Designated Drivers—You Are Not Alone

A new survey from Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and Nationwide Insurance found that 3 out of 4 people use designated drivers (DD). The DD is the person who does not drink, use drugs, or even take medication that might impair their driving.  By the way, the DD is NOT the least drunk person in the group---they are the ones who don’t use any drug or alcohol at all at a party or event, even a little bit. Why do they choose DD’s? Because they want to get home in one piece.  The MADD survey reveals that 75% of the people who volunteer to be the DD do so because they want to get home safely, and 85% ride with a sober driver for the same reason.  Another reason for being or using a DD was not wanting to get in trouble with the law. Problem solved, right? Not quite. It’s awesome that so many people understand the dangers of drunk driving and chose to use a DD. But there are still many who do not. While drunk driving deaths decreased by 2.5 percent from 2012 to 2013, they still account for 31 percent of overall traffic deaths, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). That’s too many, considering drunk driving deaths are 100 percent preventable, 100 percent of the time. That’s 32,719 deaths that could have been prevented in 2013. What about drugged driving? Driving after using other drugs is a real problem as well. An estimated 9.9 million people—or 3.8 percent of adolescents and adults—reported driving under the influence of illic...
Source: NIDA Drugs and Health Blog - Category: Addiction Authors: Source Type: blogs