PBS高端访谈:温哥华酒后驾车死亡率减少一半

 　　WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Six years ago, a terrible family tragedy occurred here in rural British Columbia. But over time, it became much more than that. This tragedy set in motion dramatic changes to the laws governing drinking and driving -- changes that supporters say have already saved dozens of lives. That tragedy involved a four year old girl. Her name was Alexa Middelaer.

　　LAUREL MIDDELAER: Well, it was a beautiful May long weekend and my daughter, Alexa, loved this one particular horse and she really wanted to show her grandparents that horse. I remember saying good bye to her, and then very shortly after that we heard all kinds of sirens. And at that moment I just-- I just knew. I said, "It-- it's Alexa. Something happened to Alexa."

　　WILLIAM BRANGHAM: A 56 year-old woman doing nearly twice the speed limit, lost control of her car and smashed into the exact spot where Alexa stood feeding the horse on the side of the road. The woman - - who was later convicted and sent to prison -- admitted to police she’d had three glasses of wine before getting into her car.

　　LAUREL MIDDELAER: When we knew, roadside, that our daughter was dead, I remember my husband just -- in the ambulance -- we both held each other and he said, "This will not break us. This will define us. There will be some good in this."

　　WILLIAM BRANGHAM: After the accident, Alexa’s parents – Michael and Laurel – launched a campaign to try and change the culture around drinking and driving … and to deter¹ people from doing it…. Their events became a regular feature on local news

　　LAUREL MIDDELAER(from local news) We will honor our daughter and we will make the necessary changes that, number one…

　　WILLIAM BRANGHAM: But they soon realized it would take more than that – they realized they’d have to change the drunk driving laws, which, like in the U.S., sets the legal blood alcohol limit at .08 percent. After lobbying the government for nearly a year -- alongside groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving – their efforts paid off. In 2010, the Provincial² Government not only stiffened³ penalties against driving at.08, but more importantly, it targeted drivers who fall below that level -- to .05 -- drivers who are not legally drunk. The rationale? Even a few drinks – as few as two for a woman, and three for a man -- can impair⁴ your driving ability

　　The big change was that if you were now caught driving with a .05 blood alcohol level, the police were authorized⁵ – on the spot -- to fine you, suspend your drivers license⁶, and immediately impound your car for at least three days. They’d get you out of the vehicle, and a tow truck would haul it away.

　　In late 2010, police began enforcing the new laws, and police impound lots across British Columbia began filling up. The changes sparked an uproar⁸. Civil libertarians argued it gave the police too much power – and restaurant owners like Mark Roberts said the new laws damaged the economy… he says his business dropped between 10 and 20 percent.

　　MARK ROBERTS: When the change of drinking-driving laws came out, we knew that was going to have a strong impacton our business.

　　WILLIAM BRANGHAM: What did you think? That customers would suddenly be afraid and that they wouldn't come to your door?

　　MARK ROBERTS: We thought that there was a lot of unknowns about what that meant. How many drinks could people have? There was very little information about how that was going to be enforced, how it was going to impact what people could drink. We were creating non-alcoholic drinks to make up for the lost sales. It was a lot of fear, a lot of unknowns, and some real changes in people’s behavior.

　　WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And the impact was immediate⁷. During the first year the new law was in effect, the number of drunk driving deaths in British Columbia plunged⁹. Critics argued that first year was just a fluke. But the second year? The number declined again. A 55% reduction in deaths in just two years.

　　The message, it seemed, had started getting through to drivers

　　TIM STOCKWELL: So it was quite well-publicized. And for deterrence¹⁰ to work it's as much about knowing and expecting there being a consequence than it actually be likely. People's perception that they were likely to be caught was probably way higher than it actually was.

　　WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And that’s key?

　　TIM STOCKWELL: That is key. It’s very important….

　　WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Tim Stockwell is an expert on alcohol policy at the University of Victoria. He told us he can’t think of a single reform that’s had this big an impact, this quickly. He and his colleagues recently published a peer-reviewed study of the effectiveness of the new laws.

　　TIM STOCKWELL: These laws epitomize a perfect deterrence theory in action. And it is very important to understand that you don't need draconian¹¹, severe penalties. They have to be severe enough. It's more important that they are certain, and that they are swift. So on the spot, losing your car for three days, a week, that's severe enough.

　　WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The new laws have faced some setbacks: the police had problems with some of their breathalyzers, the government had to ammend the laws when courts ruled that drivers deserved a better appeals process. And last fall a judge ruled in favor of a driver who appealed his 2012 driving suspension. Critics say that ruling that could force a rewriting of the laws. For now, the heart of the new laws though remain intact.

　　WILLIAM BRANGHAM: What about the argument that there have been so many lives saved by these new rules that yes, it may have taken a hit out of your business, but that to save a bunch of people's lives that that's an OK price to pay?

　　MARK ROBERTS: Yeah. Well, it's hard to argue that. I'm certainly not going to sit here and say well, we should allow people to drink whatever, and whatever the consequences are, that's the way it is going to be. I certainly wouldn't advocate that.

　　WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Why do you think this has been so effective?

　　LAUREL MIDDELAER: I think because the consequence is firm. I think that people respond when there's a harsher consequence. And I think, too, because it's aligned¹² to a larger goal. Just like secondhand smoke, we have no tolerance¹³ for that anymore, just like when seatbelts came in, there was that fundamental shift. My goal has always been that there will be a fundamental shift that it's not OK to drink and drive. Drinking is fine. Absolutely -- drink whatever you like and enjoy and partake, but just don't mix it with driving.

1 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。

2 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

3 stiffened   

加强的

参考例句：

• He leaned towards her and she stiffened at this invasion of her personal space. 他向她俯过身去，这种侵犯她个人空间的举动让她绷紧了身子。
• She stiffened with fear. 她吓呆了。

4 impair   

v.损害，损伤；削弱，减少

参考例句：

• Loud noise can impair your hearing.巨大的噪音有损听觉。
• It can not impair the intellectual vigor of the young.这不能磨灭青年人思想活力。

5 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

6 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

7 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

8 uproar   

n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸

参考例句：

• She could hear the uproar in the room.她能听见房间里的吵闹声。
• His remarks threw the audience into an uproar.他的讲话使听众沸腾起来。

9 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

10 deterrence   

威慑，制止； 制止物，制止因素； 挽留的事物； 核威慑

参考例句：

• An extreme school of "disarmers" pronounced stable deterrence was a dangerous deception. “裁军论者”中的极端派声称，稳定的威摄是一种危险的骗局。
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。

11 draconian   

adj.严苛的；苛刻的；严酷的；龙一样的

参考例句：

• You can't expect the people to obey such draconian regulations.你不能指望人民服从如此严苛的规定。
• The city needs a draconian way of dealing with robbers.这个城市需要一个严苛的办法来对付强盗。

12 aligned   

adj.对齐的，均衡的

参考例句：

• Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard.务必使搁架与橱柜顶端对齐。

13 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。