Driving Under the Influence
Driving Under the Influence: Literature Review
Rachel Ruiloba
University of Texas El Paso
English 1312
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Abstract
Since the 1980s, the laws and penalties for driving under the influence have changed.
There are opposing views to some laws surrounding the issue of driving under the influence. The
laws in the United States have become more strict since then but there are other countries who
have stricter penalties. In this literature review, we will take a look at the history and start of
some of the laws of driving under the influence. We will also see some statistics of which age
group is more likely to drive under the influence.
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Driving Under the Influence: Literature Review
Driving under the influence has been an issue since there have been cars around. It has
taken the lives of 9,878 people in 2011 alone (madd.org, 2012). There are major issues and
factors that surround the topic of driving under the influence. Although most people are against
driving under the influence, many people argue about the factors that cause people to drink and
drive. One of those factors is what people think the legal drinking age should be. Some people
strongly oppose that the current legal drinking age is 21 and would like it to be changed to 18.
Others greatly support the current law.
There are a lot of different laws that are currently in place to try to keep people from
driving under the influence. The laws have somewhat helped because since 1984, the fatalities
caused by driving under the influence have decreased by 40% (madd.org, 2012). The current
legal limit to be able to drive is 0.08. That would equal about one drink per hour for the average
person. This, of course, differs with each person according to their weight. When a person drives
under the influence, there can be many consequences. If caught by a police officer, a person will
get arrested, fined and have their license suspended. If that same person is caught more than one
time driving under the influence, the punishment can be greater. Another consequence caused by
driving under the influence is that a person can seriously injure or kill themselves or another
person.
This literature review will go into more depth on some of the statistics and issues
concerning driving under the influence in the United States and some other countries. The
following four questions will be answered and explained:
1. What are the current arguments surrounding the current drinking age?
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2. When did laws on driving under the influence come into effect in the United States?
3. How are other countries’ laws pertaining to driving under the influence different?
4. What age group has the highest percentage of people have the most cases of driving
under the influence?
This literature review will cover the arguments surrounding the current drinking age,
which plays a factor in driving under the influence, the laws and history of the laws concerning
driving under the influence, other countries’ laws pertaining to driving under the influence, and
the group statistics who drive under the influence according to a person’s age.
1. What are the current arguments surrounding the current drinking age?
The current drinking age in the United States is 21. There are two different viewpoints as
to whether the legal drinking age is where it should be. Some people believe that the legal
drinking age should be changed to age 18. Others believe that it should be kept at age 21.
The biggest argument that people who want to lower the legal drinking age is that at the
age of 18, people become legal adults in the United States. At that age, people are able to vote,
smoke cigarettes, serve on juries, get married, sign contracts, be prosecuted as adults, and join
the military. (.procon.org, 2013) They say that if you are able to risk your life for our country,
you should be mature and able enough to make your own choices whether to drink alcohol.
Another argument says that the legal drinking age law is highly ineffective considering that the
majority of teenagers consume alcohol. They argue that if the legal drinking age was to be
lowered to 18 that would allow more people to drink in a safer environment as opposed to
unsupervised places that could be unsafe. Lastly, they argue some points that drunk driving
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statistics would improve if the legal drinking age was lowered to 18. They argue that other
countries that have a legal drinking age of 18 have better driving statistics than the United States.
They also say that statistics show that 21-24 year olds have the highest fatal crashes with bloodalcohol concentration. Any fatal accidents caused by 18-20 year olds driving under the influence
would offset the statistics for the people over the age of 21. (.procon.org, 2013)
The people who believe that the legal drinking age should be kept at 21 argue that
lowering the age to 18 would be medically irresponsible because the brain’s frontal lobes are not
fully developed. Drinking alcohol can interfere with the development of the brain and can cause
problems such as addiction, risky behavior, reduced ability to make decisions, memory loss,
violence and suicide. They also say that although you become a legal adult at the age of 18,
other more serious laws begin at 21 or older such as gambling, purchasing a gun, adopting a
child and renting a car. Finally, they argue that having the legal drinking age of 21 reduces
alcohol related traffic accidents and fatalities. A study was done that states that the higher the
drinking age, the lower rates of traffic accidents there is. Also, the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration estimates that the legal age being 21 years old has lowered the fatal car
accidents for 18-20 year olds by 13%,
saving approximately 27,052 lives
from 1975-2008 (.procon.org, 2013).
