Despite the many alcohol-related accidents on U.S. roads, every day many people continue to get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle believing that they will be the exception. They will be the person who can handle driving while under the influence.

Maybe it's an extra glass of wine at a party or one more round at a work happy hour. Whatever it is, it can be fatal or at least cause a great deal of damage if the end result is a DWI accident. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently reported on not only the rates of alcohol-related accident injuries and deaths, but it put such incidents into a language that some people, for some reason, more immediately respond to: money.

Not every case when someone drinks and drives results in a DWI accident. But plenty do. In the year 2000 those with blood alcohol concentration levels (BAC) of 0.10 or higher were involved in over two million crashes that resulted in nearly 13,000 fatalities and nearly a half million injuries. Those with BAC levels between 0.08 and 0.09 added an additional thousand fatalities and over 20,000 injuries. Drivers with BAC levels below 0.08 were responsible for nearly 70,000 crashes, and over half resulted in an injury.

DWI accidents are not only dangerous but expensive, reportedly costing the public more than $114 billion in 2000, a large percentage of which was paid by those who aren't responsible for breaking DWI laws. It just goes to show that reckless behavior doesn't happen in a vacuum. Deciding to drive drunk creates a domino effect of physical, emotional and financial destruction.

The good news is that laws designed to prevent drinking and driving are reportedly saving both lives and money. Among those laws are the following: administrative license revocation, the Zero Tolerance Law, reducing the legal BAC limit to 0.08, making 21 the legal drinking age and graduated licensing programs.

Of course, for the many in Texas and across the country who have been affected by DWI accidents, the simple statement that roads are getting safer might sound like too little too late. But a continued fight to prevent driving under the influence can save people and their families from the devastating aftermath of a drunk driving accident. Plus, if DWI prevention can mean financial savings for communities, then that is certainly a welcomed added benefit during this difficult financial time.

Source

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: "Impaired Driving in the United States"