To whom it may concern,

          A car in front of you is swerving viciously and uncontrollably, eventually veering into a ditch. You pull over in an attempt to help the victims. As you open the door, beer bottles tumble to the ground and the driver is seemingly unconscious. Once the paramedics arrive you find out that this man is paralyzed from the waist down and may never be able to walk again. Now you feel sympathetic, right? Well, what if I told you that right before this tragic accident, our driver broke into his sister-in-law’s house and dragged his wife out and beat her. Not only did he do this in front of his wife’s sister, but in front of his niece and nephew. They put up a good fight and were able to have everyone safely back into the house and our agitated driver stormed off. What if I also told you this wasn’t his first account of a DUI? This shouldn’t shock you. This particular ticket was his fifth. Now any sane person would think that our driver would serve some serious jail time or pay an immaculate fee. This man walked away without any legal penalty.

          This man was able to wheedle out of paying over $9,000 in fees and avoided what could have been thirty years of jail time (Louisiana DUI Laws ). Where is the justice in that? His accident was considered a rare case, one that is looked upon with gratitude, due to the fact that no one else was harmed. What about when he decides to make the same mistake, except this time he hits your car instead of the ditch? One-third of convicted drunk drivers are repeat offenders (Drunk Driving Statistics). If this man gained back his mobility, what’s to stop him from breaking the law again? Everyday there are about “300,000 people driving intoxicated on the road, but only 3,200 are arrested (Drunk Driving Statistics).” This statistic is not only repulsive and hard to believe but undermines our federal system as a whole. Repeat offenders need to understand the seriousness of the crime that they are continuously committing, and the only way to do that is by enforcing the penalties and fines that are set in place.

          Some may say that injuries and horrid memories that came out of that wreck is enough to set the perpetrator straight. America needs to acknowledge the heap of dead or impaired citizens that have been affected by this overlooked crime. I want the fines to increase and jail time be distributed to repetitious criminals who cannot comprehend the danger they bring to all of the innocents. God gave our driver his punishment—when will the government?

Sincerely,

Anne-Marie Auer

Works Cited

"Louisiana DUI Laws, Penalties and Fines | DrivingLaws.org." Drivinglaws.org. NOLO, 2016.

Web. 04 Oct. 2016. <http://dui.drivinglaws.org/la.php>.

"Drunk Driving Statistics." MADD. MADD, 2015. Web. 04 Oct. 2016. <http://www.madd.org/drunk-driving/about/drunk-driving-statistics.html>.