Drunk driving

Judges must send drunken drivers who do not change their ways to prison for long terms.

No matter how many times they’re arrested; no matter how many times their licenses are suspended or they are forced into substance abuse programs, some people will just never stop drinking and driving.

With these people, the only thing to do is to put them in prison for a long time, long enough to make sure they never put the rest of us at risk again.

This month, a man died and his wife and daughter were seriously injured because a habitual drunken driver got behind the wheel again.

Judges in the United States need to start handing down the kinds of prison sentences — 10 years, 20 years, even life — that fit for people who clearly won’t change their ways and stop drinking and driving. They need to be punished for flouting the law, but more so, the rest of us need to be protected. License suspensions, short stays in jail, rehab programs and community service just aren’t cutting it for some of these offenders.

— Courier-Post, Cherry Hill, N.J.