Facts and Statistics regarding DUI in the US

Driving under the influence (DUI) is a criminal charge that can have lifelong social and financial ramifications. Every year, DUIs affect thousands of people in the United States, so it is helpful to know some of the facts and statistics about DUIs in order to realize how serious their nature is. A DUI is defined as driving with a blood alcohol limit of over .08, but a law enforcement officer’s evaluation of a driver, such as their speech, driving, and roadside sobriety test performance can be sufficient for a DUI charge.

In 2008, DUIs accounted for some 13,000 deaths on American roads; this represents about 37 percent of all driving-related fatalities. However, drunk driving deaths have been on the decline since 1982, when about 26,000 people died each year from DUIs. This year, over 10,000 people are expected to die from DUIs; that’s about one person every 50 minutes. The three states with the highest number of fatalities related to DUIs are Texas, California, and Florida.

Drunk driving affects all Americans; they cost every adult in the country about $500 each year. In total, drunk driving has been estimated to cost taxpayers between $21 billion and $24 billion annually. One in three people will be involved in an alcohol-related crash in their life, and every year, about 708,000 people are injured in the over 2 million alcohol-related accidents that occur.

DUIs are generally due to a small group of repeat offenders. About 7 percent of drivers are responsible for two-thirds of all DUIs. The average person caught for a DUI has driven drunk over 80 times before an arrest. This is because only one person is caught for a DUI for every 200 to 2,000 drunk drivers on the road. Between 7 pm and 3 am, roughly one out of every ten drivers is impaired by alcohol. Since the risk of an accident goes up about 6 times when a person is at the legal limit for alcohol intoxication, this means that driving gets much more dangerous at these times.

Not all people arrested for a DUI are automatically guilty. Errors in police observation and faulty breathalyzer results can sometimes lead to the arrest of individuals that were not driving while impaired. For this reason, it is always important to consult a DUI lawyer in the event of being arrested for drunk driving.

This article is provided as information only and not intended as legal advice in any means or manner whatsoever, Attorney Michael Lowe is a Dallas DWI Attorney, and has provided this for informational purposes only.