Driving under the influence (DUI) may sound like a glamorous Hollywood misdemeanor, but it exacts a heavy and very unlovely price on anyone it affects. Before you start thinking this reckless behavior will mark you a rebel at heart and make you join the ranks of Justin Bieber, Lindsay Lohan, and Michael Phelps, here are some important facts to chew on.
1) If you think chewing on a particular food or drinking more water will help you get sober faster, sorry to break it to you buddy, but that’s not how the alcohol in your system works. Impairment doesn’t really rely on what kind of drink you’ve downed, but rather, it relies more on just how much alcohol you’ve consumed. So whether it’s a Long Island Iced Tea or a tall, sexy flute of Death In the Afternoon, if you’ve taken too much alcohol in your system, you’re too smashed to drive safely.
2) For drivers under 21, the U.S. has a No Tolerance policy that does not allow any alcohol to be in the blood system while behind the wheel. You can try to pull off slipping the cops fake IDs, but you’d really rather not dig yourself a deeper hole. The consequences could include expensive fines, loss of license or jail.
3) The average American will drive 80 times under the influence before getting arrested. Woot, thwart the police! But wait, it gets better: every 90 seconds, someone is injured from a drunk driving incident; every 53 minutes in America, someone is killed in a drunk driving crash. That adds up to 27 people every day. Fun! (Not.)
According to new data from the Centers for Disease Control, almost a third of all traffic deaths are caused by alcohol related accidents. In 2013, 10,076 people died in DUI accidents, about 30 per day in the United States. In 2007, 1.4 million drivers were arrested for driving while drunk or using narcotics.
So please, if ever you’re out partying with your friends with every intention of getting smashed, always make sure your designated driver stays sober, or arrange for safe transportation for yourself. Better safe than sorry.
Via: Potashnik & Associates
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