What Is Drunk DrivingDrunk driving can be better understood by examining the blood alcohol content of a driver, also called a BAC. BAC is measured based on grams of alcohol per 100 mL of blood. If a driver has a BAC of .01, it means that there is .01 g of alcohol per 100 mL of blood in the body.

Note : Although “drunk driving” is a catchphrase thrown around by law enforcement and public service ads on TV, it’s a sobering thought to consider that drunk driving is actually a crime. Operating a vehicle with an excess amount of alcohol in your blood is a violation of both state and federal law

United States

• Since July 2004, it has been illegal in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to drive with a BAC over 0.08.

• Of course, this takes for granted the fact that a driver is of legal drinking age. For drivers under the age of 21, it is a zero-tolerance policy. Even though a driver may be an adult over age 18, they are still not permitted by law to have a BAC above zero until they reach the age of 21.

Other countries

• Other countries around the world have conservative BAC limits for drivers:

• 0.02 China, Sweden, Poland • 0.03 chile, japan, belarus • 0.05 austria, denmark, belgium • 0.00 Bangladesh, fiji, brazil • 0.00 Hungary, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia • 0.00 nepal

Blood alcohol level depends on how many drinks and body weight

To put the severity of drunk driving in perspective, consider these statistics:

• One in three people will be involved in an alcohol-related accident in their lifetime.

• The average drunk driver will drive impaired 80 times before an arrest.

Facts

• 1 person died every 53 minutes in a drunk driving crash.

• 211 children were killed in drunk driving accidents

• Roughly 300,000 unreported drunk driving incidents were confirmed per day.

• 300,000Incidents

Money

• Drunk driving costs the average taxpayer roughly $500 a year.

• Drunk driving costs the United States $132 billion a year.

What a DUI Arrest Means to You

• While all states in the US take a drunk driving offense seriously, more states are pushing for even stricter DUI laws. Gov. Markell of Delaware recently signed two new bills to pass a law to increase DUI penalties in the state. In particular, previous offenders with more than five DUI convictions will receive more jail time; a DUI will become a felony for drivers with six and seven convictions.

• In Missouri, a new law is under consideration to make it mandatory to install an interlock device on a car’s ignition after a single DUI offense. Currently, state law dictates that anyone with more than one DUI will be sentenced to use an interlock device in order to drive.

• Montana hopes to take it a step further to make DUI arrests even tougher on teen drivers. In a recently proposed bill, juveniles that are involved in a deadly DUI accident will be charged for the crime as adults.

Before you even think about taking the risk of driving impaired after a night of fun,

consider the penalties that could await you after a DUI arrest

• A suspected DUI driver will be pulled over for a traffic stop and given a field sobriety test. If the test is failed, a driver may be given a breathalyzer; if their blood alcohol content exceeds the legal limit, they will be placed under arrest for DUI.

• Once arrested, the driver will be taken to a local jail or police station for booking. Details of the crime will be recorded, and a mug shot and fingerprints will be documented. All personal property will be confiscated at this time.

• Depending upon the state and severity of the offense, bail may be posted or a driver may be released to a sober party once they have been given a court date. In some situations, a driver may have to wait in jail for a hearing from a judge to determine their bail amount.

Next step

• In court, if a driver is convicted of a DUI offense, they will have to pay court costs and a fine and face the suspension of their driver’s license. Many states now require mandatory jail time, even for first-time DUI arrests. A driver charged with a DUI is also likely to be placed on probation and will have to perform community service

• Most convicted drivers will have to go through some type of driver’s education in order to earn their license back. In many states, a driver’s license will be re-issued on a restricted basis after 30 days to drive to work and school only.

• Finally, a convicted DUI offender will have to take alcohol awareness and treatment classes and attend a support group or counseling before they are deemed rehabilitated

While consequences will vary greatly by state, here are some of the DWAI and DUI

penalties that a driver can expect after an arrest.FIRST TIME

• Many first-time offenders will be given more lenient punishments, like:

• Mandatory driver’s license suspension• Fines• Drunk driver’s education classes• Attendance of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings or counseling• Community service• Probation• As a note, some jurisdictions may be inclined to make an

example out of drunk drivers and sentence first-time offenders to jail for a short time

Third time • Once a first-time offender has a subsequent DUI arrest, penalties

become even stricter for second, third, and fourth-time offenders. Penalties for a repeat offender may include:

• Ignition interlock device on a vehicle• Impounded car• Breathalyzer required at home • House arrest• Random breathalyzer and urine tests from probation officers• Forfeiture of vehicle• Hefty fines• Driver’s license revocation• Incarceration

How Long Will It Take for a DUI to Go Off Your Record?

