DUI
From Drug Rehab Wiki
The act of operating a motor vehicle (including automobiles, motorcycles, boats, aircrafts, farm machinery, and carriages) while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs is commonly known as drunk driving. The consumption of alcohol and/or other substances impairs motor skills, mental alertness, judgment, and reaction time, therefore affecting one’s ability to operate a vehicle. The official police terminology is Driving Under the Influence, abbreviated as DUI. Drunk driving is illegal in all jurisdictions of the United States, but may be referred to as Driving While Intoxicated (DWI), Operating a Vehicle Under the Influence (OVI), or Operating While Impaired (OWI) in various police jurisdictions.
Alcohol consumption increases an individual’s Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC). Alcohol impairment is measured by an individual’s BAC, which is determined by the individual’s body type, gender, health status, weight, and total number of drinks consumed over time. If a driver has a BAC of 0.01%–0.04%, he or she may face possible DUI charges. If a driver has a BAC of 0.05%–0.07%, he or she is likely to face DUI charges. If a driver has a BAC of 0.08% or more, he or she will definitely face DUI charges. At any BAC level, individuals under the age of 21 will definitely face DUI charges as the consumption of alcohol is illegal for this age group.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 11,773 people were killed in 2008 from alcohol-related driving incidents, which equates to about one third of all U.S. traffic-related fatalities. This is the equivalent of one drunk-driving fatality every 45 minutes in the U.S. From this total, about 68 percent of people killed in alcohol-related driving incidents had a BAC level of 0.08% or higher. Twenty-six percent of alcohol-related driving fatalities were other occupants and six percent were non occupants. About one out of six child deaths (children not of driving age) in motor vehicle fatalities involved an alcohol-impaired driver. Furthermore, of this figure, about half of these children were being driven by the drunk driver.
Younger drivers, ages 21–24, compose the largest age group to be involved in alcohol-related driving fatalities (about 34 percent of crashes in 2008). Close behind this group, 31 percent of alcohol-impaired-driving fatalities involved drivers ages 25–34. Twenty five percent of drunk-driving fatalities were caused by drivers ages 35–44. According to the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration, about 85 percent of alcohol-impaired drivers in 2008 with a BAC of 0.08% or higher were male. About 75 percent of all alcohol-impaired drivers in 2008 were male. In alcohol-related driving fatalities, drivers with a BAC level of 0.08% or higher were eight times more likely to have a prior DUI offense on their record. More than half of alcohol-related crashes (57%) involved a driver with a BAC of 0.15% or higher. About 18 percent of motor vehicle fatalities involved the consumption of substances other than alcohol, although these substances are often used in combination with alcohol.
If an officer of the law pulls over a driver suspected of drunk driving, the officer will perform a number of tests, including evaluation of the driver’s BAC level (usually obtained with the use of a breathalyzer, known as a “breath test”) or a urine test if applicable), search the driver’s person and vehicle for alcohol/substance paraphernalia, and simple cognitive tests. If the driver is found to be at or above 0.08% BAC, the officer has the right to arrest the driver, confiscate the individual’s driver’s license, and transport him or her to jail. The officer is required by law to forward a suspension or revocation order to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
The license will be revoked for the amount of time ordered, (usually for four months to a year, but can be as long as three years if a chemical test was refused) unless the revocation is contested by the driver in an administrative hearing with the DMV within ten days. The license will remain under suspension if found guilty of DUI in a court of law. A guilty conviction will result in revocation or suspension of license, jail time, fine(s), and other possible mandatory criminal penalties.
According to the CDC, over 1.4 million drivers were arrested for DUI of alcohol or narcotics in 2008. In recent surveys polling the U.S. adult population, individuals self-reported a total 159 million episodes of alcohol-related driving incidents; less than one percent of these incidents were convicted of DUI by law enforcement.
