The Actions of Drunk Driving

Have you ever drank and got behind a wheel of a car? Have you ever got into a car knowing the driver has been driving? What happened?

What Do You Call It?Driving while

intoxicated (DWI), drunken driving, drunk driving, operating under the influence, drinking and driving, impaired driving all mean the same thing. Driving a motor vehicle with alcohol levels over the limits.

Don’t Be One of These Deaths

According to car accidents statistics, there is an average of one death in every twelve minutes in the United States of America – that is about a hundred and twenty-three deaths per day.

What is BAC?BAC stands for Blood

Alcohol Concentration.  BAC is expressed in percentage of alcohol to blood. The higher the BAC number, the more impaired a person is. It has been illegal in all 50 states to drive with a BAC that is 0.08 or higher.

Do You Fall Into This Group?In fatal crashes in 2009 the

highest percentage of drivers with a BAC level of .08 or higher was for drivers ages 21 to 24 (35%), followed by ages 25 to 34 (32%) and 35 to 44 (26%).

If you are under 21 and have any level of alcohol in your blood, even .01%, you may face a DUI or DWI conviction.

More Likely To Have a CrashA 160-pound person

drinking two beers within an hour would probably have a BAC of 0.04, well below the legal limits of driving under the influence, but 1.4 times more likely to have an accident than someone who is sober.

More Likely To Have a Crash + 2Two more beers? The

likelihood of an accident goes up almost tenfold. At .08 BAC, a driver is 11 times more likely than the non-drinking driver to be involved in a crash. As the amount of alcohol in the driver's system rises mathematically on the BAC scale, the likelihood of a traffic accident multiples.

More Likely To Have a Crash +2 +2

Two more beers? Up to a six-pack now? The likelihood of having an accident is now 48 times higher than the abstainer and the driver has just now passed the 0.10 BAC level.

Do You Where a Seat Belt?Teens have the lowest rate of

seat belt use. 10% of high school students surveyed said they rarely ever or never wear a seat belt when riding with someone else.

In 2007, 64% of young drivers in passenger vehicles involved in fatal crashes who had been drinking were not wearing a safety belt and died.Notice no seat belt?

Did You Ever Drink Underage?In a single year, 522

children under age 14 were arrested for driving while intoxicated, (113 of them were under 10 years old).

Kids who start drinking young are seven times more likely to be in an alcohol-related crash

Drunk Driving and Penalties to Teenagers:

Increase in auto insurance rates or even denial of insurance coverage.

Seizure of motor vehicleThe loss or suspension of

driver’s licenseLimited job opportunitiesJail timeHefty finesCommunity serviceProbation, DUI programs

What is Number One?Alcohol related

accidents are the number one cause of death for Americans ages 16 to 24 years old.

Sixty-percent of all teen deaths in car accidents are alcohol-related.

Don’t Be a StatisticIn the past 10 years,

250,000 people in the United States have died from drunk driving accidents.

White males are involved in about 81% of drunk driving accidents.

Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over!Approximately 1.5 million

individuals were arrested for drunk driving. This is a ratio of one out of every 122 licensed vehicle operators.

Convicted drunk drivers who continue to drive on a suspended license is 50-75%.

Where’s Your DD When You Need One?

US adults drank too much and got behind the wheel about 112 million times in 2010

An average drunk driver has driven drunk 80 times before first arrest.

Did You Know?DUI accidents that

occur between the hours of 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. is 80%.

The most dangerous month is August, and Saturday is the most dangerous day.

The most dangerous holiday to drive on is Thanksgiving.

Look At Me Now!If you are caught driving

under the influence, you will be charged with a misdemeanor and can face up to a year in jail, however if your drunk driving results in the serious injury or death of another person, you can be charged with a felony ranging from felony DUI (driving under the influence) to vehicular manslaughter or vehicular homicide.

Before

After

Do You Know The Laws?Many states are now

implementing a new law where if you are convicted of drunk driving three times within seven years you can be charged with second degree murder, even if your driving under the influence did not result in someone's death, you can still be charged with murder for exhibiting a reckless indifference to the lives of others.

Life or Death?

One in every three people will be involved in an alcohol-related crash in their lifetime.

Teen alcohol use kills about 6000 people each year, more than all illegal drugs combined.

You Will Never Win

No matter how much you think you can handle and still drive, remember that if you are relying on your speedometer to keep you from getting a DUI, statistics are not in your favor.

Works Cited"Injury Prevention & Control: Motor Vehicle Safety." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 18 Oct. 2011. Web. 22 Feb. 2012. http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/impaired_driving/impaired-

dry_factsheet.html"Statistics." MADD -. 10 Oct. 2008. Web. 22 Feb. 2012. <http://www.madd.org/statistics/>."Teenage Drunk Driving." FirstEagle Insurance Services Inc. 15 Jan. 2008. Web. 22 Feb. 2012. <http://www.firsteagle.com/tdd.htm>.