Newspaper Discovers that DUI is Still Quite Common; Police Shocked, Plan on Using Overtime Pay to Think of Solution

A recent article in the Virginia Gazette has uncovered a (not so) shocking fact: DUI cases are extremely common. In fact, the newspaper provides a statistical analysis showing that in 2007, 28,787 DUI convictions were recorded in Virginia Courts. This gives us an average of over three DUI convictions per hour!

Of course, that doesn't even count the cases in which people were charged with DUI but acquitted or found guilty of a lesser charge. More importantly, it doesn't include the great majority of drivers under the influence who make it home safely without police "assistance" or kill themselves in a DUI accident and thus are never charged.

Of course, the article never questions our current approach to drunk driving, nor does it acknowledge that each arrest represents a failure to keep intoxicated drivers off the roads. The reason we still have DUI is very simple: that's the way the government wants it. We could stop DUI today by mandating ignition interlocks on every new car. But that would result in a whole lot of cops being out of work, not to mention lawyers, judges, etc.

The DUI system is a scam. It is a racket designed to punish a tiny minority of offenders to create an illusion that it is effective in preventing their luckier counterparts from engaging in the same behaviour. Don't fall for it. If you are on a jury, scrutinize the evidence carefully. If you are a defendant, fight the charge. If you are a legislator, demand that the billions in bailout funds come with a safety benefit in the form of mandatory ignition interlocks. It may be your own life that is saved.