Several countries have stricter DUI laws than the United States. In Canada, drivers with a blood alcohol content above the legal limit can be fined. In some other countries, it can be more difficult to get a driver’s license back after being arrested for a DUI. The United Kingdom and Australia also have low tolerance policies and higher fines. However, the number of deaths due to drunk driving in these countries is not as high as in the U.S. It is estimated that in the US, about 30 people die in an alcohol-related accident each day. In comparison, the death rate in Germany is 9% and that of France is eight days.
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The World Health Organization reports that the number of fatalities involving alcohol is nearly six out of every ten. In the United States, drunken driving is the leading cause of road accidents. According to the CDC, drunken drivers are responsible for approximately one in three traffic crashes. The CDC’s study found that in the United States, alcohol-impaired drivers were behind the wheel of a car approximately 300,000 times per year.
The DG VII Working Group on Alcohol, Drugs, and Medicines of the European Union has identified an element of underreporting among member countries. They have also pointed out that there is a need for common definitions of fatalities and a reliance on testing to improve international comparisons.
Despite its relatively low incidence of drunken driving, the United States is not in good standing. The CDC estimates that at least 300,000 motorists are behind the wheel while intoxicated, which contributes to 17,000 deaths per year. Moreover, the rate of death due to alcohol impairment is still high in developed nations.
The CDC’s analysis indicates that effective drunk driving laws, media campaigns, and sobriety checkpoints can reduce the risk of drunk driving. It is also reported that ignition interlocks and other treatment programs can help decrease drunken driving. While drunken drivers are not apprehended in as many places as they are in the United States, the risk of arrest for DUI is still quite high. In fact, in some cases, a second DUI conviction can result in a prison sentence of up to six years.
In addition, the CDC found that younger drivers were more at risk of being involved in an alcohol-related crash. Twenty-seven percent of drunken driving fatalities were involving drivers aged 21 to 24. The CDC also found that the highest percentage of fatal crashes were involving passenger cars and motorcycles. In addition, most alcohol-related fatalities occurred at night and in clear weather. There were only 3% of the alcohol-related fatalities occurred in rain and darkness.
In the United Kingdom, 16 percent of all road fatalities were linked to alcohol consumption. This was significantly lower than the number of drunken driving fatalities in the U.S. The rate of alcohol-impaired driving deaths in the UK was 3.4 times higher during the day than at night. It was also reported that a large proportion of traffic crash victims are autopsied.
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