A Proven Criminal Defense Team

Study says ride-sharing services have huge impact on DUIs

On Behalf of | Jan 22, 2016 | Drunk Driving Charges |

A new study performed by Mothers Against Drunk Driving makes a very interesting claim: that ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft are having a dramatic impact on the world of drunk driving. More specifically, these ride-sharing services are greatly decreasing the number of people who drive drunk out on the road.

The study found that 78 percent of people said that they are less likely to drive under the influence of alcohol because of the availability of ride-sharing services. This is a tremendous find, though the details about the study are quite sparse. We don’t know know how many people were interviewed, nor do we know much about the study at all.

But simply based on that figure alone, the study shows that ride-sharing services are certainly having some sort of impact on the way people think about drunk driving. That’s a very good bit of news, and we hope this continues.

Drunk driving is an unfortunate crime, there is no doubt about that. However, as much as we like to blame and shame the perpetrator of an alleged DUI incident, we need to also think of how to help them at the same time. Throwing penalties and jail time at them is unlikely to help them, even though it seems necessary from a justice standpoint.

Just as ride-sharing services are having an impact on the way we perceive drunk driving and the choices we make when we are inebriated, we too must have an impact on the way we deal with people accused of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Source: NBC 6, “Study Claims Ride Sharing Apps Cutting Down on Drunk Driving,” Jamie Guirola, Jan. 19, 2016

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