• Most state DUI laws will require that a DUI offense stays on your driving record for a set amount of time. However, it is possible that a DUI could remain on a driving record indefinitely.

• In this instance, you will have to communicate with the Department of Motor Vehicles in your state to determine how to expunge an outdated DUI from your driving record. Experts often recommend hiring an attorney for this task to clear your driving record of an old DUI offense that may continue to affect insurance rates.

• As estimated above, you can expect a DUI to stay on your driving record for a minimum of 10 years. In states like Tennessee, a DUI offense will remain on your driving record for life

Drunk DrivingFatalities Are No Joke

• The Mothers Against Drunk Driving organization provides countless stories of lives that were cut short or damaged irreparably because of a drunk driver.

• Take the story of Brian Wood who was driving with his wife; she was seven months pregnant with their first child. As Brian saw a car driven by a drunk driver veer toward them in their lane, he turned his vehicle right so that the driver’s side would shield the crash from his wife and unborn child. As a result, Brian was killed in the crash, and his wife and unborn baby lived.

• In a similar story, 21-year-old Elaina Luquis-Ortiz was on the side of the road helping a friend with a flat tire. As they were waiting for a tow truck to arrive, a drunk driver with a BAC over three times the legal limit hit them. Elaina was six months pregnant with her first child at the time; both died at the scene of the accident

Drinking and Dying

3% Sober pedestrians and bicyclist

Drunk pedestrians and bicyclist

Sober

Thoughts

• After hearing these tragic stories, you may be asking yourself a familiar question. Why on earth would anyone get behind the wheel impaired when it could cost someone else their life?

• Unfortunately, very few drivers realize how drastically alcohol can affect them behind the wheel. Alcohol is a depressant that slows down central nervous system activity, including brain response. Alcohol can impair a driver in the following ways:

BAC & DRIVING IMPAIRMENT

• t

CoordinationConcentrated attention, speed contro

Information processsing, judgementEye movement control, standing steadiness, emergency responses

Divided attention, choice reaction time, visual function

Tracking and steering

Perhaps one of the most familiar organizations that crusades against drunk driving is MADD - Mothers Against Drunk Driving since 1980. MADD is a

nationally recognized nonprofit organization that was started by a mother of a 13-year-old girl who was killed by a drunk driver.

MADD began as a grassroots organization and has since transformed into a widespread campaign to eliminate drunk driving by:

Supporting law enforcement heroes that catch drunk drivers.Requiring in-car breathalyzers for all drunk drivers to prove sobriety before

getting on the road.Supporting the development of new technology to improve roadside sobriety

tests.

How to Prevent Drunk Driving

Your DUI Questions Answered

• Q: How many drinks does it take to cause a fatal accident?

• A: This is a tough question to answer at face value since it is difficult to predict what will cause a fatal accident. However, it’s important to always stay within legal limits of a BAC lower than .08 if you are over 21. If you are a man or woman of an average weight, two drinks could bring you to this limit; weight, gender, body fat, eating, and time between drinks will also affect blood alcohol concentration

• Q: When are you most likely to get into a DUI accident?

•

• • 31% of fatal drunk

driving crashes occur on the weekend compared to 16% of crashes during the week.

• Alcohol impairment in a driver increases dramatically at night, up to four times more than daytime driving.

Q: Who is most likely to get into a DUI accident?

Ans : Based on fatal crash statistics in 2010, the highest percentage of drunk drivers were aged 21 to 24, followed by ages 25 to 34 and 35 to 44 respectively.

Men are more likely than women to drive under the influence

Q: How likely are teenagers to drink and drive?

• A: Since there is a zero-tolerance policy for drivers under the age of 21, teenagers are not permitted by law to drive with alcohol in their system. Nonetheless, 2010 statistics confirm that:

• of 16 and 17-year-old drivers drove under the influence.

• of 18 to 20-year-old drivers drove under the influence.

• Among male drivers ages 15 to 20 who were involved in fatal crashes in 2010, 25% of drivers were under the influence of alcohol

Note• Slides and sources collected from the internet to spread the public

awareness

• The bottom line?

• Think before you want to drink. • And if you DO wish to? • Make sure you don't drive. • The options are vast. • Call a cab... a friend, walk, hell... if you have to find somewhere to sleep it off, so be it. • But the point remains, after a certain number of drinks per body volume, you are in NO

condition to drive. • The average is about a drink an hour, give or take. Yopu've been to the bars and clubs.... • who REALLY holds that limit? And sure, there's always the argument "oh, I've done this a thousand times and never been in an accident!"

• Maybe true.... but it only takes one second of impaired judgement to destroy that "flawless record", and potentially harm someone.... and land you in jail. Is it worth it, just to have the fun you could more responsibly? STAY SAFE LIVE AND LET OTHERS LIVE LONG