One for the Road: Drunk Driving since 1900

Barron H. Lerner, a public health professor and historian of medicine, traces American efforts to stop drunk driving since 1900. He follows the debate between those who push for tougher action and those who see the problem as exaggerated and overregulated. Lerner ties the issue to American attitudes toward alcohol, driving, individualism and civil liberties. He describes the campaigns of groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving and weighs the forces that have slowed reform, from the alcohol lobby to lingering backlash against Prohibition.

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Seth Godin: “You know what they invented right after they invented cars? Drunk driving. This is a surprisingly gripping book for an academic treatise. It helps you understand the machinations of politics, industry and how society just can't let go of the status quo, even when lives are at stake.”