Letters

Letter: Time to face facts on drunken driving

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To the editor:

I think it’s great that the police have been stepping up their efforts to catch drunk drivers both during the week and on the weekends. They are doing a fantastic job and I appreciate it very much because drunk driving is reprehensible behavior that can cause massive amounts of suffering for the driver and all other affected parties.

We need to face facts that this is a much larger problem than what we’re seeing. A few arrests here and there is not catching the relatively large number of people getting behind the wheel highly intoxicated. What about the people that don’t get caught and then do it again and again? It’s now routine to see people swerving all over the road and then swinging back into their own lane. This as more and more tourists are coming here, weekends and all summer long.

Maybe the wineries and other businesses should be required to place signs reminding customers to bring a designated driver. Or maybe in addition they should have to “breathalize” drivers as they leave their establishment and have back-up transportation services for their guests.

What is it going to take for everyone to be as responsible as possible for this issue? How many people have to be hurt before something happens?

Time for the large number of alcohol-serving establishments here to be responsible for their contributions to the safety of others who drive on the same roads as their customers. Or are we going to lower our standards to the traditional belief that money matters more than lives and ruin the North Fork’s legacy as a beautiful place to live and visit?

The people who drive drunk are not all drunkards and buzzed driving is drunk driving.

Erica Wells, Mattituck