Christmas is around the corner and with it comes the usual crack down on drinking and driving. Driving when under the influence is a terribly irresponsible act that put too many others in danger. But is the way of decreasing drinking and driving through scare tactics really efficient?
Perhaps an innovative way of preventing drinking and driving is by analyzing why people who do not drink and drive choose the safer, more responsible path. And underlying the sense of responsibility will most probably be found a deep respect for human life, the kind that would make it unthinkable to put it at risk.
I wonder what would happen if the money put into drinking and driving scare campaigns went instead into developing community service projects for those caught drinking and driving. Not your typical, clean-the-highway community service, but rather one that contribute to the long-term, step by step improvement of the community: tutoring children in a certain subject, playing games with the elderly, delivering groceries to the sick, the elderly or to mothers with too much to do. Maybe the bonds created between the people in a community would become so strong that putting them in danger by drinking and driving would be unfathomable?
I love your idea – if I care about the people around me, I’ll make sure that I don’t do anything that puts them at risk. Obviously, the best thing would be for people to stop drinking, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon… I guess a similar problem also comes in winter time with slippery roads.
I heard/read somewhere in relation to anti-smoking commercials that the best way of doing these commercials would be through reverse psychology – glorify the concept as much as possible, and make people think about it through that. I don’t know if I’ve seen it anywhere, and I don’t think it would even be approved, but it might be an interesting thing to try out.
That would be an interesting thing to see at work, i.e. the exaggerated glorification of smoking. If you ever find that post again, I would love to read it!