Now if you smoke, you already know what I’m getting at. You go to the park, or the beach, or maybe just walk down the street smoking in public and people give you dirty looks. But it doesn’t stop there, does it? No.
Somebody will most likely come up and directly confront you – PUT THAT OUT! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? HOW DARE YOU? And that’s the polite ones.
Smoking has become vilified in our society to the point where if you smoke in public, you can expect somebody to harass you. Contemporary etiquette Demands that smokers ask if it is OK before lighting up. People feel ENTITLED to tell you to your face not to smoke around them.
You get nagged by complete strangers if you are a smoker. If you drink and drive, however, the mood is entirely different. 
Suppose you are sitting in a bar or restaurant with a friend. You’ve downed a few beers, and you’re ready to go. Your friend gives you a handshake and a wave as you leave. The couple at the next table gives you a polite smile and everyone is happy … as you get in your car … at like a .09.
One of the reasons many people drink and drive is because they can! They have a built-in support group called ‘modern society’ with representatives in every bar, restaurant, and party ready to smile and wave goodbye as they watch each other stagger to their cars. People can drink and drive because they know that other than the cops, nobody else is going to harass them. This is how smoking used to be! Other than your doctor, nobody was going to get in your face about it. That was before smoking became vilified.
The vilification of drunk driving is a social change waiting to happen. Too few are willing to say, “Hey there! You’d better wait a while before getting in your car. There’s too much of that drunk driving crap going on!” They don’t feel entitled to tell you off about driving after drinking like they will if they catch you smoking.
Like the air, we all share the roads. We HAVE an entitlement to drunk-free roads the same as we have an entitlement to smoke-free air. I would even argue that we have a far greater entitlement to drunk-free roads because, unlike the whisp of second hand smoke, a drunk driver can maim or kill you immediately and effectively.
Americans need to recognize this entitlement and embrace it. It shouldn’t be as easy as it is to sit around drinking with friends right before hopping in the car and driving away. Friends and complete strangers should get up the courage to speak out and stop people from getting in their cars after drinking. Look at how many drunk driving stories state the offender was leaving a party/get-together/dinner with friends/family/coworkers. Look at how preventable these are!
All you non-smokers should compare the ‘danger’ of second-hand smoke and ‘horror’ of cigarette butts littering the sand to drunk drivers spilling blood (possibly yours) all over the streets you drive on. Then, get up and get in people’s faces before they can drive drunk the way you do when somebody has the unmitigated audacity to light up in your general vicinity.
And for those of you who smoke, guess what? Here is YOUR chance to join in the fun everybody has been having at your expense. You too can approach your friends and even complete strangers when you see them about to drive after drinking. You can get in their face, prevent an instance of drunk driving, and quite possibly save a life.
As I said, this requires a societal change. Enough of us have to do this to make it work. It can begin with even the small number of people reading this blog. The way smokers are commonly treated in public began with a few people here and there expressing their entitlement, getting in somebody’s face, and showing people they weren’t going to take it anymore. Other people saw this and ran with it. It spread and here we are today where you can’t light a cigarette at the beach. Drunk driving deserves this treatment, don’t you think?
We can do it. YOU can do it! Check out this video about how to spread a concept. A drunk guy (ironic, I know) is doing a crazy dance at a festival. Another guy gets up to mock him. The drunk guy teaches the other guy how to do his particular crazy dance. More people get up and join in, watching and teaching each other how to do the dance. Before you know it, the entire crowd is doing the same crazy dance and it all started with one drunk guy. All we have to do is recognize the opportunity to prevent somebody from driving after drinking and jump on it. Others, seeing this, will follow.
Here is an interview I did on Ridin Dirty – The Radio Show August 2, 2010 which touches on this topic.
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