Statistics On Drunk Driving - Fact Or Fiction?

statistics on drunk driving accidents

Statistics On Drunk Driving - Each 30 mins, someone else is else is finished by a drunk driver - so asserts one set of dramatic statistical data frequently cited by anti-alcohol activist groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). No doubt such a statistic should and does make an effect on anyone that hears it. Drunk driving isn’t a laughing matter, and it is most definitely a serious issue - however, the situation would possibly not be just about as grim as some make it out to be.

There’s a saying that ninety percent of all statistical data can be made to claim anything, half of the time. While this statement is clearly an exaggeration, it contains a grain of truth - statistics are not just about as scientifically sound as many folks want to believe. In numerous cases, stats become skewed ( whether deliberately or unintentionally ) and communicate a message inconsistent with the fact they are meant to outline. Could something similar to this happen in DWI-related research?

Alcohol-Related Incidents

If you assume the popular media, about half of all traffic fatalities are a result of the actions of people driving drunk. If you choose to find the truth yourself, you will likely come up with a % nearer to ten percent, according to the National Motorists Association - a serious drop, to say the least.

Why is the popularized figure so far off? One cause is an unfortunate confusion involving the term “alcohol-related incident.” In most cases, any traffic death in which somebody concerned has a quantifiable quantity of alcohol in their system qualifies as an “alcohol-related incident.”.

This applies even if the person with alcohol in their system wasn’t physically or mentally impaired by alcohol in anyway, if he wasn’t the cause of the accident, or if he was a trusting was a trusting pedestrian who wasn’t behind the wheel at all. That is to claim, if a sober driver is driving recklessly and kills a non-impaired pedestrian with a blood alcohol concentration ( BAC ) of .01 (the legal limit is .08, for comparison ), the event will be classified as alcohol-related and spread over the media by special interest groups and politicians.

Politicization of the Issue

Unfortunately, efforts to really deter drunk driving have been hindered by the sensationalist approach of the preferred media, the single-minded crusade of biased interest groups, and the general politicization of the subject. Because dire DWI statistics make good news, promote interest groups’ narrow-minded agendas, and make for dramatic political speeches, they are regularly preferred in place of the truth.

Although the original goal of organizations like MADD ( that is, the target of forestalling drunk driving) is a noble one, this goal has been perverted, becoming more about highly obvious and politically tasty actions (sobriety roadblocks and checkpoints, as an example ) than about solutions which have been rigorously proven to work.