Drunk driving decreasing in the US?

A person can be greatly impacted by the decisions of others. For example, when out on the roads, poor decisions by others could end up subjecting a person to auto crashes and the major injuries that can come out of such accidents. One such decision is a decision by another driver to take the wheel when drunk.

When a person is hurt because another individual opted to drive after drinking alcohol, it can be important for them to understand what legal rights they have related to trying to get compensation to cope with the ramifications of their injuries. Explanations of these rights and assistance with pursuing the available options for legal recourse are among the things skilled car accident lawyers can provide victims of drunk drivers.

Given the major safety impacts drunk driving can have on America’s roads, what trends are occurring regarding drunk driving is a very important issue. Federal statistics suggest that, lately, drunk driving has been steadily trending down here in America.

The statistics come from surveys that were conducted of Americans 16 and older between 2002 and 2014. Among the things that the surveys asked respondents to report was whether they had, over the previous year, driven while under the influence of alcohol. The percentage of respondents who reported such conduct fell most of the years between 2002 and 2014. This resulted in the percentage dropping from 15.3 percent in 2002 all the way down to 11.1 percent in 2014.

Now, the decrease was not even across all age groups. Rather, the drop was steeper among younger drivers. Drivers in the 16-20 and 21-25 age groups saw 10 percentage point and 11 percentage point drops, respectively, in drunk driving over the 2002 to 2014 period. Meanwhile, over this same period, individuals in the 26 and over age group saw a decrease that was under 3 percentage points.

Now, while the statistics suggest that drunk driving is going down in the U.S., they also indicate it is still quite prevalent. After all, even after the all declines, over one out of 10 of the people surveyed in 2014 reported driving drunk. And the survey data could be under-representing how prevalent drunk driving is, as the data is based on self-reports from drivers, which might not always be accurate or honest.

In the future, what would you like to see done in the continued battle against drunk driving?