Detecting Drunk Drivers

In 1999, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) recorded 998 persons being killed in DWI-related motor vehicle crashes. The number of persons injured in Texas alcohol-related crashes in 1999 was 25,547. Drinking and driving is a deadly combination. After drinking, a person’s judgment and reasoning abilities are lost, being followed by motor skills and eventually vital functions.

The simple truth is that sometimes people drink alcohol and then get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. Nationally, alcohol involvement in crashes is 3.5 times higher at night and is higher on the weekends. Between midnight to 3:00 a.m., 78 percent of speeding drivers involved in fatal crashes have been drinking. It is critical that drivers are alert and able to detect impaired drivers who may be sharing the road with them.

The following list consists of characteristics of drunk drivers:

  • vehicles turning with a wide radius,
  • straddling the center stripe or lane marker,
  • appearing drunk,
  • almost striking an object or vehicle,
  • weaving,
  • driving on other than a designated roadway,
  • swerving,
  • driving below the speed limit,
  • stopping without cause in a traffic lane,
  • following too closely, and/or
  • driving with headlights off.

The following are suggestions on ways to keep yourself safe from drunk drivers:

  1. Always wear a safety belt.
  2. Make sure all passengers are buckled up.
  3. Be able to recognize behaviors of drunk drivers.
  4. Be alert, and drive defensively at all times.
  5. Refrain from driving late in the evening and in the early hours of the morning.
  6. Don’t ride with anyone who has been drinking.

Everyone must take a stand against drunk drivers.

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Source: Impaired Driving Update, Civic Research Institute, Inc.; Texas Department of Public Safety website, 2002.

Last updated: 26 July, 2010

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