MORE PEOPLE IN the United States are arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) than for any other reason. In 1996 this offense accounted for one out of every ten arrests in the country, a total of nearly 1.5 million citations. Taken together with the staggering death toll from drunk drivers, this statistic supports the statement by well-known criminal defense lawyer Alan Dershowitz: "The most serious crime in America is not drug use, or rape or armed robbery. It is drunken driving."

On the other hand, some legal experts argue that drunk driving, by itself, should not be considered a crime at all. They maintain that drunk driving is a traffic offense, which is different from a crime. Unlike for criminal offenses, traffic offenders are not arrested and charged with a crime. Traffic violations can be cleared up by paying...