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Grayden Larson

Professor Richard Blake

English 2010

8 March, 2020

On Drunk Driving

Drunk driving is a prevalent issue in today's world. This has been an issue for quite some

time and even though the occurrence rate is going down, it is still a very serious problem. Seeing

the catastrophic effects that intoxicated drivers can have on people really hits home for me. We

are all devastated when we hear about innocent people that were killed in a car crash that was

caused by an intoxicated driver. Most of the drunk drivers that are involved in fatal car accidents

are males in their twenties. Governments, communities, and families are doing their best to make

the changes necessary to stop the drunk driving problem. I hope we will see the day that we

won’t have to worry about drunk drivers anymore.

These maps show us two important facts about

drunk driving. The first thing is the geographical

distribution of drunk drivers in america. Both

sides of the picture show us an increase in drunk

drivers in the midwestern area of the United

States. This may be because of culture,

availability of alcohol, or other factors. The other

thing this map shows us, is the difference between

the amount of male drunk drivers and female drunk drivers. If you look at the map, you’ll notice

that the left side, the male side, has brighter colors, which mean higher occurrence rates. A
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scholarly article about alcohol-impaired driving in adults by Amy Jewitt, a member of the

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, about alcohol-impaired driving in adults said

that “men accounted for 80% of episodes, with young men aged 21–34 years accounting for 32%

of all episodes. (Jewitt)” There are several reasons that men are more likely to drive drunk. Men

tend to be more daring because of the fact that they think they’re invincible. They tend to think

that bad things will never happen to them. News flash: bad things happen to guys. Especially

when they decide to get behind the wheel after a few too many drinks.

The graph on the left, published by NIAAA, shows some interesting facts about the

prevalence of drunk driving. Drunk driving reached an all time high in 2002 at 10.3%. Luckily

that number has only decreased since then. But even though the occurrence of drunk driving has

been declining since 2002, it is still a serious problem. A website titled Fathers Against Drunk

Driving says that “over 50% of all fatal highway crashes involving two or more cars are alcohol

related and every year, 708,000 persons are injured in alcohol related crashes. (Fadd)” This

staggering statistic shows us that drunk driving affects an overwhelming number of people each

and every year.

There has been a lot of talk of how to decrease the number of accidents that are caused by

drunk driving in the past years. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention suggests a few

important things that can be done to reduce the

number of drunk drivers. First, strict laws concerning

alcohol. This means that people under the legal age of

21 shouldn’t have access to alcohol and we should

have a set limit of 0.08% Blood/Alcohol

Concentration. Second, ignition interlocks should be

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placed for any repeat offenders. The NHTSA, (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)

says:

Some states require offenders to install ignition interlock devices at the driver’s own

expense. An ignition interlock device is a breath test device connected to a vehicle’s

ignition. The vehicle will not start unless the driver blows into the interlock and has a

BAC below a pre-set low limit, usually .02 g/dL. NHTSA strongly supports the

expansion of ignition interlocks as a proven technology that keeps drunk drivers from

getting behind the wheel.

And last, mass media campaigns. These are a critical part of educating the public about the

dangers of driving drunk. I see billboards and hear commercials all the time about driving

impaired. I think that these are very informative and helpful.

In conclusion, driving under the influence of alcohol is dangerous and should be avoided

like the coronavirus. There is a ton of data showing that drunk driving is dangerous but all the

data does us no good if we don’t make a change as a society. If we can work together to increase

awareness and put safety measures in place, we can reduce the number of fatalities that occur

every year.
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Works Cited

CDC. “What Works: Strategies to Reduce or Prevent Drunk Driving.” Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 22 Mar. 2016,

www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/impaired_driving/strategies.html.

Fadd, J. “Fathers Against Drunk Driving.” FADD, 2020, www.faddintl.org/nationalstats.html.

Jewett, Amy, et al. “Alcohol-Impaired Driving Among Adults -- United States, 2012.” MMWR:

Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report, vol. 64, no. 30, Aug. 2015, p. 814. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm6430a2.

NHTSA. “Drunk Driving.” NHTSA, 17 Jan. 2020, www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/drunk-driving.

NIAAA. "Share of Youth Aged 12 to 20 Years Who Drove While under The Influence of

Alcohol or in Combination of Illegal Drugs in The past Year in The U.S. from 1995 to

2015." Statista, Statista Inc., 6 Mar 2017, https://www-statista-

com.libprox1.slcc.edu/statistics/725146/past-year-drunk-driving-among-young-people-

united-states/

Sunshine, Jacob E., et al. “Alcohol-Impaired Driving in US Counties, 20022012.”

Population Health Metrics, vol. 16, Feb. 2018, p. 1. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edb&AN=127753115&site=eds-live.