ABSTRACT
Most crimes create a victim-a person or an entity that suffers physical or emotional harm or the deprivation of something to which the victim has a legal right. In some instances the tie between the criminal action and the harm is inferred. Driving while intoxicated may not produce victims, but it is presumed that drunk drivers will not be in control of their vehicle as well as sober drivers and that their erratic driving may sooner or later cause harm. Some inebriated motorists may drive more carefully than they ordinarily do because they know that they are incapacitated, but they will not be able to drive as well as they could if they were equally attentive but not under the infl uence of alcohol. At the same time, it has to be appreciated that fi ve out of six drunk drivers who kill in alcohol-related accidents have no previous
offi cial record for driving under the infl uence (Ross, 1992). Driving under the infl uence (DUI) becomes a crime with a statistical likelihood of causing harm and possibly death. Criminalization (making an act into a criminal offense) and decriminalization (the abolition of criminal penalties in relation to certain acts) are reactions to the relativity of crime.
