With July 4th and the holiday increase in drunk driving, I've been thinking about a comment an instructor of mine made years ago when I was in training to become a Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor. He said, "People convicted of 1 or 2 DWI's/DUI's in reality probably have hundreds of "DWI's" for which they were never pulled over." The enormity of that statement struck me. In other words many people routinely drink and drive but only rarely get caught. Such people, and society in general, greatly minimize the significance of this. They see this behavior as being a "problem," or see themselves as "having a drinking problem," only if they get caught and convicted, regardless of how often in reality they drink and drive.
An editorial by Michelle Chen in the July 1, 2008 issue of Newsday, a Long Island, NY newspaper, further reminded me of whether people look at their own drinking and driving behavior. In Nassau County, NY, the County Executive recently put on its website a "Wall of Shame," a frequently visited site of photos of people charged with driving while intoxicated. While questioning whether shame and mass humiliation work, Ms. Chen makes an interesting point: "When shame devolves into spectacle, we enter a moral theater where the audience's reaction, not the nature of the offense, is the key player. The Wall's awkward faces probably elicit more snarky chuckles than grave reflections on the dangers of reckless driving. It's validating to know you're not "them." And there's the titillation of knowing that your own transgressions remain secret because of your smarts or good fortune."
Unfortunately cars can be huge weapons of destruction on the road. And coming out of denial about personal behavior requires a willingness to be self-honest. Do you drink and drive? How often? Are there passengers and kids in the back seat? As health professionals there's an even greater social responsibility to get honest. I used to smoke. I'm a Health Educator. I couldn't bring myself to teach smoking cessation classes until I quit. It's hard to be a role model, and it's even harder to look inward at ourselves. But driving under the influence and thinking it's no big deal is even worse. As Ms. Chen says in conclusion, "It's unclear whether the Wall [of Shame] will make roads any safer, but it could at least force us to turn the lens on ourselves..."
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