Among today’s offerings from the Spectator is a piece by “car guy” Eric Peters taking on Mothers Against Drunk Driving:

The BAC threshold defining “drunk driving” used to be .10 — because that was the level at which is was known drivers tended to have more accidents.

Not anymore. The lawful maximum BAC nationwide is now .08 and threatens to get knocked down even lower. In many states, you can be arrested for DUI with a BAC level of .06. “Zero tolerance” — that is, no alcohol whatsoever, is openly discussed.

Which is just silly. Do we really believe people ought to be arrested because they got behind the wheel of a car after having had a sip of wine?

So, how did we get from reasonable DWI laws to here — objectively unreasonable DWI laws that target social drinkers with even very moderate amounts of alcohol in their systems with a vengefulness that borders on the pathological?

All it took was one “mom.”

MADD — Mothers Against Drunk Driving — has built a mighty empire in the pursuit of latter-day Prohibition. It is today one of the largest, best-funded, most aggressive political lobbies in the country.

MADD employs a large staff of full-time employees, has highly-paid executives and takes in millions of dollars annually. Lawmakers from the city council level all the way up dread being targeted by MADD and so bend over backwards to support whatever measure MADD puts forward. Do otherwise and, clearly, you must be a supporter of drunk driving.

And a little more:

The twisted thing MADD has managed to achieve is more or less the same thing that “civil rights” groups have achieved vis-à-vis racial set-asides and preferential treatment. Have the temerity to suggest that consuming any alcohol at all prior to driving — no matter how little 0- isn’t necessarily bad let alone criminal, and you’re in favor of “drunk driving.”

Just as criticizing affirmative action guarantees catcalls of “racism” from the civil rights industry.

This isn’t argument — it’s intimidation. Which is what demagogues do when they can’t debate the facts.

And the facts are not on MADD’s side.

Read the whole thing. It’s definitely worth considering even if you don’t agree. Are we going too far in our efforts to stop drunk driving?