07 Nov Sobering Holiday Drunk Driving Statistics
We travel to be surrounded by family and friends. We gather to express gratitude and celebrate. We laugh, we play, we eat, and we drink. It’s the most wonderful time of the year…until it isn’t. Each year, as holiday celebrations and parties ramp up, so do DUI convictions and DUI related accidents. As a criminal defense law firm in Phoenix, Arizona that specializes in handling DUI defenses, we thought it would be responsible of us to share some sobering holiday drunk driving statistics.
Holiday Drunk Driving Statistics
Literally 10’s of millions of people across the United States will be on the road this holiday season. And with the increased number of cars on highways and streets, there will also be an increased number of drunk drivers.
Here are a few holiday drunk driving statistics on a national level compiled originally by SCRAM Systems (a company that develops alcohol monitoring systems):
- Percentage of holiday traffic fatalities involving alcohol:
- Thanksgiving: 41%
- Christmas: 36%
- New Years: 43%
- 70% of holiday drunk driving deaths are caused by drivers with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.15+. The Arizona BAC legal limit is below 0.08%.
- In December of 2017, 885 people were killed in alcohol-impaired crashes.
- Between Thanksgiving and New Years 2017, there were 25,000 injuries from alcohol-related crashes.
- 51% of drunk drivers say they drink more during the holidays compared to the rest of the year.
Be Safe—Don’t Drink and Drive!
Don’t steal someone’s holiday cheer. If you plan on going out and know you will be drinking, plan ahead for a ride home. Don’t let your friends drive drunk. And if you notice a drunk driver on the road, call the police immediately.
Arizona has some of the harshest penalties for DUI convictions. If you are charged with a DUI or Aggravated DUI in Arizona, contact Todd K. Coolidge, Certified Criminal Law Specialist, immediately to discuss your case and your rights. An immediate, thorough, and aggressive investigation of your matter can potentially help to preserve or build evidence crucial to the defense of your DUI case. Again, we urge you for the safety of all on the road this holiday season, please be responsible!
Photo by Osman Rana on Unsplash (11/7/2018)