If Alcohol was still illegal would there be fewer wrecks?

TUSCALOOSAHONOR said:

If Alcohol was still illegal or prohibited would there be less wrecks and deaths from dui's?

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RedWave said:

I think that getting a DUI is a product of making a bad decision. Personally, to be honest, I go drink far more often than I really should. However, I never leave my house to go drink without taking an Uber there and I get another to go home. One could argue my decision to drink is a bad one but at least I don't stack bad on bad by driving after I drink. I plan to do the smart thing ahead of time. Problem is too many people think they can drink and drive and be okay when they can't. Many rides home have been offered to me by people I would not dare get into the car with in their condition.

But I think the people that make the bad decision to drive when impaired would simply make some other bad decision instead if alcohol were illegal. And I will avoid the political statement about what could be legalized to make all this less of an issue.

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DzynKingRTR said:

I agree on all points. I have taken the keys away from some friends while out. They are usually mad at that moment but thanked me the next day. I knew a guy in college that thought he drove better drunk. Newsflash: he didn’t. I don’t have any contact with this person anymore. I do know he spent a night in jail because of his “better driving”. Making alcohol illegal will not magically make driving safer. There are worse distractions out there like cellphones. I know the show Mythbusters did a test between driving drunk and driving while on a cellphone. Driving while on a cellphone was worse according to the test. Georgia now has laws against driving while on a phone, it hasn’t stopped anyone from doing it. Do we next ban cellphones altogether?

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DzynKingRTR said:

I agree on all points. I have taken the keys away from some friends while out. They are usually mad at that moment but thanked me the next day. I knew a guy in college that thought he drove better drunk. Newsflash: he didn’t. I don’t have any contact with this person anymore. I do know he spent a night in jail because of his “better driving”. Making alcohol illegal will not magically make driving safer. There are worse distractions out there like cellphones. I know the show Mythbusters did a test between driving drunk and driving while on a cellphone. Driving while on a cellphone was worse according to the test. Georgia now has laws against driving while on a phone, it hasn’t stopped anyone from doing it. Do we next ban cellphones altogether?

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Intl.Aperture said:

Yah cellphones are the big one. Even trying to be practical in the car using like Waze or Google Maps is super risky My next vehicles will have bluetooth and a built in nav system to hopefully reduce my "need" to even touch the phone. As it is I only fool with it at stoplights - but even that is a risk. Can't tell you how many times I've had to sit through another light-cycle because some paragon of super-human focus was looking at their phone and not watching the light of the car in front of them.

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day-day said:

117 fatalities per 100,000 registered vehicles in 1930 vs 16 per 100,000 in 2007; maybe your buddy was right. Drink away!

MOTOR VEHICLE TRAFFIC FATALITIES, 1900 - 2007

Though drinking would not be eliminated, I think it would be reduced like it was during prohibition so I'm saying yes to the original question. Really hard to imagine what it would be like after multiple generations would have lived through prohibition.

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Motor vehicle deaths in U.S. by year[edit]

Year	Deaths	VMT- Vehicle miles traveled (billions)	Fatalities per 100 million VMT	Population	Fatalities per 100,000 population	Change (in percent)
1998	41,501	2,632	1.58	270,248,003	15.3566	-2.12%
1999	41,717	2,691	1.55	272,690,813	15.2983	-0.38%
2000	41,945	2,747	1.53	282,216,952	14.8627	-2.85%
2001[SUP][2][/SUP]	42,196	2,797	1.51	285,226,284	14.794	-0.46%
2002	43,005	2,856	1.51	288,125,973	14.926	0.89%
2003	42,884	2,890	1.48	290,796,023	14.747	-1.75%
2004	42,836	2,965	1.44	293,638,158	14.588	-0.52%
2005	43,510	2,989	1.46	296,507,061	14.674	0.44%
2006	42,708	3,014	1.42	299,398,484	14.265	-2.79%
2007	41,259	3,031	1.36	301,139,947	13.701	-3.85%
2008	37,423	2,977	1.26	303,824,640	12.317	-11.0%
2009	33,883	2,957	1.15	306,700,000	11.048	-9.7%
2010[SUP][2][/SUP]	32,999	2,967	1.11	309,326,000	10.668	-3.5%
2011[SUP][6][/SUP]	32,479	2,950	1.10	311,588,000	10.42	-2.3%
2012[SUP][7][/SUP]	33,782	2,969	1.14	313,914,000	10.75	2.6%
2013	32,893	2,988	1.10	316,129,000	10.40	-3.3%
2014	32,744	3,026	1.08	318,860,000	10.28	-0.9%
2015	35,485	3,095	1.15	321,370,000	11.06	10.5%
2016[SUP][8][/SUP]	37,806	3,174	1.19	323,121,000	11.59	5.6%
2017[SUP][8][/SUP]	37,133	3,213	1.16	325,719,000	11.40	-1.8%

2013 National Drunk Driving Statistics

• 290,000 Americans were injured by drunk driving crashes
• 10,076 deaths from drunk driving accidents
• Someone is injured every 2 minutes from a drunk driving crash
• There are 3 drunk driving deaths per every 100,000 drivers
• Drunk driving rates are highest among 21 to 25 year olds (23.4%)
• 2 out of every 3 people will be involved in a drunk driving crash in their lifetime
• 28 people die per day in the United States from drunk driving (1 every 52 minutes)
• 29.1 million Americans admitted to drinking and driving
• Drunk driving costs the United States $199 billion per year

More National Statistics

• Average drunk drivers will drive intoxicated 80 times before their first arrest
• Drunk driving accidents are 4.5 times more likely at night
• The average person metabolizes one alcoholic drink per hour
• Males are far more likely to drive drunk than females (15.1% vs. 7.9%)
• 1/3 of all drunk driving arrests are repeat offenders
• In 2012, 239 children were killed in drunk driving crashes (52% were passengers in a car driven by a drunk driver)

CajunCrimson said:

I have heard reports that the numbers of illegal immigrants who are driving has skyrocketed, many believe that is contributing to the number increase

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