Americans make a whole lot of car trips each year- an estimated 223 billion. Despite the push for anti-drunk driving campaigns, drunk driving is a phenomenon that continues to occur. Every year, one out of every two thousand trips is made by drivers under the influence of alcohol. Likewise, drunk driving causes almost one out of every three traffic deaths, becoming an ever-growing epidemic in our country. On average, someone is killed in a drunk driving crash every 53 minutes. That amounts to nearly 23,000 deaths each year from alcohol related accidents.

In an attempt to address this growing issue, officials in 38 states have taken steps to implement effective enforcement tools, one of which includes sobriety checkpoints. Signs are posted in advance as vehicles line up and are randomly given sobriety tests. These checkpoints have been proven to reduce drunk driving by twenty percent. Also, all states have some sort of ignition interlock law that requires all or some convicted drunk drivers to install interlocks in their cars to analyze their breath and disable the engine if alcohol is detected from the driver. Furthermore, there has been a proliferation of organizations such as Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over. Their aim is to create a nationwide campaign to prevent and reduce roadway fatalities.

Even there strong efforts have been made by anti-drunk driving organizations, it is difficult to say whether they will create progressive results. Although people are fully aware of the dangers drunk driving can bring, society tends to pass drunk driving off as a nonchalant misdemeanor. The issue is not that people are unaware of the danger sit is the influences around society that pressure people into drinking and driving under the influence. Although people are aware of the consequences of drinking and driving, many people still put themselves and other lives in danger. We have evolved into a society that pushes drinking and driving under the rug rather than addressing it head on. There needs to be a cultural shift.