DWI stands for “driving while intoxicated” and is a very serious offense. If someone is operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol level of 0.08 or higher, they are legally intoxicated. Blood alcohol level is a measure of the amount of alcohol in the bloodstream, affected by the number of drinks consumed over a period of time. Age, gender, and weight are all factors in the equation of how much alcohol can affect you. Impairment of the senses can begin after even one drink, but a multitude of studies have shown that a blood alcohol level of 0.08 is a significant enough impairment for anyone. If you’re wondering how many drinks you can have before driving, the correct answer is “none”. If you’ve had anything to drink at all, you should not be behind the wheel.

Here are some DWI statistics:

• In 2012, over 90,000 people were arrested for DWI in the state of Texas. Over one thousand people were killed in drunk driving related crashes. 46% of all vehicle fatalities involve a driver who had been drinking at the time.
  
• 68% of fatal accidents caused by alcohol involved a person with a blood alcohol level of nearly twice the legal limit. The average blood alcohol level for a person involved in a fatal accident is 0.19.
• The age range for the majority of drunk drivers is 21-24 years of age with 34% of all arrests. Following closely are 25-34 with 30% and 35-44 with 25%. The average age for a drunk driver is 30 years old. Only one percent of all DWI arrests are persons under 18 years of age.
• The overwhelming majority of drunk drivers are males. Females represent less than 25% of all drunk drivers, but that number has been steadily rising over the last twenty years.
• In 2010, less than two percent of the people who admit to having driven drunk were arrested for drunk driving.
• In terms of race, whites made up the majority of drunk drivers. Asians represent the smallest percentage.