How Common Is Drunk Driving?
In 2012, it was estimated that 4.2 million Americans admitted to driving while intoxicated. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the typical drunk driver was a young, male with a binge drinking history. This isn’t surprising, since binge drinking is prevalent among young people.
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Alcohol-impaired drivers are behind the wheel more than 300,000 times a day
Alcohol-impaired drivers are behind the wheel in the United States more than 300,000 times a day. These drivers have a higher risk of being involved in a car crash than other drivers. Among the age group between 21 and 44, men are more likely to be involved in drunk driving crashes. Additionally, passenger cars are more likely to be involved in drunk driving crashes than motorcycles.
These drivers present a hazard to other motorists as well as to pedestrians, causing an estimated 15% of all pedestrian deaths each year. Unfortunately, alcohol-impaired drivers are not heavily regulated. Despite the high risk, they are still on the road every day.
They don’t wear their seat belts
Seat belts are essential for occupant safety and are proven to reduce the risk of a crash. Studies show that people who don’t buckle up are twice as likely to die in a crash than those who do. The statistics are even grimmer when you consider that men are the least likely to buckle up, and yet the movie industry is largely focused on them.
Almost every state requires the driver and all passengers to wear seat belts, but there are different laws for child seat use. In the Western United States, seat belt use is lower than in the Southern and Eastern United States.
They don’t wear their seat belts regularly
Seat belt usage varies widely across the United States. In a recent study, nearly five out of ten high school students reported always wearing a seat belt while driving, but the results were quite different between states. For example, teen drivers who regularly engage in risky behaviors were significantly less likely to always buckle up. Furthermore, those teens who reported consuming substances regularly were also less likely to use seat belts regularly.
Statistics show that not wearing a seat belt significantly increases the risk of death in a car accident. In 2016, for example, only 47 percent of front-seat passengers wore a seat belt, a statistic that is nearly half the national average. In 2017, seat belts saved nearly 15,000 lives nationwide. This rate varies widely from year to year, but the overall trend is encouraging.