“Every day in America, another 28 people die as a result of drunk driving crashes,” according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration FARS data of 2013. If our government had stricter laws, perhaps the number of deaths would be significantly lower. However, for now there are many people dying.

While Illinois does have fairly heavy consequences for DUI convictions, many of those punishments are not in place until there are multiple incidences or deaths involved. For example, a person’s car will not be impounded unless: a) they have previous convictions, b) it’s their third time driving under the influence, c) they are driving without a valid driver’s license or d) they are uninsured, according to the Illinois DMV. To me, waiting until someone has three DUIs to impound their car is too late and absolutely unacceptable. What is the government teaching them by saying “Okay, I’ll give you one more chance?”

Giving convicted DUI drivers a second chance is crazy. It’s as though we are telling them it’s fine to drink and drive and it’s fine if they put others at risk. Hello, it is obviously not okay to do something stupid and make others pay for their ignorance.

Unfortunately, there are people, like State District Judge Jean Boyd, who can tolerate death as a result of a boy drinking and driving. After 17-year-old Ethan Couch killed four people and injured nine others last June, he was only sentenced to 10 years of probation. The reason for his easy escape: “affluenza,” or being too rich to understand the consequences, according the USA Today and CNN. Seriously? People died in this accident. Being “too rich” is the most outrageous, sorriest excuse I have ever heard and I am embarrassed to say I live in a country that allows this sort of behavior.

New York, for example, seems to be one of those places. For a second driving while intoxicated (DWI) ofense, the person is charged with a class E felony—the lowest degree—and may only serve 30 days of community service and may only have to serve five days in jail. Only 30 days of service and/or five days in jail for a repeat offense? These people are being let off the hook way too easily. If they only serve that little bit of time, then what would keep them from doing it again?

For the third DWI offense in New York, the punishments double, except for the license suspension, which stays at a one-year minimum, according to Attorney Rich Stim. If these people are so inclined to continue to drink and drive, their licenses must be revoked altogether. They clearly have not and may not ever learn their lessons. For others’ sake, the U.S. government needs to act sooner in order to get dangerous drivers off the roads.

Perhaps the government doesn’t realize that “about one-third of all drivers are arrested or convicted of drunk driving are repeat offenders,” according the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Traffic Tech. That’s a lot of people who should not be driving anymore. That’s one-third more of other people at risk of injury or death as a result of those drivers. That’s one third too many.

In some cases, hit and runs accompany drunk driving. For Southern California, these types of crashes are considered an “epidemic,” according to Assemblyman Mike Gatto. But he has a potential solution in his new bill called AB 1532. Should this become a law, it would revoke licenses after the first offense.Finally, someone is thinking clearly.

This is what every state in the country needs. We need to stop tolerating drunk driving and other incidences, like hit and runs, and start putting our foot down to save lives. Because if we don’t “[a]lmost every 90 seconds, a person is injured in a drunk driving crash,” according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Please, save others and yourself and do not drink and drive.