Feds: 17M Drive Drunk

Poll shows 8% admit they drive when they shouldn't
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 26, 2010 6:45 AM CDT
Feds: 17M Drive Drunk
Lots of Americans are still driving drunk.   (Shutterstock)

There are an uncomfortable number of drunk drivers out there, according to a new survey from the Department of Transportation. In the poll, 8% of respondents admitted to driving drunk—a number that, if representational, would equate to roughly 17 million Americans. And that’s just those willing to admit it—a full 20% admitted they’d driven within two hours of drinking, the AP reports.

Another 8%, meanwhile, admitted getting in a car even though they believed the driver was intoxicated. The survey also found that the heaviest drinkers were the ones who could not yet legally drink—those between the ages of 16 and 20 had as many as six drinks before putting their cars in gear. The survey comes ahead of DOT’s annual Labor Day crackdown on drunk driving. (More Department of Transportation stories.)

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