Drunk driving cases often follow certain trends. Law enforcement officers usually consider the trends when they are trying to decide how they are going to stop drunk drivers. While the best course of action for avoiding a drunk driving charge is to not drive drunk, knowing the current trends might help you to avoid having to face drunk driving charges since you might better understand what police officers are looking for.
Are police officers only looking for drivers who are drunk?
No, law enforcement officers are also looking for drivers who are impaired by other substances like drugs. In fact, the rate of drunk driving incidents has decreased 80 percent from 1973 through 2013 to 2014. The number of drugged driving has gone up in recent years.
When is drunk driving most common?
Drunk driving is most common on the weekends. On the weekends, an average of 8.3 percent of drivers have some measurable alcohol in their system, while 1.5 percent of drivers have a blood-alcohol concentration of .08 percent or above.
How are the trends determined?
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration collects data that is used to determine what trends are occurring. The data includes how many deaths occur because of drunk driving, the cost of drunk driving accidents, the time that these accidents occur and a host of other information.
Drunk driving charges often hinge on information collected at the scene or at the time of arrest. If you are arrested because a law enforcement officer accused you of driving drunk, you need to take your defense strategy into account. This must start as soon as you come into contact with the police, so make sure that you are invoking your rights early in the case.
Source: FindLaw, “3 DUI Statistics You Should Know,” Ephrat Livni, Esq., accessed Aug. 12, 2016