counterfeit? Tougher penalties on people under 21 caught drinking responsibly?
Send your best ideas to state and federal lawmakers. Ask them why they would rather impose the drinking age on everybody under 21 than punish the real threat -- drunk drivers -- by imposing tougher laws on themselves.
