This day in History-First Drunk Driving Arrest - History Channel Email

[Steely Dan]

All of the information that might give the answers away, has been blacked out by the spoiler alert.

 

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September 10: General Interest

 

1897

: First drunk driving arrest

 

On this day in

1897

, a 25-year-old London taxi driver named George Smith becomes the first person ever arrested for drunk driving after slamming his cab into a building. Smith later pled guilty and was fined

25 shillings.

 

 

In the United States, the first laws against operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol went into effect in New York in

1910.

In

1936

, Dr. Rolla Harger, a professor of biochemistry and toxicology, patented the Drunkometer, a balloon-like device into which people would breathe to determine whether they were inebriated. In

1953

, Robert Borkenstein, a former Indiana state police captain and university professor who had collaborated with Harger on the Drunkometer, invented the Breathalyzer. Easier-to-use and more accurate than the Drunkometer, the Breathalyzer was the first practical device and scientific test available to police officers to establish whether someone had too much to drink. A person would blow into the Breathalyzer and it would gauge the proportion of alcohol vapors in the exhaled breath, which reflected the level of alcohol in the blood.

 

Despite the invention of the Breathalyzer and other developments, it was not until the late

1970s

and early

1980s

that public awareness about the dangers of drinking and driving increased and lawmakers and police officers began to get tougher on offenders. In 1980, a Californian named Candy Lightner founded Mothers Against Drunk Driving, or MADD, after her 13-year-old daughter Cari was killed by a drunk driver while walking home from a school carnival. The driver had three previous drunk-driving convictions and was out on bail from a hit-and-run arrest two days earlier. Lightner and MADD were instrumental in helping to change attitudes about drunk driving and pushed for legislation that increased the penalties for driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. MADD also helped get the minimum drinking age raised in many states. Today, the legal drinking age is 21 everywhere in the United States and convicted drunk drivers face everything from jail time and fines to the loss of their driver's licenses and increased car insurance rates. Some drunk drivers are ordered to have ignition interlock devices installed in their vehicles. These devices require a driver to breath into a sensor attached to the dashboard; the car won't start if the driver's blood alcohol concentration is above a certain limit.

 

Despite the stiff penalties and public awareness campaigns, drunk driving remains a serious problem in the United States. In 2005, 16,885 people died in alcohol-related crashes and almost 1.4 million people were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

 

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A friend of mine's mother was killed by a DD back in the early 80's.

[Steely Dan]

Alcohol related deaths in the US since 1982:

 

Total fatalities

 

Alcohol related fatalities

Year

 

Edited for brevity;

 

1982 - 43, 945 deaths, the number attributed to drunk driving was 26,173 (60%)

 

1990 - 44,599 - 22,587 (51%)

 

2000 - 41,945 - 17,380 (41%)

 

2007 - 41,059 - 15,387 (37%)

 

 

 

2007 Drunk Driving Statistics

 

 

Below are some statistics on drinking and driving in the US. After reading this list, please read about Alcohol Alert to find out what you can do to help stem the tide of drunk driving deaths in your neighborhood...and make money at the same time.

 

All 50 states in the US and Puerto Rico now apply two statutory offenses to driving under the influence of alcohol. The first (and original) offense is known either as driving under the influence (DUI), driving while intoxicated/impaired (DWI), or operating [a motor vehicle] while intoxicated/impaired (OWI). This is based upon a police officer's observations (driving behavior, slurred speech, the results of a roadside sobriety test, etc.)

 

The second offense is called "illegal per se", which is driving with a BAC of 0.08% or higher. Since 2002 it has been illegal in all 50 states to drive with a BAC that is 0.08% or higher.

 

Drinking and driving fatalities by state in 2006 (ranked by highest number of alcohol related deaths):

State

 

State / Total Fatalities / Alcohol-Related Fatalities Number / Percent

 

Texas / 3,466 / 1,544 / 45%

California / 4,229 / 1,509 / 36%

Florida / 3,363 / 1,111 / 33%

Pennsylvania / 1,517 / 556 / 37%

Illinois / 1,254 / 540/ 43%

Georgia / 1,688 / 539 / 32%

Arizona / 1,280 / 502 / 39%

North Carolina / 1,558 / 490 / 31%

New York / 1,454 / 483 / 33%

Tennessee / 1,286 / 478 / 37%

South Carolina / 1,037 / 477 / 46%

Missouri / 1,087 / 469 / 43%

Ohio / 1,235 / 451 / 37%

Alabama / 1,206 / 445 / 37%

Louisiana 982 / 425 / 43%

Michigan / 1,081 / 390 / 36%

Mississippi / 911 / 358 / 39%

Wisconsin / 722 / 352 / 49%

Virginia / 961 / 347 / 36%

Indiana / 896 / 290 / 32%

New Jersey / 771 / 285 / 37%

Washington / 630 / 269 / 43%

Kentucky / 913 / 257 / 28%

Arkansas / 665 / 245 / 37%

Oklahoma / 765 / 243 / 32%

Maryland / 651 / 235 / 36%

Colorado / 533 / 207 / 39%

Oregon / 477 / 177 / 37%

Minnesota / 493 / 175 / 36%

Nevada / 432 / 168 / 39%

Kansas / 466 / 162 / 35%

Massachusetts / 422 / 159 / 38%

New Mexico / 484 / 155 / 32%

West Virginia / 408 / 155 / 38%

Iowa / 439 / 142 / 32%

Connecticut / 301 / 121 / 40%

Montana / 255 / 114 / 45%

Idaho / 267 / 102 / 38%

Nebraska / 266 / 86 / 32%

South Dakota / 191 / 78 / 41%

Wyoming / 195 / 78 / 40%

Hawaii / 160 / 77 / 48%

Maine / 188 / 70 / 37%

Utah / 284 / 63 / 22%

New Hampshire / 127 / 51 / 40%

Delaware / 148 / 50 / 34%

North Dakota / 111 / 47 / 42%

Rhode Island / 81 / 37 / 46%

Vermont / 86 / 28 / 33%

Alaska / 73 / 23 / 31%

Dist of Columbia / 37 / 14 / 36%

 

 

 

National / 42,532 / 15,829 / 37%

 

Puerto Rico / 507 / 176 / 35%