[CliffFletcher]

In the wake of this sort of tragedy people always call for more severe sentencing. But that won’t move the needle. It’s not as though people who are drunk and getting behind the wheel make an assessment that it’s worth spending 10 years in prison if they kill someone, but they’ll find another way home if they’re looking at 20 years.

Most people drive when they’re over the limit because they have low odds of getting caught. They have low odds of getting caught because check stops are rare. And check stops are rare because they’re really expensive to staff, operate, and process.

Then there’s the full-blown alcoholics. Around 20 years ago, I heard some surprising stats around drunk driving in Calgary. The expert being interviewed said that on any given weeknight in the city, around 70 hardcore alcoholics would be on the roads. They routinely drove drunk because they routinely (ie daily) got drunk. The only thing that would get them off the road would be being pulled over and having their license revoked and their car impounded. But what are the odds of hitting a check stop at 9 pm on a Wednesday driving home to your house in Fairview? Almost zero.