The Facts on Driving Under the Influence in America
Driving under the influence (DUI), driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving and drugged driving all are being impaired by alcohol or other drugs and is a crime. Every day, almost 30 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. This amounts to one death every 51 minutes. The annual cost of alcohol-related crashes totals more than $59 billion.
The facts:
- Every 90 seconds, someone is injured from a drunk driving incident.
- Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death for teens, and roughly 1/3 of these accidents involve alcohol or another substance.
- An estimated 10.6 million people aged 12 or older reported driving under the influence of illicit drugs in the past year. ( National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH))
- Driving under the influence of any drugs is illegal and just as deadly and dangerous as driving drunk. If you drive impaired by drugs – even if they’re legal drugs like prescriptions and marijuana – you can be arrested for DUI. (NHTSA)
- In 2012, just over 10% of high school seniors said they drove under the influence of marijuana in the prior two weeks.