Insurify, an auto insurance quotes comparison website, used questionnaire information gathered from their over 1.6 million car insurance shoppers, excessive drinking and traffic fatality information from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and population information from the United States Census Bureau to determine a national rate of DUI history as well as a breakdown by state. Alaska was omitted from the analysis due to insufficient data.
Insurify’s team of data analysts analyzed approximately seven years of driver history and came to some interesting conclusions. The nationwide average of their applicants who reported a prior DUI was 2.15 percent. Northern states seemed to cement their spots as DUI territory and some of the least populated states seemed to have some of the highest number of DUIs. The team also found a moderate correlation between the rates of DUI, excessive drinking, and alcohol-related traffic deaths. Resulting in a reasonably predictable assumption that in the states with higher DUI count, the rates of drinking and alcohol-related driving deaths will also be higher.
According to the CDC, 18 percent of Americans drink excessively on a regular basis across the country. Of the top 10 states that Insurify came up with, six of the states contained cities that fell within 10 percent of the country for excessive drinking and up to 26.5 percent of adult residents reporting over-drinking.
The data analyzed by Insurify resulted in following the rankings and numbers:
10. Colorado
– Drivers reporting a history of DUI: 3.13%
– Traffic fatalities involving alcohol: 34.7%
– Adults reporting excessive drinking: 19.1%
9. Iowa
– Drivers reporting a history of DUI: 3.23%
– Traffic fatalities involving alcohol: 25.4%
– Adults reporting excessive drinking: 21.0%
8. Nebraska
– Drivers reporting a history of DUI: 3.34%
– Traffic fatalities involving alcohol: 35.6%
– Adults reporting excessive drinking: 20.4%
7. Minnesota
– Drivers reporting a history of DUI: 3.47%
– Traffic fatalities involving alcohol: 30.9%
– Adults reporting excessive drinking: 21.1%
6. Idaho
– Drivers reporting a history of DUI: 3.49%
– Traffic fatalities involving alcohol: 32.4%
– Adults reporting excessive drinking: 15.4%
5. Montana
– Drivers reporting a history of DUI: 3.61%
– Traffic fatalities involving alcohol: 46.3%
– Adults reporting excessive drinking: 21.8%
4. Wisconsin
– Drivers reporting a history of DUI: 4.07%
– Traffic fatalities involving alcohol: 36.9%
– Adults reporting excessive drinking: 24.5%
3. South Dakota
– Drivers reporting a history of DUI: 4.12%
– Traffic fatalities involving alcohol: 35.2%
– Adults reporting excessive drinking: 17.7%
2. Wyoming
– Drivers reporting a history of DUI: 5.56%
– Traffic fatalities involving alcohol: 35.3%
– Adults reporting excessive drinking: 17.5%
1. North Dakota
– Drivers reporting a history of DUI: 5.73%
– Traffic fatalities involving alcohol: 46.7%
– Adults reporting excessive drinking: 24.7%
In looking at the numbers from the top 10 percentage of drivers reporting a history of DUI, to say there is a correlation between the number of drivers with a history of DUI and number of traffic fatalities, and reports of excessive drinking seems to be an understatement. But it does bring up some interesting questions. How was excessive drinking defined in the questionnaire? Did multiple offenses by the same driver also constitute as excessive drinking? Given the data patterns found, it would be interesting to further analyze how each state has differed in handling their DUI numbers and if differences in legislation has contributed to any of these numbers or if it strictly correlates to things such as population and access to public transportation.
The post States with the Most Drunk Drivers appeared first on Law Offices of Taylor and Taylor - DUI Central.