Here are 10 interesting things that you ought to know about drinking and driving. If you like these, there are literally a couple hundred more statistics and tidbits like them available on the MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) website.

1. Alcohol-related fatalities are caused primarily by the consumption of beer (80%) followed by liquor/wine (20%)
2. There is considerable evidence that laws that lower the illegal BAC limit from .10 to .08 can reduce alcohol-related fatalities by an average of 7
3. Access to an unlimited amount of alcohol for a flat fee increases the number of drinks in a sitting by 1.6 drinks on average
4. From 1975 through 2005, it is estimated that safety belts saved 211,128 lives, including 15,632 lives saved in 2005. If all passenger vehicle occupants over age 4 wore safety belts, 20,960 lives (that is, an additional 5,328) could have been saved in 2005.
5. A standard drink is defined as 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of 72-proof distilled spirits, all of which contain the same amount of alcohol - about .54 ounces.
6. The average person metabolizes alcohol at the rate of about one drink per hour. Only time will sober a person up. Drinking strong coffee, exercising or taking a cold shower will not help.
7. The rate of alcohol involvement in fatal crashes is more than 3 times higher at night than during the day (59% vs. 18%). For all crashes, the alcohol involvement rate is 5 times higher at night (16% vs. 3%).
8. Impairment is not determined by the type of drink, but rather by the amount of alcohol ingested over a specific period of time.
9. There is evidence that heavier drinkers prefer to drink at bars and other persons' homes, and at multiple locations requiring longer driver distances. Young drivers have been found to prefer drinking at private parties, while older, more educated drivers prefer bars and taverns.
10. Among persons aged 12 or older, males were nearly twice as likely as females (16.3% vs. 8.6%) to drive under the influence of alcohol in the past year.

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