DUI in the United States: Facts and Figures

The criminal charges on Driving under the Influence, or DUI, imply enduring societal and monetary consequences. Annually, DUI cases involves at least a thousand US citizens; it is important to learn the facts and figures concerning DUI cases to understand how severe the cases are. DUI happens when a person drives with a blood alcohol limit (0.8 and above); an officer can evaluate the person’s manner of speaking and driving, as well as roadside sobriety test performance. These are adequate ground of charging a person for DUI.

Details herein provided are for information purposes only, provided on behalf of the DWI Lawyer in Dallas TX , Attorney Michael Lowe.

The data for 2008 proves that DUIs resulted to deaths of at least 13,000 people in the streets of the US, which is roughly 38% of the total deaths from car accidents. Compared to the data in 1982, where the fatalities totaled to 26,000, this is a significant decline in number of fatalities. The projection for fatalities this year is 10,000 – that means there is one fatality for roughly an hour. Florida, Texas, and California are the top three states that have the most number of deaths in respect to DUIs.

The effect of DUI costs Americans $500 per year. Annually, the aggregate cost of taxes is between $21-24 billion. 30% of Americans will be engaged in alcohol-related car accidents; each year, 708 thousand citizens are hurt out of the two million alcohol-related car accidents.

Repeat offenders cause DUIs. Roughly 7% of driving citizens are accountable for 2/3 of DUI cases. A regular driver who has been charged for DUI has driven under the influence for at least eighty times before getting arrested. Only one out of 200-2000 cases of drunk driving that is arrested. Because the probability of an accident is 600% more risky when driving under the influence, it implies that driving is not safe these days.

It doesn’t imply that all people who are charged with DUI are guilty. Breath analyzer can give faulty results, and they can be arrested even if they were not driving under influence.

The information in this article is not intended nor should be considered legal advice.