THE BRIGHT SIDE
The National Impaired Driving Enforcement Campaign.
‘Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over’ has started and goes through September 5th. Impaired driving is one of the deadliest and most willingly committed, yet preventable, tragedies occurring every second across the country. Driving while impaired or high has become a serious safety epidemic in America and all of us living in this country need to find a way to prevent more bad decisions from being made by drinking people about to get behind the wheel and on the road.
About every two hours in Wisconsin someone is killed or injured in an alcohol-related crash. Last year in Wisconsin alone there were 6,368 alcohol-related crashes that resulted in 140 deaths. Motorists are encouraged to have a designated driver, phone a friend, use a car service or find another safe way home. Let’s all work to stop more accidents and deaths when they are all so preventable. Local law enforcement will be participating in this annual campaign by putting additional resources on the road to watch for intoxicated drivers. This means extra officers trained in Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) will be out to help detect impaired drivers along with highly trained Drug Recognition Experts to help prevent accidents from happening.
Let’s all work together to keep our roads safe for all. Here’s the conclusion of one scholastic study: “Alcohol-related traffic crashes are defined by the United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) as alcohol-related if either a driver or a non-motorist had a measurable or estimated BAC of 0.01 g/dl or above. However, this statistic includes any and all vehicular (including bicycle and motorcycle) accidents in which any alcohol has been consumed, or believed to have been consumed, by the driver, a passenger, or a pedestrian associated with the accident. Thus, if a person who has consumed alcohol and has stopped for a red light is rear-ended by a completely sober but inattentive driver, the accident is listed as alcohol-related, although alcohol had nothing to do with causing the accident.
Furthermore, if a sober motorist hits a drunk pedestrian, the accident is also listed as alcohol-related. Alcohol-related accidents are often mistakenly confused with alcohol-caused accidents. Some have criticized the NHTSA for compiling this statistic since it may give the impression that drunk drivers cause a much higher percentage of accidents and do not accurately reflect the problem of drunk driving in the United States. We have to first accept the truth, define it, and then pursue a course of defeating drunk driving in an applied and sensible manner.
What in the hell happened to the Venetian Fest?
The Jaycees put on a magnificent display of equipment, booths, and the grand fireworks show that lasted more than twenty minutes and was the best ever. The grass in Flat Iron Park was hardly weathered or beaten down at all, however. What happened to the usual throngs and crowds of people? Why didn’t they come this year? The weather was forecast to be bad for days ahead of the event, but that’s never stopped the people from coming before. The pandemic might explain it but heck, the State Fair was well attended the week before. There were some weak unsubstantiated rumors about how the Jaycees might have upset some people in their directness or maybe dictatorial ways…but how could that apply to attendance at all?
The visitors are almost all people who come up from Chicago. How would they know anything about local stuff, unless they read it here, of course? Well, the GSR hasn’t said anything negative about the Jaycees and Venetian Fest in many years, so they didn’t read it here. It would be nice to know why more people didn’t come, but that is one of life’s mysteries that will likely never be resolved. It is our sincerest hope that the Jaycees will do again what they did this year, and that’s put on one hell of an event. The rides were cleaner and better. The booths were improved, including all the food booths. And then there was the fireworks display. Simply stunning. Thank you Jaycees and we’re all glad we have you.
