What Is A Super Drunk And Who Protects Us From Them?
Metropolis and Gotham city get super heroes. Most cities are much less lucky – they get super drunks.
Last week a drunk driver led police on a chase on the streets of Ypsilanti, Michigan. Officers had tried to pull over the driver, who was clearly intoxicated, but he fled. Eventually he was apprehended and found to have a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) higher than 1.7%. That classifies him as “super drunk.”
He had a six-year-old child in the car.
Michigan is one of a number of states that have enacted “super drunk” laws. These laws single out drivers who are so drunk (usually twice the legal BAC limit for drunk driving) that their presence behind the wheel deserves severe punishment.
Some “super drunk” penalties in Michigan:
- Maximum of 180 days in jail – twice the number of a standard DUI
- Fines of up to $700
- A year of mandatory alcohol treatment
- 45 days of no driving, followed by 320 days driving with an ignition interlock
Why a “super drunk” law? Is not all drunk driving dangerous? The answer to the second question is yes, but “super drunks” are super dangerous. Since its enactment, Michigan’s super drunk law has taken thousands of dangerous drivers off the streets.