Drunk-Driving Behavior

Worldwide, approximately 50.0 percent of all fatal automobile accidents are due to the influence of alcohol consumption by the drivers involved in such accidents. The risk of being involved in an automobile traffic accident increases geometrically with rises in the blood alcohol count of the vehicle operator. Driving while under the influence of alcohol continues to be a major problem in the United States. As an example, total driving while under the influence of alcohol arrests increased by 15.2 percent from 1979 to 1988, while the population was increasing 9.3 percent (Bureau of the Census, 1997; Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1997). From 1988 to 1992, however, arrests for driving while under the influence of alcohol declined by 5.3 percent.

One suggested solution for the problem of drunk

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of some combination of punishments and education designed to acquaint both offenders and the general public with the adverse consequences that can result from driving while intoxicated (Henderson & Kedjidijian, 1993). All of these past efforts to address the problems associated with DUI have tended to consider all offenders as a single groupùindividuals with similar problems who will respond in similar ways to the punitive or educational actions imposed or conducted by official entities (Legge, 1991). In actuality, according to this argument, DUI offenders may well be individuals with unique problems and needs that have contributed to the development of these behaviors (Wilson & Mann, 1995). While not all DUI offenders are alcoholics or addicts of other substances, many, if not most, may have psychological problems that are the underlying causes of their DUI behaviors (Wilson, 1992). Few, if any, automobile accidents occur when driver intoxication is the only identified causal factor (Evans, 1996). In most instances, excessive speed, recklessness, and other causal factors are also involved. It can be reasonably argued; however, that these other causal factors might not have occurred or that the occurrence of these other cau
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Approximate Word count = 1678
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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