The bar graph shown to the left
indicates that 22% of the people
nationwide favor to lower the drinking
age to 18, 77% Opposed against it, and
1% gave no opinion what so ever. This poll was from July 12-15 2007. (.procon.org, 2013)
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2. When did laws on driving under the influence come into effect in the United States?
Driving under the influence was actually an issue before there were even cars around.
People would have a hard time seafaring their animals when they rode them under the influence.
There were also many who would fall off the back of their horses, elephants or camel’s back if
they rode them while drunk. People also rode their chariots while under the influence. The first
drunk driving arrest happened in 1897 in London when a man crashed his cab into a building
(drinkinganddriving.org, 2012)
When cars finally came to America, there was absolutely no regulation. It wasn’t until
1935 that people were charged 50 cents to obtain a driver’s license. In 1939, Indiana became the
first state to enact a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) law. The level that determined whether a
driver was drunk was set at .15 which is almost twice as much as today’s .08 national legal limit
(drinkinganddriving.org, 2012).
In the 1985, the legal drinking age was set at 21. In the early 1990s, some states began to
set the Blood Alcohol Content limit to 0.08. It wasn’t until 2004 that the entire United States
finally had the Blood Alcohol Content limit to 0.08. Some states had their Blood Alcohol
Content limit at 0.10 until then.
3. How are other countries’ laws pertaining to driving under the influence different?
In the United States, if a person is caught driving under the influence by a police officer,
there are consequences. First, the person will be arrested. Then they have to appear in court
where the judge will decide whether he/she will pay a fine, serve jail time, or both. It varies the
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amount of time per state, but the person’s license will be suspended for a period of time. Then,
he/she will have to go through an alcohol and drug education program.
There are other countries that have stricter laws on driving under the influence. In Japan,
the Blood Alcohol Content limit is 0.03% while in other countries, like Russia and China, the
Blood Alcohol Content limit is 0.02%. Other countries, such as Slovakia, the Czech Republic,
Hungary, Romania, Bangladesh, and Saudi Arabia, if a person is caught driving with any Blood
Alcohol Content above .00, they will be arrested. (drink-drive-lose.com, 2013)
Penalties for other countries vary. In Australia, a person driving under the influence will
immediately lose their license for at least six months, and if it’s the second time, they will
permanently lose it (drink-drive-lose.com, 2013). In France, a person’s car will be confiscated,
possible jail time for at least a year, and a fine of $1,000. These examples make the Unites States
seem like their penalties are not as harsh as they could be.
4. What age group has the highest percentage of people have the most cases of driving
under the influence?
According to statistics on the MADD website, 23.4% of people aged between 21-25
reported driving under the influence in 2010. Next in line, 15.1% of people aged between 18-20
said they had driven drunk in 2010. About 5.8% of 16-17 year olds reported that they had driven
drunk during the same year. People over the age of 25 showed that the older they are, there is a
decrease in driving under the influence. (madd.org, 2012)
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Similarly, in fatal crashes in 2010, the highest percentage of people who were driving
under the influence was drivers ages 21 to 24 which was 34%. Next came drivers ages 25 to 34,
which was 30%, followed by ages 35 to 44 at 25%. (madd.org, 2012).
When added all up across the United States, statistics show that about people drove under
the influence of alcohol about 112 million times in 2010. (madd.org, 2012) That equals to almost
300,000 incidents of driving under the influence every day.
Conclusion
In conclusion, while it seems like so many people are opposed to driving under the
influence, there are still millions of people who do it every day. The laws have changed since the
1980s, which have lowered the number of people who drive drunk and deaths. Although the laws
did get harsher since earlier years, it seems as though other countries’ laws are harsher and may
help people to make better decisions if they are thinking about driving under the influence.
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References
.ProCon.org (2013). Should the Drinking age be lowered from 21 to a younger age?
Retrieved From http://drinkingage.procon.org.
Druglibrary.org(2013). The Impact of Lowering the Illegal BAC Limit to .08 in Five
States in the U.S. Retrieved From http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/misc/driving/s15p1.htm
drink-drive-lose.com (2013). DUI Laws in Other Countries. Retrieved From
http://www.drink-drive-lose.com/Article.aspx?a=87
DrinkingAndDriving.org(2012) A Short History of Drunk Driving. Retrieved From
http://www.drinkinganddriving.org/Articles/historyof.html
Madd.org (2012) Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Retrieved From
http://www.madd.org
Survey:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/analyze/browse/?survey_id=39849687&respondent_id=2554650
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