Penalties for Drinking and Driving

South Carolina consistently ranks among the worst states for drunk driving accidents, and over 300 people were killed in DUI crashes in our state alone in 2016. What is it that makes alcohol so dangerous when someone gets behind the wheel? In the year 2001 in Spain, 40,174 people were treated in public hospitals for traffic injuries. Some 28% of these injuries were serious or very serious and drinking was involved in a high percentage of cases. According to the Spanish Directorate General of Traffic (DGT), alcohol is involved in 30-50% of fatal accidents and in 15 to 35% of crashes causing serious injury, constituting a major risk factor in traffic accidents. This problem is especially important among young people and worsens on weekend nights [3,4].

• Being able to see clearly is massively important when driving, and excessive alcohol consumption can cause problems with your vision.
• Easier access to public transportation may keep DUI rates in large cities (even those with sizable drinking cultures) below the national average.
• The average distance of the average drinking–driving
  trip was greater than 16.7 miles for males, compared with 8.5 miles for females.
• Many states have enacted various laws in an effort to reduce the dangers of drinking and driving.

If a blood test shows that there are five nanograms or more of delta-9 THC per milliliter in a person’s blood, that shows they were driving under the influence of one or more drugs. Higher penalties are given if a test shows the person’s consequences of drinking and driving BAC level is 0.15 or more. The best way to prevent the dangers of drunk driving is to not drink and operate vehicles. Making sure you have a designated driver when going out is a great way to ensure a sober mind behind the wheel.

Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving

In 7 percent of pedestrian deaths, both the driver and
the pedestrian had been drinking (NHTSA 2003f). For those age 21 and under, zero-tolerance laws criminalize driving with very small amounts of alcohol. States may also have enhanced penalties in place for those who drive with very high BACs, minors in the vehicle or multiple convictions.

ValuePenguin found the national median was 86.5% or 1.86x increase in price of premiums after a DUI. Additionally, you may need to obtain an SR-22 document to verify you have purchased auto liability insurance. You should talk to your agent to see what can be done, if anything, to mitigate this increase. Impaired driving can cause accidents that lead to paralysis, disfigurement, brain damage, and even death.

How to Prevent Drunk Driving

Drivers who operate motor
vehicles after drinking are less likely than other drivers to wear seat belts
(see table 7). People who wear safety belts reduce their risk of injury or death
in traffic crashes by one–half (NHTSA 2002). At every BAC, a greater percentage
of drivers in fatal crashes who survived the crash were wearing seat belts compared
with drivers who died in the crash. The higher the driver’s BAC, the less
likely he or she was to be wearing a seat belt (NHTSA 2003a).

Motor vehicle wrecks are the leading cause of death in the United States for persons between 15 and 24, whether as the driver or the passenger. Among drivers ages who die in crashes, around one in five had at least some alcohol in their system. In the state of Colorado, it is illegal to drive while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In the United States, one person dies every 52 minutes in a drunk driving-related accident.

Impairment Begins Below 0.08 BAC

Every day, about 37 people in the United States die in drunk-driving crashes — that’s one person every 39 minutes. In 2021, 13,384 people died in alcohol-impaired driving traffic deaths — a 14% increase from 2020. The risk of being in a crash begins to rise between .04% and .05% BAC and increases rapidly thereafter.

Although your BAC may be under the legal limit to drive, driving under the influence is never a good choice. It can lead to harmful situations because any alcohol can impair judgement and you might not even show signs of being drunk. Experiments have shown that drivers at the 0.02 level experience a decline in visual functions—their ability to track a moving object—and experience a decline in the ability to https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/alternatives-to-alcohol/ perform two tasks at the same time. You probably know that getting convicted of a DUI can cause your driver’s license to be suspended, which means you cannot drive until your suspension period is up.30 Driving without a license can lead to even more severe legal penalties. Contact Us today if you need help with drunk driving or need help getting through to someone that engages in drunk driving frequently.

Teen drivers: Crash and death statistics

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Another effect of drunk driving is the impact it has on every American taxpayer as well. Of all the drunk driving statistics out there, one of the most shocking ones is that drunk driving accidents cost the United States roughly $132 billion every year. That means that tax dollars are being used every year for these accidents instead of being invested in community growth and development.