Before even considering to sit in your car while under the influence of alcohol, it’s best to drop the thought right as it appears. Simply put, the risks of getting involved in a traffic accident clearly outweigh the benefits by a long shot. Would you truly able to live with yourself if the accident has a fatal outcome?
If the gruesome image alone is not convincing enough, perhaps the following 9 facts about drunk driving will change your mind:
- In United States, fatal outcomes and damages resulting from drunk driving cost $52 billion on a yearly basis
In comparison, the US citizens paid around $23 billion in damages resulting from a fire. Alarming, isn’t it?
- If a male driver drinks 3-4 beers, he is too drunk to drive
A female driver needs much less (1-3 on average). This is because men and women have different metabolisms.
- 50%-75% convicted drivers don’t stop driving despite having their drivers’ license suspended
Luckily, if you’ve had a clean record thus far, certain legal professionals like Law Offices of Randolph Rice can help you get your license reinstated if you meet the right criteria. That way, having to risk incurring an even steeper penalty won’t be needed.
- Traffic accidents resulting from drunk driving most commonly take place during the weekends
Go figure. This seems like a clear correlation between how much free time people’s have available to spend on partying and the level of carelessness that can happen as a result. As confident as you may feel about your abilities a driver, calling a cab is undoubtedly your best bet to get home safe.
- 2/3 people will be involved in a car crash with a drunken driver at some point in their lives
For whatever reason, so many people fear traveling by plane, even though it’s objectively safer (backed by statistics).
- Alcohol is responsible for more than 50% of traffic accident related fatal outcomes among teenagers
Therefore, raising awareness, along with proper parenting, should be at the forefront of our efforts. All in all, teenage drivers are a particularly risky group, since they’re more likely to drink more than they should and sit behind the wheel despite not being fit to drive in such condition.
- In the USA, someone’s life is taken as a result of drunk driving every 51 minutes
Doing the math a bit more, this reveals another shocking fact; there are 27 victims of drunk driving every single day.
- Statistics from 2014 suggest that 60% drunk driving related fatalities are caused by people between 21 and 34 years of age
In other words, younger people tend to cause the majority of deaths resulting from drunk driving.
- Since MADD was founded in 1980, deaths resulting from drunk driving have effectively been halved
Here’s a calming fact so we can conclude on a positive note. Still, drunk driving remains quite a problem not just in the USA, but worldwide as well.
Conclusion
If you value your life as well as the lives of other people, da runk driver should not even enter your mind. If one of your friends wants to succumb to the temptation and is visibly intoxicated, it’s your duty to share some of the facts you’ve learned today, so we can hopefully spare ourselves another fateful outcome on the road.