Practically everyone knows that drunk driving is a problem that plagues our country, leading to unnecessary, devastating deaths every single day. However, what most people do not realize or think about is that drunk driving rates differ from state to state in terms of numbers of DUIs, DUI fatality rates, DUI arrest rates, and more. In 2018, “29% of total motor vehicle fatalities were a result of alcohol impairment,” showing the prevalence and massive scale of this problem.
The states with the biggest drunk driving issues are Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, North Dakota, Mississippi, and New Mexico. These are states with high DUI arrest rates and high DUI fatality rates. Furthermore, these states have retained their positions from previous years, showing that it was not just an especially bad year, but an internal problem.
However, “each of these states witnessed a reduction in their DUI arrest rates over the previous year,” reflecting an ongoing trend since the 1980s of drunk driving becoming less and less common. This trend has occurred and persisted for a variety of reasons, such as stricter DUI laws, “decades of successful awareness-raising campaigns by non-profit groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving,” and “increasing popularity of ridesharing apps like Uber and Lyft, which make getting a lift home from a night out easier than ever before.”
Yet, just because drunk driving has decreased, it is far from disappearing. Otorize serves as a tool to help prevent drunk driving by allowing people to test for impairment and avoid the roads if they are impaired. This 5-second test can save not just the life of someone who is impaired, but people they might have hit in their impaired state. This simple preventative measure can make all the difference and help to continue to lower drunk driving rates.
Sources:
https://www.arrestrecords.com/states-with-the-worst-drunk-driving-problems/
https://backgroundchecks.org/which-states-have-the-worst-dui-problems.html