Author Archives: Nina Emerson

The Debate Over a Lower Legal Limit

As soon as the National Transportation Safety Board released its recommendation to lower the legal limit to 0.05 as one of 19 interventions to drastically reduce alcohol-impaired driving crashes, the vocal opposition was already out of the gate.  The New … Continue reading

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Interventions to Reach Zero Alcohol-Impaired Crashes

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released a 100 page report today outlining strategies to eliminate alcohol-impaired driving crashes, which was also picked up by a number of media outlets. The report makes 19 recommendations calling for stronger laws, swifter … Continue reading

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How MADD Got Started

Candace Lightner, founder of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), talks about how to jump start a movement in a CNN interview with Christiane Amanpour.  The question of how to change a culture here concerns that of guns in response to … Continue reading

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’tis the season…

…for the Holiday Booze and Belts Campaign as reported in The Badger Herald and showcased on the Ashland Police Department’s website:  We hope that people will voluntarily make the responsible decision to buckle up and drive sober. If motorists are not … Continue reading

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The Value of Deterrence

From “Analysis of Wisconsin Act 337 Relating to Raising the Legal Drinking Age and Operating a Motor Vehicle While Intoxicated,” OGC, Wis-DOT, HS130 1986, authors Jerry L. Hancock, Assistant General Counsel, and Joe Maassen, Assistant General Counsel, write: Increased enforcement, … Continue reading

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Huffing While Driving is Not Against the Law

In State v. Torbeck, (not recommended for publication) the court of appeals affirmed the trial court’s dismissal of a third offense OWI charge because the substance that defendant “huffed” (1, 1-Difluoroethane [DFE]) before she crashed her car is not an … Continue reading

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An Outrageous Week of DUIs

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/opinion/editorial/an-outrageous-week-of-duis/article_7a625978-d06b-11e1-be1c-001a4bcf887a.html The sooner people realize there is no single solution to the impaired driving problem, the sooner we will be able to develop viable solutions.  Here is a clue: penalties alone do not work.  Why is that?  Paula Perrin answers … Continue reading

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Motor vehicle vs. vehicle

State v. Smits, 2001 WI App 45, 241 Wis. 2d 374, 626 N.W.2d 42. http://www.wisbar.org/res/capp/z2000/00-1158.htm Somehow I missed this case when it came out in 2001.  It is not summarized on the Resource Center’s web site of OWI-related court decisions.  … Continue reading

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Drunk Driving & Discount Auto Parts

vehicle_safety_dangers_of_drunk_driving.html I found this Saab 95 Transmission Mount on the same page that I read about the dangers of drunk driving.  The part is advertised to be the “lowest” price with a 30-day money back guarantee.  So which should I … Continue reading

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Wisconsin Continues to be No. 1

The headline from the CDC reads, “Binge drinking is bigger problem than previously thought.” What the headline doesn’t say is that Wisconsin continues to rank No. 1 in prevalence of binge drinking (25.6%) and intensity of binge drinking (9 drinks … Continue reading

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