What if you could stop 32 homicides today and every day thereafter? Yes, stop the bloody, senseless deaths of parents coming home from work, teenagers with their whole life in front of them, and children strapped into car seats? What if you could prevent a Boeing 737 MAX from spiraling into a cornfield next week? What if you could save over 11,000 people—enough to fill every seat in a small-town high school stadium—from dying violent, preventable deaths over the next year? What if you could do all that by simply forcing elected politicians to use their gold-plated pens?
No, we don’t have to spend $90 billion like we are on the Artemis missions to “eventually” plant another flag where Neil Armstrong’s over 50-year-old boot prints still remain. Would you save over 100,000 American citizens—an entire mid-sized city’s worth of souls—over the next decade, or will you simply sit on your hands, eyes glazed over like everyone else, pretending the weekly DUI bloodbath on our asphalt is just the cost of living, or is that dying, in America?
Now approaching age 74 I have been retired for two decades, and I keep my brain active by studying what most of you would likely call a waste of time—the kind of crap that makes my daughters roll their eyes. Crime statistics, political corruption patterns, and the festering underbelly of American public opinion have become my recent obsession. My studies have excavated buried truths that average citizens remain blissfully ignorant of, or worse, that our elected officials with their polished smiles and flag lapel pins, deliberately sweep under their imported office carpets.
America’s streets run red with blood with nearly 12,000 DUI “deaths” annually. With that said, let’s dive into a DUI comparison chart realizing that what follows isn’t coincidence, but a national disgrace.
That’s right. Our DUI crime rate is 33 times that of Japan’s, and certain states like Kentucky and Wisconsin have DUI crime rates that are 40- and 88-times Japan’s DUI homicide rates! I choose Kentucky and Wisconsin simply because they are states my family lives in, where my children and grandchildren experience a substantial DUI death risk daily.
The USA foolishly allows each state to establish their own half-ass DUI laws and penalties. What’s even more disgraceful is the putrid lies force-fed to Americans by criminally incompetent elected officials! Let these blood-soaked numbers again burn into your brain: 32 human beings slaughtered daily in America by self-absorbed irresponsible drivers, while Japan buries less than one every other day. This is the direct result of specific, damnable policies that political cowards refuse to address while bodies stack up like cordwood!
While American politicians wring their hands, two-thirds of arrested drunk drivers aren’t just “tipsy”—they’re obliterated at double the legal limit of .08 blood alcohol content! That’s nearly 8,000 deaths of men, women and children slaughtered by “extraordinarily selfish idiots” who didn’t just have a drink but poisoned themselves into walking weapons, then climbed behind 4,000-pound death machines!
Now here’s the real rub. We can dramatically improve our DUI crime rate by simply creating laws that all but eliminate drunk drivers from our roads. These laws exist elsewhere and they are severe enough to create a “sentinel effect” which stops many people from even thinking about drinking and driving. The models (Japan) are out there. The blood-spattered statistics don’t lie and worst of all here in America, one out of every 3 DUI vehicular fatalities come from “repeat offenders”. Yep, the same reckless individuals who’ve already been caught once, twice, even five times before climbing back behind the wheel with alcohol coursing through their veins. These aren’t accidents! The people who commit them are ticking time bombs we knowingly allow on our roads.
So what does all this blood-soaked data mean, and why am I forcing you to confront these grisly statistics? Because after seventy-three years watching humanity’s patterns, I’ve witnessed how every social puzzle—even our epidemic of vehicular slaughter—can be solved when people genuinely commit to solutions. The roadblock isn’t complex; it’s our collective refusal to go beyond baby steps and stare unflinchingly into the mirror of cold, hard truth.
In America, we worship at the altar of freedom—that sacred cornerstone upon which our nation was built—but true liberty must end precisely where it begins to trample the rights of others. I’m not suggesting we resurrect Prohibition’s ghost; we should remain free to pour whiskey down our throats or inject whatever substances we choose—but the moment your alcohol-drenched brain decides to pilot two tons of metal down public roadways, you’ve crossed into territory where your “freedom” leaves shattered bodies and grieving families in its wake.
Other nations get it while America drowns in blood! In Japan—their DUI laws define the limit at .03% BAC (Blood Alcohol Level). Yep, a single beer might just put you over the limit based upon your size and whether or not you have eaten. And what happens when Japanese police catch you? Financial devastation for some with a fine equivalent to $9,000 and possibly five years in jail! Additionally, the Japanese don’t just punish drunk drivers—they crush everyone involved. Passengers? CRIMINALLY LIABLE! Bar owners who served you? LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE! Your employer? THEY can FIRE YOU ON THE SPOT! This isn’t “policy”—it’s a societal sledgehammer struck against potential killers! In Japan, you drink? You don’t touch those keys – period! Find another driver, call a cab, or stay put! No excuses! No exceptions! And most importantly, no body bags!
Now look at at America’s pathetic patchwork of DUI laws! State-by-state madness where drunk drivers get slaps on the wrist. Take Wisconsin. First offense? Not even a misdemeanor. A laughable $150-$300 fine—pocket change! Second time caught. A misdemeanor with maybe five days in jail—five days for potential murder! Third offense? Still a misdemeanor. It takes four times to get caught before Wisconsin considers it a felony! Is it any wonder that Wisconsin’s death rate per million of population is almost 100 times that of Japan’s!
Do you see the stark, life-or-death difference between approaches? In Japan, where social pressure creates an impenetrable wall of shame around drunk driving, a businessman would rather sleep in his car or walk ten miles home than risk the crushing weight of societal disgrace. Meanwhile, Americans stumble from bars to parking lots every night, keys dangling carelessly between fingers, because we’ve collectively decided their “freedom” matters more than the shattered bodies they leave behind.
The arrogant delusion in America is: “I have the right to drink AND the right to drive if I feel okay.” Unfortunately, the blood-soaked data screams otherwise! You should have zero right to transform yourself into a potential killer and if we adopted Japan’s zero tolerance approach, those 32 daily American coffins would instantly plummet to 1.5! That’s not an opinion but an easily extracted future fact! So, I ask how goddamn hard would it be to choose life over this preventable slaughter?
IN CONCLUSION: This isn’t just another crime statistic—it’s a blood sacrifice we make daily on American asphalt! One state, Utah, has a BAC level of .05 in their laws, a first offense penalty over $1,300 plus mandatory two-day jail time that can be as long as 6 months, as well as much more severe penalties for any future offenses. Oh, and Utah has one of the lowest DUI death rates in the country.
Will America ever wake up? I don’t know. I’ve watched decades of gutless politicians deliberately ignoring solutions that could save lives and reduce our crime rates! Models that work sit right in front of their faces. I’ve never—not once in seven decades—seen a government task force with a genuine hard-line intent to solve the problem. Instead, they chase poll numbers and campaign donations while bodies pile up! Someday—maybe 50 years after I’m cold in the cold hard ground—future generations will look back at our era with absolute disgust, wondering how we tolerated this obviously preventable DUI massacre for so long!
Feel free to share, copy and paste or do what you like with this article. Maybe, just maybe, you’ll find a politician at the Federal or State level that wants to save 32 lives per day and builds an intelligent coalition around obvious crimes and solutions, rather than one that offers meaningless hopes and prayers after tragedies occur.
Such is life.
Old Man Pondering 
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