Michael Phelps recently found himself in a storm of trouble when a photo surfaced on the internet of the record-breaking gold medal swimmer taking a hit from a marijuana bong. Phelps was publicly shamed, he was dropped from lucrative speaking engagements, suspended from pro competition for three months, and charges were sought but ultimately not bought against him.

Sports radio lines were filled with people who thought the punishment was either too light or heavy-handed, but just over four years earlier, those same phone lines were silent or buzzing about something entirely different. After collecting seven gold medals in Athens Olympics, Phelps was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated. At the time, Phelps was not old enough to legally purchase or consume alcohol.

Phelps released a statement of regret, the charges were dropped and the moment vanished from the public sphere.  Former NBA great, Charles Barkely was also famously arrested for a DUI, but people were far more fixated on the sexually-tinged comments Barkley made while drunk, instead of the strong possibility that he could have caused a serious—possibly fatal—accident if not apprehended by police.

Barkley also released a statement of regret, took a personal leave of his high profile position as basketball analyst and was sentenced to five days in jail, but served only three and returned to life as normal. It is possible and altogether likely both men felt true contrition for their actions, but the specter of drinking and driving as a serious offence is almost comical, as are the punishments.  

The blame and shame can be spread in many directions. On sports shows galore, there are athletes and pundits talking about how great these people are and how it was a mistake that they will learn from and everyone should simply lay off. This position diminishes the severity of drunk-driving and because no one died in either case, its significance drops from ten to zero.  Apologists are the last thing these people need, especially for people who are widely considered role models.

In 2007, almost 13,000 people were killed in drinking and driving incidents in the US alone and data collected thus far from 2008 shows a possible increase in those numbers. Needless to say that stiffer penalties need to be enforced for drink driving, but the white-washing and the dialogue must change. Sadly the only way this looks to happen is when the police are too late and a victim’s family is not interested in hearing about what a great guy the drunk driver is who stole one of its precious members.