Alcohol and Highway Safety: DUI Laws and Prevention

Introduction to Drunk Driving Laws

Vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death in the 15–20 age group of drivers, and most of these crashes are alcohol-related. About one-fifth of all U.S. drivers admit to driving while or after drinking, and four out of five of them are legally impaired. Prevention laws and recommendations to combat drunk driving exist, yet violations and fatalities persist.

Drunk driving is illegal because it increases the risk of accident (Daniels 2012). It is commonly referred to as driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) or driving while impaired (DWI). Under these conditions, normal brain function is affected and slowed by alcohol. States have their own specific laws, although most standards are accepted nationwide (Daniels).

Drunk driving is determined when a police officer administers a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) test on the driver (Daniels 2012). In all states except South Carolina and Massachusetts, the permitted alcohol level is 10%. If the content exceeds this threshold, the driver is adjudged to have consumed too much alcohol to drive safely. Some states penalize drivers with lower concentrations of .08%. Conducting a test, however, must be justified by probable cause. Probable cause requires a number of conditions: the driver must have passed through a traffic stop, avoided the stop, sped, driven recklessly, had broken vehicle lights or an expired plate, or failed to obey traffic and speed signs. When intercepted, the driver's eyes, behavior, and smell must indicate that testing for alcohol content is warranted (Daniels).

If the driver fails the test or refuses to take it, his or her license can be revoked or suspended (Daniels 2012). The driver may then be required to attend a court hearing for drunk driving. Some states require the hearing before the suspension or revocation of the license. Blood alcohol concentration levels above the minimum are penalized by revocation or suspension, with the length determined by the state and the court. In cases of multiple offenses, the vehicle is lawfully forfeited in 22 states and withheld until the driver is acquitted. In 43 states, another law prohibits both the driver and passengers from possessing an open container in which an alcoholic drink is purchased or stored — such as a previously opened whiskey bottle in the trunk — unless this is disproved in a court of law. This law was intended to reduce the likelihood of the driver or a passenger drinking during transport on account of the alcohol's presence in the vehicle (Daniels).

The Scope of Drunk Driving in America

Drunk driving is a major police concern because alcohol increases the risk of traffic crashes, injuries, and deaths (Scott et al. 2012). Alcohol impairment is the primary factor in these events. Drunk driving is among the most common types of police arrests, and alcohol-related crash deaths occur at roughly the same volume as homicides. Of particular concern is that vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death in the 15–20 age group, many of which are alcohol-related.

About one-fifth to one-quarter of U.S. drivers admit to having driven after drinking at least once within the previous year, and four out of five of them said they were legally impaired. Drunk drivers are more likely to be male, white or Hispanic, aged 25–44, unemployed or from the working class, and unmarried. They are also more likely to drink heavily or have drinking problems. Drivers under 21 years old are twice as likely to be involved in fatal vehicle crashes than older drivers. Surveys indicate that about 3% of all drivers at any given time are legally impaired, with that number rising significantly on weekend evenings. About 8% of all drivers have blood alcohol concentrations above .05, and another 9% have had at least one drink — equating to roughly 17% of all drivers operating their vehicles under the influence of some alcoholic beverage (Scott et al.).

Prevention Laws and Enforcement

The Metropolitan Police Department (MPDC 2012) enforces distinct laws against driving while intoxicated (DWI), driving under the influence (DUI), and underage drinking. A DWI suspect can be convicted solely on the basis of breath, blood, or urine results without the need for field sobriety tests. A DUI is committed when a driver's BAC is .07% or lower but other signs of impairment are present. In the District of Columbia, a DUI offense can be charged in addition to a BAC reading if an officer finds other behavioral signs of impairment. A driver younger than 21 cannot buy, consume, or possess alcoholic beverages of any kind; violating this law results in arrest and a DWI charge (MPDC).

Those convicted of drunk driving have been found to pose a substantial risk of reoffending (CDCP 2011). Records show that legally impaired drivers involved in fatal crashes were eight times more likely to have prior DWI convictions than those without. While millions of adults drive impaired, only a fraction are arrested. An estimated 1.4 million were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol in a given year — less than 1% of the 147 million self-reported alcohol-impaired driving episodes among U.S. adults annually. Notably, underage drinkers face the greatest risk of dying in an alcohol-impaired crash compared with older drivers (CDC).

Conclusion: Evaluating Policy Effectiveness

A recent study analyzed nine traffic policies in determining the effectiveness of alcohol-related fatality prevention (Chang et al. 2012). These nine policies are believed to effectively reduce the incidence of DUI, even if some have shown limited or no significant impact on fatalities. The policies examined cover blood alcohol concentration standards, administrative license revocation, minimum legal driving age, zero tolerance laws, open container restrictions, DUI fines, seat belt use, maximum speed limits, and beer taxes. The researchers found that alcohol-related traffic deaths per total traffic deaths better reflects the impact of these policies than raw fatality counts. Results reveal that beer taxes are the most effective measure in decreasing drunk-driving fatalities. With respect to lives saved by traffic policies, zero tolerance laws were most effective, followed by MLDA requirements, seat belt laws, speed limit laws, and blood alcohol content limits of .08. Administrative license revocation laws were most effective for reducing alcohol-related motor vehicle fatalities per capita, followed by zero tolerance laws, DUI fine laws, and seat belt laws. Open container laws showed little deterrent effect on drinking and driving (Chang et al.).

Income also had a significant negative effect on alcohol-related fatalities (Chang et al. 2012). The long-held assumption was that income would have a positive impact, since alcohol consumption was assumed to increase with income. Under this assumption, rising income would lead to higher motor vehicle fatalities. However, road death rates are high in poorer states, often due to inferior road conditions or poor vehicle maintenance. People with higher incomes likely engage in other recreational activities in place of heavy drinking (Chang et al.).

Unemployment, on the other hand, has a positive effect on alcohol-related traffic fatalities as a share of total fatalities (Chang et al. 2012). This suggests that more motor vehicle crashes occur when unemployment rates are high, as some unemployed individuals may resort to alcohol to allay depression. Conversely, there are fewer alcohol-related fatalities per capita when unemployment is high, possibly because people are focused on finding work and have less time and money for alcoholic beverages (Chang et al.).

Bibliography

CDCP. Policy Impact: Impaired Driving. National Center for Injury Prevention Control: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011.

Chang, Koyin et al. "The Effectiveness of Alcohol Control Policies on Alcohol-Related Traffic Fatalities in the United States." Accident Analysis and Prevention, vol. 45. Elsevier, 2012.

Daniels, Stephanie. "Drunk Driving Laws." eHow: Demand Media, Inc., 2012.

Martindale, Mike. "Local Police Target Super Drunks." The Detroit News, 2012.

MPDC. Drunk Driving Prevention. Metropolitan Police Department, District of Columbia, 2012.

Scott, Michael S. et al. Drunk Driving. Center for Problem-Oriented Policing: COPS, 2012.

Wechsler, Henry et al. "Drinking and Driving among College Students: the Influence of Alcohol-Control Policies." American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 25(3). Elsevier, 2003.