Statistics
About one-third of all drivers arrested or convicted of driving while intoxicated or driving under the influence of alcohol are repeat offenders.
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On average someone is killed by a drunk driver every 45 minutes. In 2008, an estimated 11,773 people died in drunk driving related crashes—a decline of 9.8 percent from the 13,041 drunk driving related fatalities of 2007.
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up>[References]
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “Traffic Safety Facts 2007 Data:Alcohol Impaired Driving” DOT 810 985. Washington DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2008. http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/810985.PDF
Of the approximately 4.2 million people aged 16 to 20 in 2002 and 2003 who reported DUI involving alcohol or illicit drugs in the past year, about four percent (169,000 people) indicated they had been arrested and booked for DUI.
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Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. “Driving Under the Influence (DUI) among Young Persons.” Washington, DC: Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Applied Studies, December 31, 2004. http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k4/youthDUI/youthDUI.htm
US purchase surveys show that 40 to 90 percent of outlets sell to underage buyers , , and that this stems from low and inconsistent levels of enforcement against adults who sell or provide alcohol.
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Wagenaar, Alex and M Wolfson. “Deterring Sales and Provision of Alcohol to Minors: A Study of Enforcement in 295 Counties in Four States.” Public Health Reports 110 (1995): 419-427.
Wagenaar, Alex and M Wolfson. “Enforcement of the Legal Minimum Drinking Age in the United States.” Journal of Public Health Policy 15 (1995): 37-53.
Over 1.46 million drivers were arrested in 2006 for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics. This is an arrest rate of 1 for every 139 licensed drivers in the United States.
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National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “Traffic Safety Facts 2006: Overview.” DOT 810 809. Washington DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2008. http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/810809.PDF
In 2001, more than half a million people were injured in crashes where police reported that alcohol was present — an average of one person injured almost every minute.
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Blincoe, Lawrence, et al. “The Economic Impact of Motor Vehicle Crashes 2000.” Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2002. http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/economic/EconImpact2000/
Miller, Ted, Diane Lestina, and Rebecca Spicer. “Highway Crash Costs in the United States by Driver Age, Blood Alcohol Level, Victim Age, and Restraint Use,” Accident Analysis and Prevention, 30, no. 2 (1998): 137-150.
One arrest is made for driving under the influence for every 772 episodes of driving within two hours of drinking and for every 88 episodes of driving over the illegal limit in the U.S.
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Zador, Paul, Sheila Krawchuk, and B. Moore, “Drinking and Driving Trips, Stops by Police, and Arrests: Analysis of the 1995 National Survey of Drinking and Driving Attitudes and Behavior,” Rockville, MD: Estat, Inc, 1997.
Only 17 percent of impaired drivers who are injured in crashes are charged and convicted. Eleven percent are charged and not convicted and 72 percent are never charged.
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