Over 1.5 million drivers each year are arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) in the US. At any given time, approximately 2 million people are thought to be driving with DUI records that include three or more offenses, according to statistics from the State Highway Safety Office. One-third of all drunk driving accidents are from repeat offenders. It is estimated that between 50 and 75 percent of drivers with DUI convictions whose driving licenses have been suspended continue to operate vehicles illegally. DUI is thought to be responsible for at least one-third of all traffic fatalities, even though drunk drivers generally only make up a fraction of one percent of the total number of drivers on the road.
More about drinking and driving:
- A person is killed in a drunk driving related accident in the US about every hour, according to 2011 findings from Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).
- Only about 1 percent of the estimated total of drunk drivers are actually caught and arrested, reports the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
- The average person convicted of DUI is thought to have driven impaired 80 times before being caught, according to the Centers for Disease Control.