Road accidents are caused due to a number of factors and one of the most common instigators of fatal road accidents is DUI. Driving under Influence of alcohol or drugs is a criminal offense and thousands of drunk drivers are arrested all over the united states every year. Although the instances of drunk driving have reduced over the years, the number is still significant.
According to statistics, 1.9 million DUI arrests were made in 1983. The number dwindled down to 1.4 million in 1996 and in 2003, less than a million arrests were made. With regard to accidents caused due to drinking and driving, the number of come down from the yesteryears as well. in 2006, the number of deaths due to accidents were 17,941. 275,000 were injured in drunken driving related road accidents in 2003.
In 2008, 14% of deaths that occurred in road accidents were due to drunken driving. In 2009, the number came down to 7.4%. In the same year 10,839 victims who died in road accidents happened to be involved in drunken driving accidents. According to statistics, one person in United States died every 48 minutes due to accidents involving drunken driving.
When compared to 2008, the number reduced by 0.3% in 2009. Of the total number of accidents that happened due to drunk drivers, 67% were found to have alcohol level much above permissible limits. In many cases, the blood alcohol content was nearly or more than 0.15% when the permissible level is 0.08%.
51% of all car accidents that occurred in 2009 involved drivers who were drunk. The cases of accidents due to drunken driving were analyzed based on the time of the day occurred, it was found that accidents in the night were 25% higher than accidents due to DUI in the day time.
Also, while 31% of all accidents involved driving under influence during the weekends, the number reduced to 16% during the weekdays. Unfortunately, 15% of pedestrians and sober people who died due to accident by a drunk driver were children.
It has also been seen that cases of motorcycle accidents by drunk drivers are more than the cases of drivers on four wheeled vehicles. Drunken motorcycle riders amounted to 29% of accidents. Interestingly, vehicle crashes involving large trucks were very low and registered just 2% of all accidents.