| Driving while drunk is a serious mistake that can have | | | | an alcohol-related accident every 30 minutes. Even |
| severe consequences. Each time you get behind the | | | | more alarming is the fact that impaired driving will |
| wheel while intoxicated, you put yourself, your | | | | affect one-third of Americans at some point in their |
| passengers, and other road users at risk of being | | | | lifetime, either by being a drunk driver, riding with a |
| involved in a serious accident. You also risk being | | | | drunk driver, or being involved in an accident with an |
| stopped by police and arrested for driving while | | | | impaired driver. In 2002 alone, 17,419 people were killed |
| intoxicated. If convicted, your punishment may include | | | | in alcohol-related crashes in the U.S. |
| suspension of your driver's license, heavy fines, | | | | If you are drunk, don't even risk getting the car. In many |
| probation or jail time, and community service. | | | | states, even just sitting in a parked car while drunk can |
| Alcohol-Related Crash Deaths | | | | result in an Operating Under the Influence (OUI) charge. |
| Despite the heavy penalties for drunk driving, many | | | | Even if you just feel tipsy, wait until you are sober to |
| people still choose to get in the car while drunk. Each | | | | drive or call a friend or taxi, or take the bus, bike, or |
| year thousands of people are killed in alcohol related | | | | walk home if possible. Don't rely on a drunk friend to |
| accidents across the country. A report by the | | | | take you home, even if they say that they are okay to |
| organization End Needless Death on Our Roadways | | | | drive. If they have been drinking right alongside you, |
| found that, in several states, alcohol related road | | | | chances are they are still drunk too. Getting behind the |
| deaths accounted for 40 percent or more of all road | | | | wheel while drunk is not worth the risk of being |
| deaths each year. The state with the highest alcohol | | | | arrested for a DUI, and it certainly isn't worth the risk to |
| related death rate was Rhode Island, with a whopping | | | | your life or someone else's. |
| 55% of all traffic deaths involving alcohol. Rhode | | | | For More Information |
| Island's alcohol-related death rate has remained higher | | | | If you or someone you know has been arrested for |
| than the national average since 1982. The percentage | | | | drunk driving, consider contacting a DUI defense |
| of traffic deaths involving alcohol in Rhode Island has | | | | lawyer immediately to help you with your case. To |
| been calculated between 45% and 67% each year, | | | | learn more about drunk driving charges and preparing |
| much higher than the national average of 30%. | | | | for court, please visit the website of experienced |
| It Could Be You | | | | Rhode Island DUI defense attorney James Powderly |
| The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration | | | | today. |
| (NHTSA) estimates that on average a person dies in | | | | |