Shattering Misconceptions About First-Time Drunk Driving Offenders‪.‬

LAWS AND SENTENCING PATTERNS for first-time DWI-DUI offenders across the United States have been traditionally based on the assumption that these offenders simply had "a little too much to drink" and that with education and leniency from the court they will "learn from their mistake." However, new research about the nature of first DWI offenders shows that these long-held beliefs are not true. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2006 there was only a 0.8 percent decrease in crash deaths where at least one driver/motorcycle operator had a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08 g/dL or above. Crashes involving a drunk driver killed 13,470 people in 2006 compared to 13,582 people in 2005. Progress in reducing alcohol-related and drunk driving crash deaths in the U.S. has essentially stalled over the past ten years, leading many states to re-evaluate their impaired driver sanctioning laws, with a special emphasis on first-time DWI offenders.