Deciding to drive while drunk is one of the worst choices that anyone can make. Even so, it can be a difficult concept for anyone to grasp. Here are five facts that can help bring home the realities of drunk driving.
It’s an epidemic
A drunk driver injures someone once every two minutes somewhere in the country. A drunk driver kills someone once every 53 minutes. When it comes to statistics to do with drunk driving accidents, Atlanta ranks 84th nationwide.
Drunk driving is hugely expensive
Drunk driving costs the country close to $200 billion each year in lost lives, productivity and property damage. The costs are hardly just to the country at large, though. Individual drivers who receive DUI citations find that their insurance costs jump up by more than $1,200 a year.
It’s even more expensive when you count everything
In 2011, Fox Five Atlanta did a detailed breakdown of the kind of costs involved in being caught driving under the influence. Bail can cost anything up to $2,250. It can take up to $200 to get your car out of the pound, and your legal fees can be anything upwards of $2,000. Your penalties can be anything up to $5,000, and you will spend up to $400 getting your license reinstated.
Drinking just on the weekends is dangerous, too
One in six fatal traffic accidents during weekdays involve drunk-driving. During weekends, the figure jumps up to one in three. People who believe that driving while drunk once each weekend is okay, run a grave risk.
Your chances of getting hurt by a drunk driver are very high
One in three people in America will be hurt by a drunk driver at some point in their lives. This is a shockingly high figure.
Finally, remember that transporting yourself in other ways is risky when you’re drunk, as well. According to studies, the risk of getting into an accident while walking drunk on a public street runs at 8 times the risk rate for drunk driving (see the book Superfreakonomics by Levitt and Dubner). One in two of all pedestrian deaths in the country actually happen on New Year’s and Halloween — when people tend to drink and walk home.
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