GREENVILLE - The deep human reality often does not pose a problem until the angst strikes oh so close to home. Each year, hundreds of motorists perish on Mississippi roads as the result of motorists driving under the influence.
It is a tragedy that senselessly tears families apart - a calamity carried out not only in Mississippi but across America each day.
Driving under the influence is a systemic affliction which shows no signs of waning.
Last year alone, 379 Mississippians died in alcohol-related accidents, according to the state chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Yet, we do not hear the loud human outcry to vigorously enforce the DUI statutes.
All over this state, district attorneys and some circuit judges have exhibited a disturbing unwillingness to aggressively prosecute and then hand down tough sentences upon conviction. I have seen motorists still on the road with several DUI arrests. It is a judicial quagmire that begs: Where is the justice?
And in the face of this overwhelming problem, state lawmakers cavalierly refuse to adopt the federally mandated .08 blood-alcohol threshold - .10 remains the legal level in the Magnolia State - for being legally under the influence. It is a contumacy that is costing Mississippi more than $2 million a year in federal money. And the loss will be exacerbated if the state Legislature does not acquiesce in the next two years.
"I am not promoting alcohol, but if you are of legal age, it is your right," said Danny Berry, executive director of the Pearl-based Mississippi MADD. "But when you get behind the wheel of a car under the influence, your decision becomes everyone's business."
And that is exactly the problem - our lawmakers are apparently not taking care of the people's business by lacking the courage to take a tough stance against motorists who drive in an impaired condition.
We hear the horror stories of the lives of children and loved ones being snuffed out on our highways. And here in the Delta, two high-ranking off-duty police officers in Greenville and Cleveland were arrested last month on driving under the influence violations.
When those who are sworn to uphold the law are breaking it, the offenses should give us all reason to question the direction of our moral compass.
"They are not too hard to spot because of their sporadic behavior," said Washington County Board of Supervisors President Al Rankins, a former Greenville deputy police chief. "To make it safe for the public, you need to get these people off the streets."
Several years ago, as a reporter for a Gulf Coast newspaper, I had firsthand exposure to three bizarre accidents - all involving drunken motorists - that killed three children in a three-month period.
One case in Perry County involved a motorist who rammed the rear of an auto, killing his infant granddaughter. Another widely reported DUI accident caused the death of 4-year-old Whitney Lee of Gulfport on Super Bowl Sunday.
Among the reasons Lee's death received the media's eye were the child's grandfather was a former district attorney, the resulting public indignation, and the Lee family's unrelenting determination to see justice carried out.
And it was, the teenage motorist was sentenced to 20 years in state prison on a felony DUI causing a death conviction. But the Lee case is certainly the exception, rather than the rule for DUI manslaughter cases in Mississippi.
"To us, driving under the influence is not an accident but a crime," Berry told a meeting of the Mississippi Delta Law Enforcement Coalition. "When one person is killed because of someone driving under the influence, that is one life lost too many."
This month, all across Mississippi, motorists are being asked to attach red ribbons on their vehicles for "Tie One On For Safety." Sponsored by MADD, the campaign is designed to accentuate the fact that we oppose people who get behind the wheel while in an impaired state - creating the potential for their motor vehicles to become lethal weapons.
It is about time we say enough is too much, and demand our elected officials and law enforcement community step up and aggressively address a vexing problem which causes so much human peril.
