According to a recent study released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), about one-fifth of young people admit to driving under the influence at one time or another. Based on data collected by the SAMHSA, the rate of intoxicated driving may seem alarmingly high, but it also indicated that there may be some progress in getting drunken drivers off public roads.
As a New Jersey DWI and drug DUI defense attorney, I can see how these finding findings from data gathered between 2006 and 2009 shows a still large percentage of younger drivers taking to the roads in an impaired or inebriated state. According to news articles, the average annual rate of DWI dropped nearly ten percent from 14.2 to 13.2 percent between 2002 and 2005. Similarly, drug DUI dropped to 4.3 percent from 4.8.
This recent survey of driving habits, which was collected from information available between 2006 and 2009, showed that 30+ million American motorists admitted to driving under the influence of either alcohol or drugs in the previous year. Not surprisingly, at least from the standpoint of cases that my firm has handled in Monmouth, Ocean and Passaic County here in New Jersey, greater than 10 million drivers said that they drove while under the influence of illegal drugs.