To some, being proactive about drunk driving is knowing that there are consequences if caught. The hot topic is toughening up those consequences.  While I am generally for that, I also like to see some assistance for people who do choose to drink, not become legally drunk if they intend to drive after doing so.

Pat and I had a rather lively discussion while having breakfast this morning at Christina's. We were talking about the Wednesday committee meeting in Madison regarding drunk driving proposals. There are a whole lot of ideas that are floating around both before and after the act of driving while intoxicated.  I'd like to start somewhere soon.

I've long thought that people really don't know how much they can drink and still be assured that they are within legal limits when driving after drinking. The simple solution is to not have any alcohol before driving.  That's a sure thing. But we know that people will often have one or two or more, thinking that they are fine. My point is how do they know when they cross the line into legal intoxication?

I've a whole bunch of ideas, but here is one that is simple, affordable and just might be subliminal in nature, planting a message into the mind for the future. Every drink that I've been served usually is either placed on a coaster or with a napkin.  Usually that item has some printing on it. Why not require each drink be served with a chart showing the maximum drinks a given weight of a person can consume before entering the gray zone before becoming legally drunk? That chart can be printed on the coaster, napkin or on a card that one could take along and put in their wallet or purse. A step further would be to require the same information printed on containers of alcoholic beverages. There are many more proactive steps that can be taken from there.

We need to act somehow in an effort to change our culture of drinking. Do you agree that this would be a reasonable initial step in that journey?

Next Wednesday will be a committee meeting in Madison regarding some proposed changes in the drunk driving laws.  To be discussed are proposals to require ignition interlock devices on all repeat offenders and on first time offenders with a blood alcohol content of 1.6 or higher. The Bukosky family and friends will be present to participate in the discussions.

In a related news item, Mark Benson, the person who crashed into and killed my daughter in law and two granddaughters is looking for a reduction of bail so he can be free after he serves the 72 days in jail that he was ordered to serve after his third drunk driving offense.  It is important to note that when he killed my family members, he had his license revoked and was ordered not to drive a motor vehicle. I can't imagine a judge letting him out and allowing him the opportunity to slide behind the wheel of another vehicle and thumb his nose at the law, again putting the people of Waukesha County in danger. His lawyer argues that he is innocent until proven guilty.

This man has repeatedly shown that he has no consideration for the law. Even though he has these violations and charges on his record, he still owns an apparently large collection of firearms. These were one of the few things that mattered to him when he made his phone call home from the police station right after the collision.

A man who has been repeatedly driving drunk and is apparently an abuser of drugs and driving cannot be let loose, able to access firearms and motor vehicles. Knowing that he is facing serious time in jail, who knows what he could do when free?

I've read heaps of news items and editorials about how drunken driving laws should be toughened.  Excuse me, but while that is needed, we need to also consider a proactive measure that closes the gate before the cows get out of the pasture, so to speak.

We have created the precedent for it, so nobody should be shocked when it is proposed. We have begun changing things in our culture. It is now time to make a bold step forward in continuing these changes.

Movies reflect culture. It is arguable that they may create it. Movies from earlier years glamorized smoking and drinking.  Offices had dry bars and an offer of a drink to a visitor was a polite and friendly gesture. Homes also promoted drinking.  Many new "executive" homes feature a full blown wet bar right in the living room.  Great for entertaining guests before they head home playing "Russian Roulette" with our lives. Once while having fixed a heating problem in a big house on the north shore area of Milwaukee county, the owner asked me "what do you drink?", assuming that I drank hard liquor. He generously wanted to give me a bottle from his vast selection of distilled beverages. When Pat and I got married, one of the things that showed we were now adults was assembling an assortment of liquor and the items for mixing various drinks.

When I grew up in Milwaukee, it seemed there was a tavern on every corner.  Perhaps a good thing. They were walking distance from home.  As I played with my friends on 44th street, a neighbor would walk by nearly every night babbling some kind of wisdom to us.  He walked the half a mile back and forth to the taverns around Hampton and Hopkins and never was a threat to anyone but himself.

We have banned smoking in many places. We've come close to banning it in all business and even in outdoor places. Usually the reason is the dangers of second hand smoke and other less lethal reasons. 

It is time to modify our culture of drinking alcohol. I'm no tea totaler.  I've home-brewed beer in the past and enjoy a beer or glass of wine with a meal. I think we all know the legal limits of evidence of intoxication is .08. But how many drinks is that?

A little bit of Google searching on the Internet show various devices for determining blood alcohol level. Disposable breath analyzers are available for around $3.00 per test.  Less than the price of a drink in most cases.

Issuance of a liquor license should be contingent on always having an adequate supply of these for use by customers.  Any store selling liquor should be required to market these too.  The time has come to stop guessing and not tolerate both the drunks and those that facilitate it. This would be one way of beginning the culture change.

The Oconomowoc High School marketing student's organization, "Grilling To Give" will be hosting a lunch grill out Friday from 10:45AM to 1:30PM to benefit the Jennifer Bukosky Memorial Fund which was established to educate teens about driving while impaired.

Jennifer and her daughters, Courtney and Sophia, were killed after being struck by a driver about to serve jail time for his third drunk driving conviction. They are survived by her husband Michael Bukosky his son Joshua and son Zachary Bella.

I graduated from Messmer High School in Milwaukee and even at a parochial school, the opportunities and peer pressure to drink and drive were there. It is the hopes that the resulting work from the fund will prevent tragic losses of life. 

Stop by and enjoy something from the grill!

Forgive my obsession. I love Waukesha County. But the past two weeks have had death and road rage, both centered around alcohol, as things that make me question if this is so great a place to live?

I pray that the ball keeps rolling to bring Wisconsin from the weakest drunk driving laws in the country to something that makes it safe for people to drive their kids to and from school and back and forth to work and shopping.  Enough has been way too much.

I share the hope of my daughter-in-laws father, Mike Farney, that given that the politicians and adults can't make the roads safe for people, maybe the kids with a lifetime ahead of them will pester and protest until our government does the right things to make us safe.

Zach Bella and his stepfather and stepbrother will be with us today for a cookout, trying to keep the family as intact as we can and make life go on. But it will never, ever be the same without Jenn, Courtney and Sophie.

Never forget!