DUI

DUI



Driving under the influence

Driving under the influence

Driving under the influence (DUI) refers to a driver operating a motor vehicle while his driving skills are impaired because of his use of alcohol or other drugs. Most of the focus on this phenomenon has been on the influence of alcohol on someone driving an automobile. More broadly, however, the cause of impairment does not have to be limited to alcohol; the individual does not have to actually be driving, but could be just behind the wheel or in “control” of the vehicle; and the vehicle does not have to be an automobile. A vehicle can refer to just about any type of conveyance, including a bicycle, snowmobile, boat, tractor, airplane, or even a wheelchair. DUI is a crime in most countries, including the United States.

Every week, if not every day, news outlets in most American communities report a fatal automobile accident. In 1980, over 51,000 people became traffic fatality statistics in the United States. Over half of these fatalities involved drivers who had been consuming alcohol. Since the 1980s, the states and federal government have taken steps to reduce the number of alcohol-impaired drivers with the goal of saving lives and improving safety. Some of the mechanisms utilized to reduce DUIs include implementation of laws making it illegal to operate a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content above a certain limit (.10, and later,.08); mandatory sentences for DUI (which can result in jail sentences, evaluation by addiction counselors, and administrative losses of driving privileges); as well as pressure on law enforcement agencies to aggressively enforce impaired-driving statutes.

These efforts have provided seemingly positive results, including contributing to a reduction in the number of traffic fatalities in 2008 to just over 37,000. Of these, almost 14,000 (41 percent) of drivers in such fatal incidents had a blood-alcohol content at or above.01. Of these 14,000 drivers, almost 12,000 had an alcohol content of at least.08, and just over 8,000 of these drivers had an alcohol content of over.15 percent. Statistics collected by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reflect that the median alcohol content for all drivers arrested for DUI is.16, indicating that half of all persons arrested for DUI had an alcohol content at least twice as high as the legal limit.

In 2008, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) noted that law enforcement agencies reported making over 1.5 million impaired-driving arrests. However, those arrested comprise less than one percent of the estimated 159 million persons who self-reported driving after having too much to drink, and represent only a fraction of the approximately 82 million motor vehicle trips where the driver had alcohol content over the legal driving limit of.08. Despite enforcement efforts, an average of 32 people died each day in 2008 in traffic accidents involving a driver who was under the influence.

What is driving under the influence of drugs?

Until recently, "has a drink for the road" was a phrase that was widely used in American ...