‘Backward’ Solution to Drunk Driving

Making manufacturers responsible for the misuse of their products is about the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard. Jack Miller (Letters, “Make Boozers Buy Round for Victims,” June 2) skirts the real issue, which is accountability for one’s actions.

Booze by itself is harmless; so are firearms. A gun cannot load itself, point itself at you and pull its own trigger. Nor can a six-pack force you to get behind the wheel drunk. Objects do not have minds.

My objection to Miller’s letter is with his placement of ultimate responsibility for alcohol-related injury and death. A wooden club can strike a baseball or a head but why blame the club, baseball team, manufacturer or sports spectators for its misuse?

Doesn’t make much sense. I mean, where do you draw the line? Any object, any material thing can be misused. Waxed floors, power tools, ladders and God only knows how many other things have killed and injured. So has alcohol. By Mr. Miller’s reasoning, if I break my neck on a waxed floor, I should sue Dow Chemical!

But still, I do empathize with him with regard to the drunken bozos that plague our highways. There are several Mideast nations that have been called “backward” and “antiquated” for the manner in which they deal with these slime balls. Perpetrators stand to lose various body parts such as hands, feet and even heads for booze-related assaults. Often the victim’s closest relatives are allowed to administer the proper punishment.

The ACLU would throw a fit over this, but how about we give our booze-loving highway killers free one-way tickets to Iran? If drunken scumbags don’t give a hoot about my life, I sure as heck don’t fret much over theirs.

FRED J. HERMON, Santa Ana