subject: DUI-Are You at Risk? [print this page] Some groups are more likely that others to be involved in drunk driving and accidents involving alcohol, and drunk driving takes a terrible toll on our nation's youth and children. While in the end it is the responsibility of each individual to not drink and drive, and while individual people within these groups are often not part of the problem, from a public safety and public policy standpoint, it is good to know the groups most likely to be part of the problem in order to focus prevention efforts. The National HIghway Traffic Safety Administration collects data on drunk driving topics and publishes them for public and state/local government use. Following are some of the highlights from a 2003 report.
1. Men are nearly twice as likely as women to have a BAC of .10 or higher when there is a fatal vehicle accident.
2. DUI/DWI driving will touch the lives of 1 in 3 people during their lifetime.
3. NHTSA calculates that alcohol related crashes kill someone every 30 minutes on average, and injure someone every two minutes.
4. During 2002, nearly a quarter of all teenage drivers (15-20yrs) who died in car accidents had been drinking alcohol.
5. During 2002, 22% of the car accidents where there were children (0-14yrs) who died involved alcohol.
6. During 2002, 41% of all traffic related deaths involved alcohol. That represents over 17,000 deaths.
As is obvious from the above numbers, drunk driving and alcohol related accidents have a real impact on our society. While it is important to maintain individual rights of privacy and due process, it is also important that we keep our children and families safe from the terrible effects of this negative activity.
If you have been arrested for DUI, it is important that you learn your rights and find a competent DUI attorney in your state in order to understand what you face and what to do next.
