Massachusetts state senator Michael Brady was arrested early Saturday for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol.
In Massachusetts, a blood alcohol content level of 0.08% is typically grounds for arrest.
After pleading not guilty to several charges related to the incident in question, Brady released a statement to the press where he outlined his plans to seek professional counseling for alcohol use.
“I want to apologize again to my family, my constituents, and my friends and colleagues in the Legislature for the embarrassment that this incident has caused. I also want to thank them all for the support, advice and counsel during what has been a very difficult ordeal.” CBS Boston reports Brady saying.
Thankfully, nobody was hurt by the senator’s motoring conduct, though that is largely not the case when it comes to alcohol and cars.
Every day, roughly 800 people are injured in a crash where drunk driving was involved. In 2015, over 10,000 people died in drunk driving accidents.
There’s no denying that operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol is not safe under any circumstances. But what is safe?
There are many studies that claim sufficient sleep deprivation will have similar effects on a person’s capacity to drive a vehicle.
Besides sleep, nearly 25% of all accidents in the United States are caused by texting while driving, making texting six times more likely to cause an accident than driving drunk.
Now, while tiredness, texting, and drinking are all well-known causes of accidents — causes that continue to plague the world’s roads — people are still allowed to drive.
In fact, demand for cars has never been higher. In 2016, 17.6 million cars and trucks were sold in America alone. That’s the most ever in one year. Driving is still, by far, America’s favorite mode of transportation. But how are top minds going to handle the topic of road safety in the future?
Many people believe the future will bring us autonomous vehicles. Though some data shows promise, namely that an autonomous car has driven 2 million miles, and has only had one at fault accident, other researchers feel that drawing conclusions right now is premature.
The technology for self-driving cars is still young but growing rapidly all the same. The theory behind these vehicles is mostly sound, however. Autonomous vehicles cannot fall asleep, get distracted by texting, or partake in the consumption of alcohol.
As we progress in the field of road safety, more answers will undoubtedly present themselves. Until then, drive carefully.