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| SHOCKING Facts About DRUNK DRIVING |
The holiday season is upon us, and in that spirit, I'd like to take the opportunity to talk about a really important topic that affects us all.
By now, we've all seen the commercials and signs, and we know that drunk driving is wrong. That you know, but what you likely don't know is the shocking facts and statistics behind it.
DUI, DWI, impaired driving, call it whatever you want, it's a selfish crime that causes thousands of deaths every year. We live in a world where car crashes have become the leading cause of death among teenagers, and alarmingly, in just 2014 alone, 17% of the 16- to 20-year-old drivers involved in fatal crashes were in fact drunk.
This, along with every other death caused by alcohol, could have been avoided. So today, in hopes that you and yours have a safe holiday season, we're taking a closer look at driving under the influence of alcohol, and the unbelievable truth behind it.
That's right, our article today is about drunk driving.
What is drunk driving?
Drunk driving is a crime in which a person operates a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. In all 50 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico, it's illegal to drive if your blood alcohol content, or BAC, is 0.08 or higher. Unfortunately, despite the fact that there are harsh penalties for it, that doesn't stop people from drinking and driving. Some people just don't understand what a BAC of 0.08 means, and some truly believe that they're fine to drive, when they've definitely had too much.
The truth is, it's simply not worth the risk, and cabs are very affordable nowadays, let's be honest.
Who does drunk driving affect?
Odds are you or someone that you know has been affected by drunk driving.
Statistically, when it came to fatal crashes that occurred in 2014 involving a drunk driver, men were more often behind the wheel than women at a shocking ratio of 7,574 to only 1,671, that is 4.5 males for every one female. Additionally, when looking at drivers involved in fatal crashes where the driver's blood alcohol level was 0.08 or higher, 30% of the 21- to 24-year-olds involved were drunk, the highest percentage of any age group.
To the young dudes out there, don't be a statistic. You have many years of partying and having fun ahead of you. Let's just make sure you're alive to enjoy them.
Where does drunk driving do damage?
In 2010, on top of the 10,136 people who lost their lives due to drunk driving, $44 billion in damages were caused because of it in the United States alone. That's right, I said $44 billion! That's a lot of money that could be used for some really great things, but instead, it's going to deal with the devastation caused by impaired use of motor vehicles.
It's kind of disgusting isn't it? What's worse is the other place that drunk driving hurts, families:
In 2014, 209 children 14 and younger lost their lives because of an alcohol-impaired driver. One hundred and sixteen of those kids were actually riding in a vehicle with a drunk driver at the wheel. It's just startling.
When does drunk driving happen?
Truth be told, the answer to this question should obviously be never, but unfortunately, that's simply not the case.
In 2014, of the drivers involved in fatal crashes that occurred in the U.S. at night, 34% were impaired, nearly four times more than the rate during daylight hours at only 9%. The same data showed that 29% of drivers involved in fatal crashes on the weekend were drunk, nearly twice the rate of those during the week, at 16%, but the scariest statistic to come out of 2014 revealed that in the United States, an average
of one drunk driving death occurred every 53 minutes. Truly mindblowing.
Why is drunk driving such an issue?
As I've already said, drunk driving impacts our economy severely. This is due to lost productivity, workplace losses, legal and court expenses, medical costs and property damage, just to name some. But one of the most terrifying realities is that you could be the kind of person who never, ever drives under the influence and yet is still one of its many victims.
In 2014, it was reported that 2,752 people lost their lives as vehicle occupants due to impaired driving, while another 824 fatalities occurred amongst people who weren't in any vehicle at all.
Now that you know the dangers of drunk driving here's an easy way to get home safe when you've been drinking. Download the NHTSA Safer Ride app from the Apple App store, or the Google Play store. NHTSA wants to remind to to drive sober or get pulled over. You guys are all really important to us, so please be safe this holiday season. We want to see you and those you love around for a long time.
And that's it for this article. As per usual, this was not an exhaustive list. There are many other SHOCKING Facts About DRUNK DRIVING, we just chose the ones that we personally thought were most interesting.
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