20 Aug Hawaii has most drunk driving incidents in U.S.
A new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that people living in Hawaii and the Midwest are the most likely to drive drunk in the U.S. Meanwhile, New York motorists are pretty far down on the list.
In order to learn how common drunk driving is in America, the CDC looked at data from its ongoing Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance survey, which randomly polls people on their risky behaviors. According to the data, around 1.8 percent of Americans admitted to driving after they had “perhaps too much to drink” in the month prior to being surveyed. That means that there are around 4.2 million drunk driving incidents each month nationwide and 121 million each year.
There were big differences in the numbers of drunk drivers per state. For example, the CDC reports Hawaii led the nation with 995 yearly drunk driving incidents per 1,000 people, followed by Nebraska at 955, North Dakota at 855 and Wisconsin at 828. The state with the fewest incidents was Utah, with just 217 per 1,000 people. In comparison, New York had 372 incidents. Drunk driving remains a leading cause of fatal car crashes in the U.S. In 2013, more than 10,000 people were killed in drunk driving accidents nationwide.
New York residents arrested on drunk driving charges could face harsh penalties, including significant jail time and steep fines, if they are convicted. However, a criminal defense attorney may be able to dispute the evidence in the case, including the way that the client’s alleged blood alcohol content level was measured, in order to get the charges reduced or dismissed.