One-tenth of all motorists admit to drunken driving

In just the past year, one in 10 drivers admit to operating a vehicle while legally drunk – and more than half of those also say they’ve done so more than once.

The findings are from the American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety.

At the same time, 10 percent of drivers interviewed for the study admitted to operating under the influence, a full 87 percent saw the act as a “very serious threat,” according to John Townsend, spokesman for AAA Mid-Atlantic, in a written release. On the positive side of the issue, however, the nationwide number of deaths due to drunk driving has declined between 2007 and 2009.

“While the number of deaths caused by drunk and drugged driving is on the decline, there are still far too many people who are still driving drunk on our highways and roadways,” Townsend said. “Here are the cold hard facts: One person is killed every half-hour due to drunk driving and every other minute a person is seriously injured in an alcohol related crash.”

The Foundation for Traffic Safety found that 83 percent of respondents said they would lose respect for friends who drove drunk, while nine in 10 survey participants favored proactive measures for those convicted of the act.

“Ninety percent support requiring all drivers who have been convicted of DWI more than once to use an alcohol-ignition interlock – a device that prevents the driver from starting the car if his or her breath contains measurable alcohol – in their cars,” according to the Foundation for Traffic Safety.

The leading case of death for those aged 1 through 34 is motor vehicle crashes, many of which stemmed from alcohol use, the Foundation for Traffic Safety reported.

Last year, 10,839 people died in crashes involving at least one driver with some measure of alcohol in his or her blood – a non-zero blood alcohol concentration, AAA Mid-Atlantic found. That number translates to roughly one-third of all road fatalities. And of the 10,839, almost 70 percent – or 7,478 – involved at least one driver with a blood alcohol count of .15 percent or higher, or of a driver with a blood alcohol level higher than the level limit of .08 who also had a previous alcohol-related traffic conviction.

With New Year’s on the way – and a statistic that shows roughly two-and-a-half times as many people die in alcohol related wrecks on New Year’s Day than in the weeks leading up to the holiday – AAA Mid-Atlantic emphasized the need for caution.

“By taking the proper precautions … area motorists can safely take pleasure in the joys of the season,” Townsend said.

Such precautions include the use of the Washington Regional Alcohol Program’s SoberRide Campaign, which provides safe rides between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. from Dec. 28 through Jan. 1, 2011, and of taxicabs, or of friends who pledge to remain sober.

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