It’s that day of the week again – Hump Day! For those lucky ones who don’t have Friday classes, your weekend starts tomorrow night. But for the rest of us, Wednesday means two more days until weekend fun!

There are house parties, clubs and bars that have been calling our names since Monday morning. With the stress of school, jobs and general life we need time to just break loose and have some good ol’ fun.

So we hit the streets every night, Thursday through Saturday. We have some fun and some drinks. We drive home and crash (or pass out) and get up Sunday to cram in all the reading and studying for the coming week.

Did you catch that I said drive home? After a night of drinking it seems that it has become common ?”probably more than you’d think- that people are then getting behind the wheel.

We all know drinking and driving is against the law. Even more so, we know it’s the wrong thing to do. Is it just me or does it seem to be more common than ever?

Think about it. Has there been a time you have been out drinking and you decided to drive home? Or even just up to grab more beer? Or get Taco Bell? Have you done this more than once? Maybe it’s not you, but have you let a friend drive drunk? The sad truth is that some of you are probably thinking yes.

Here are some scary statistics: According to the American River Messenger, at non-peak times as many as one in eight drivers on the road are drunk. The number increases to one in four on Sunday mornings between midnight and 4 a.m. What is even scarier is the attitude toward being pulled over and receiving a DUI.

It seems that it used to be that when people got DUIs, their families were outraged and they had a rock bottom moment and realized they needed to get their lives together. Nowadays, I hear students talking about their roommates or friends getting DUIs like it’s no big deal; not that they put others at risk and they need to straighten themselves out. Now it’s, “Oh man, I got caught. That sucks.” I know we all have the mental capacity to know that when we drink and drive, we are putting not only ourselves, but other people, in danger. Maybe you truly think it won’t happen to you, but unfortunately, that is the most common response from those who have killed others when they decided to drink and drive.

Maybe losing your license and getting fined isn’t enough anymore. I don’t think it is. Which is why I was glad that I ran across a senate bill that just came into effect in January. SB 547 is a pilot program in Sacramento County that makes it so that individuals who are given a DUI after a previous offense will have their vehicles impounded for up to 30 days and will have to undergo treatment.

The bill came from Dr. Leon Owens, director of the Trauma Care Program at Mercy San Juan Hospital in Sacramento. In 2002, Dr. Owens’ 21-year-old son, Jacob, was intoxicated and slammed his car into a tree. Owens’ brother, also a doctor, was on duty at the hospital that night and did everything in his power to save his nephew. The bill stemmed from Owens’ frustration in seeing other families deal with this same tragedy. And I couldn’t agree more.

With so many alternatives to driving drunk, it seems unacceptable to even think about it. Maybe the loss of your car or required treatment will stop you from driving drunk. Or maybe remembering Dr. Owens, his wife and daughter who are dealing with the loss of Jacob on a daily basis will help you to hand over the keys and realize it’s just not worth it.

Nicki Croly can be reached at [email protected]