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Is Drunk Driving an Unfortunate American Tradition?

You know you shouldn't be driving, but your designated driver passed out a few hours ago, so you're stuck. You debate, should I get a cab or take a chance? One of the problems about alcohol is that it gives you what they call "liquid courage." So, you get in the car and take off, chewing gum to mask your breath and trying to focus on the lines on the road. And suddenly you see the worst thing any drunk driver can ever imagine--red flashing lights in your rear view mirror. You're just about to get a Driving Under the Influence (DUI) charge, which is one of the biggest dangers facing motorists today.

At Chevrolet Of Gadsden Body Shop, we've fixed countless cars that were damaged in DUI-related accidents and sometimes it can get real ugly.

The stats about DUIs are intoxicatingly shocking. In 2003, 1.4 million Americans were arrested for DUI, and alcohol-related crashes produce an estimated $45 billion in damages every year. In 2013, 10,076 people were killed and approximately 290,000 were injured. Even those who have not been directly touched help pay the $132 billion yearly price tag of drunk driving. But together we can eliminate drunk driving. according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), a prominent anti-drunk driving advocacy group.

Every two hours, three people are killed in alcohol-related collisions. The penalties for drinking and driving include a whole slew of unfortunate things, such as arrests and possible jail time, property damage, injuries and of course fatalities. An estimated 4 million drivers reported driving under the influence of alcohol at least once in 2010 and 1.2 times in 2014, yielding an estimated 112 million alcohol-impaired driving episodes.

Men drive drunk a lot more than women, do with male drivers accounted for 81% of all DUIs and drinking-related  incidents. Given the rate of driving under the influence of alcohol, it is remarkable that the fatality rate is not greater. Alcohol-related highway crashes accounted for 13,365 deaths in 2010. In addition, alcohol-related highway crashes annually cost Americans an estimated $37 billion.

However, drunk driving awareness and enforcement efforts such as Zero Tolerance Laws may be having a positive impact. The percentage of alcohol-related fatalities decreased from 50.6 percent in 1990 to 42 percent in 2009. And all 50 States, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, now have a 0.08 blood alcohol concentration limit for determining if drivers are driving under the influence (DUI) or driving while intoxicated (DWI), up from just 2 in 1990.3 Among major crimes, driving under the influence has one of the highest arrest rates with more than 1.4 million DUI arrests in 2010.

These are frightening numbers, but even with so many warnings and anti-drunk driving programs out there, people still drive drunk way too much. So, the next time when you've had one too many, think twice before you jump behind the wheel of your vehicle. Brought to you at Chevrolet Of Gadsden Body Shop, where we hope that tips like these will lead to less DUIs and drunk-related accidents here in  Gadsden, throughout the state of AL and all over the country as well.