Comments on: ‘One for the Road: Drunk Driving Since 1900’ — Why Are So Many Americans Smashed on the Highways? http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2012/04/30/one-for-the-road-drunk-driving-since-1900-why-are-so-many-americans-smashed-on-the-highways/ Janice Harayda Reviews Fiction, Nonfiction and Poetry for Adults and Children Mon, 20 May 2013 13:35:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: 1minutebookreviewswordpresscom http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2012/04/30/one-for-the-road-drunk-driving-since-1900-why-are-so-many-americans-smashed-on-the-highways/#comment-8646 Wed, 02 May 2012 04:52:57 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/?p=23541#comment-8646 Thanks! I appreciate your bringing up the difference between the alcohol and tobacco lobbies (which I, too, found interesting). You’ve summed up Lerner’s views on that point well. And I hope that people interested in the topic will look at One for the Road.

]]> By: DUI Blotter http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2012/04/30/one-for-the-road-drunk-driving-since-1900-why-are-so-many-americans-smashed-on-the-highways/#comment-8645 Wed, 02 May 2012 04:43:55 +0000 http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/?p=23541#comment-8645 Very nicely done! Thank you. I too read the book and think you have presented a thorough and accurate summary of its strengths and weaknesses … and its strengths far outweigh the weaknesses. The book is dry. Really dry. There is no disputing that. But I feel it should be mandatory reading for all judges and prosecutors who routinely work DUI cases. Anyone else tangentially connected to that field could also benefit from the viewpoints and background Lerner presents. I personally presented copies of this book to the appropriate judge and prosecutor in my rural county.

The one thing I would add to your review is to expand briefly on the comment regarding the powerful alcohol lobby. Lerner credits the alcohol industry for not being as two-faced regarding their product as the cigarette industry has been. However, he clearly shows a highly organized effort standing in the way of any stricter regulation or criminal code revisions. In this effort, the alcohol industry is joined arm-in-arm by the combined strength of the entertainment and travel industries (bars, restaurants, casinos and hotels, etc.) as well as electronic media, particularly network television. If anyone is surprised at the networks’ position here, just consider the sum of a year’s worth of advertising on pro and college sports broadcasts by the likes of Anheuser-Busch, Miller, and Coors.

The combined weight of all of those mega-corporations can be pretty powerful in and around Washington and the various state capitols anytime the word alcohol is mentioned by a legislator.

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