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This Halloween, Gene and Son’s was honored to be a part of the drunk driver display at Tuskegee High School’s Trunk-or-Treat event. As a tow company, drunk driving disasters are something we unfortunately see a lot of. We’d like to take some time to share some information with you that will hopefully encourage you to call a cab the next time you’re about to get behind the wheel after a night of drinking.

Pictured, is a car that we picked up from a fatal drunk driving accident right here in Tuskegee!

• More than a quarter (25%) of all traffic-related deaths are the direct result of alcohol impairment (NHTSA).
• Around 800 people per day are injured in a drunk driving crash and 30 people die (NHTSA). 
• If a driver’s BAC is above 0.10, they are seven times more likely than a sober driver to be involved in a fatal accident (VeryWellMind).
• Federal data show young people between the ages of 21 and 24 account for one-third of drivers arrested for DWI (BJS).
• In 2017, 32% of people who died in alcohol-related car crashes were passengers (III).
• Averagely, DUIs increase car insurance premiums by 71%.
• Over a quarter (26.1%) of respondents said it takes 3-4 alcoholic drinks for them to feel unfit to drive, while 6.1% said it takes more than five.
• 18.9% of respondents admit to driving while buzzed. 2.1% admitted to driving while high, and 5.6% admitted to driving while buzzed and high. Remember buzzed driving is drunk driving and you can still face legal repercussions if pulled over while buzzed! 
• Alabama is rated #15 in the country for most drunk driving fatalities.
• Almost 2,000 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die each year from unintentional alcohol-related injuries, including motor vehicle crashes.

Although traffic fatalities are lower than they were at the turn of the century, alcohol-related crashes still kill about 10,000 people per year in the United States, with alcohol being a factor in one out of three motor vehicle deaths.  Despite all the warnings, public awareness, educational programs, and stiffer penalties for violations, people will still get behind the wheel of their vehicles while intoxicated. Drunk driving numbers for high schoolers decreased by half between 1991 and 2012, but teens are still at risk whether they are the drivers or not.

  One of the problems with setting the legal limit for “drunk driving” at a blood-alcohol content level of 0.08 is it sends the message that if you are not yet legally drunk, you are therefore okay to drive. A 160-pound person drinking two 12-ounce beers within an hour would probably have a BAC of 0.04, well below the legal limits of driving under the influence, but 1.4 times more likely to have an accident than someone who is sober. The problem lies in the fact that impairment begins long before you reach the 0.08 level. Scientific research explicitly shows that some of the skills that you need to drive safely begin to deteriorate even at the 0.02 blood-alcohol level.

  The moral of the story is this, DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE! We’ve attached a link to go get your own personal breathalyzer keychain so you can check next time you aren’t so sure if you should get behind the wheel. Please, make the right choice and stay safe out there. If not for yourself, do it to protect those around you.

Information and statistics from The Zebra and Verywellmind