Drunk Driving
Study.com Lesson
Study.com Lesson
Drunk driving facts and statistics are sad, intriguing, shocking, and disgusting all at the same time. This lesson goes over just a select few of the many drunk driving facts and statistics, but they're enough to make your jaw drop.
Drinking Alcohol
Some people who drink, do so irresponsibly, and they end up hurting themselves and a lot of innocent people as a result of drunk driving. This lesson goes over some of the astounding facts and statistics behind drunk driving.
Non-Death Related Statistics
A drunk driver is a person operating a vehicle who is mentally and physiologically impaired as a result of the overconsumption of alcohol.
What do you think your chances are of being involved in a drunk driving accident in your lifetime? Do you think it's:
A national survey found that close to 29 million people in the U.S have admitted to driving while under the influence of some amount of alcohol. That's roughly 1 in 10 adults you'll see today. Every two minutes (which means nearly 30 people) are injured or killed as a result of a drunk driver in the U.S. But what's shocking is that most drunk drivers don't get caught the first time they drive. A drunk driver will drive drunk an average of 80 or more times before being arrested for the first time.
The costs of this drunk driving are staggering. It's estimated that drunk driving costs the U.S. over $130 billion each year in monetary costs and quality of life losses. Compare this to the less than $10 billion the government generates from the alcohol industry each year.
Deaths
Things get only sadder.
One day, a man got behind the wheel of his car on a regular weekend afternoon. Unfortunately, he was drunk. He lost control of his car and slammed into a car in the opposing lane. He ended up killing a woman and severely injuring her husband. That drunk driver is now facing homicide charges. While I didn't know him very well at all, the drunk driver used to be a classmate of mine and now faces being locked up for the rest of his life.
It's unfortunate that the majority of us either know of someone who got behind the wheel of a car when they shouldn't have or know the victim of a drunk driver. The woman who died was just one of almost 10,000 people who died that year as a result of a drunk driver. That means that drunk drivers end up causing almost one-third of all traffic-related fatalities every single year.
Every year, about 200 children between the ages of 0-14 die as a result of a drunk driver. That accounts for 19% of child-related traffic deaths for children aged 0-14. You'd think that the majority of those children would be killed by a drunk driver that slams into their car. You'd be wrong. Sadly, more than half of those children (116) were actually riding in the same car as the drunk driver.
Drinking Alcohol
Some people who drink, do so irresponsibly, and they end up hurting themselves and a lot of innocent people as a result of drunk driving. This lesson goes over some of the astounding facts and statistics behind drunk driving.
Non-Death Related Statistics
A drunk driver is a person operating a vehicle who is mentally and physiologically impaired as a result of the overconsumption of alcohol.
What do you think your chances are of being involved in a drunk driving accident in your lifetime? Do you think it's:
- A 10% chance
- A 33% chance
- A 67% chance
- A 90% chance
A national survey found that close to 29 million people in the U.S have admitted to driving while under the influence of some amount of alcohol. That's roughly 1 in 10 adults you'll see today. Every two minutes (which means nearly 30 people) are injured or killed as a result of a drunk driver in the U.S. But what's shocking is that most drunk drivers don't get caught the first time they drive. A drunk driver will drive drunk an average of 80 or more times before being arrested for the first time.
The costs of this drunk driving are staggering. It's estimated that drunk driving costs the U.S. over $130 billion each year in monetary costs and quality of life losses. Compare this to the less than $10 billion the government generates from the alcohol industry each year.
Deaths
Things get only sadder.
One day, a man got behind the wheel of his car on a regular weekend afternoon. Unfortunately, he was drunk. He lost control of his car and slammed into a car in the opposing lane. He ended up killing a woman and severely injuring her husband. That drunk driver is now facing homicide charges. While I didn't know him very well at all, the drunk driver used to be a classmate of mine and now faces being locked up for the rest of his life.
It's unfortunate that the majority of us either know of someone who got behind the wheel of a car when they shouldn't have or know the victim of a drunk driver. The woman who died was just one of almost 10,000 people who died that year as a result of a drunk driver. That means that drunk drivers end up causing almost one-third of all traffic-related fatalities every single year.
Every year, about 200 children between the ages of 0-14 die as a result of a drunk driver. That accounts for 19% of child-related traffic deaths for children aged 0-14. You'd think that the majority of those children would be killed by a drunk driver that slams into their car. You'd be wrong. Sadly, more than half of those children (116) were actually riding in the same car as the drunk driver.
Study Questions
1) A drunk driver is a person operating a vehicle who is _____________________ and ___________________ impaired as a result of the overconsumption of alcohol.
2) You have a _________% chance of being involved in a drunk driving accident in your lifetime.
3) 1 in 10 adults has admitted to _________________________ under the influence.
4) Every _______________ minutes someone is injured or killed as a result of a drunk driver.
5) Most drunk drivers aren't arrested the first time they get behind the wheel; it takes about __________ times before they're finally caught.
6) While the U.S. generates about $10 billion in taxes from the alcohol industry every year, drunk driving costs us $_____________ billion a year.
7) About _____________________ people die as a result of drunk driving every year. That's about 1/3rd of all traffic-related deaths.
8) 19% of children aged 0-14 who die during a traffic accident do so as a result of a drunk driver. Sadly, most of them are in the __________________ car as the drunk driver, not the other way around.
2) You have a _________% chance of being involved in a drunk driving accident in your lifetime.
3) 1 in 10 adults has admitted to _________________________ under the influence.
4) Every _______________ minutes someone is injured or killed as a result of a drunk driver.
5) Most drunk drivers aren't arrested the first time they get behind the wheel; it takes about __________ times before they're finally caught.
6) While the U.S. generates about $10 billion in taxes from the alcohol industry every year, drunk driving costs us $_____________ billion a year.
7) About _____________________ people die as a result of drunk driving every year. That's about 1/3rd of all traffic-related deaths.
8) 19% of children aged 0-14 who die during a traffic accident do so as a result of a drunk driver. Sadly, most of them are in the __________________ car as the drunk driver, not the other way around.