1.5 million DUI arrest happen yearly.
10,300,000 is the average number of yearly arrest the last decade.
14.3% of all arrest in the United States are from a DUI.

We all know DUI’s are common and the consequences they have, which are 10-15,000 lives lost yearly, making up about a third of all traffic related fatalities and injuries yearly.

What’s rarely discussed though is the money side of things.

Cost breakdown of a DUI averaged across the US.

Bail-$150-2,500
Towing & Impounding-$100-1,200
Insurance rate hikes-$4,500-10,000
Attorney fees-$2,500-5,000
Court fines-$150-1,800
Treatment fees-$1,000-2,500
Licensing fee-$150
Jail fee-$10-50
Sentencing-$330
Chemical testing-$250
Probation supervision-$90
Ignition interlock device-$500-1,500
License reinstatement-$20-100
Community service supervision-$60
Alternate transportation-$100-1,000

Total cost average of $13,000-27,000 across the US.

This also hits the economy hard, where 132 billion dollars is the annual cost of DUI’s, with factoring in offenders, victims and government together.

.6% of the United States 2021 GDP was related to DUI’s.

Making it worse, DUI’s tend to be more common with younger people, with 30% of all DUI fatalities being between people ages 21-24 and over 50% of DUI’s happen for people between 21 and 34.

The median salary for working people 25-34 is currently $49,920 a year, meaning a DUI on the low end is 26% of the median salary and 54% on the high end.

Looking at this, DUI’s are expensive and intentionally expensive to reduce drunk driving, but the question is, does it reduce them?

Quick check shows DUI fatalities have decreased in the last 40 years.

DUI deaths since 1982 have dropped 42%, while only 12% of traffic deaths have dropped. There’s also an 83% drop in DUI deaths for people under 21, which were once one of the most at risk groups.

Which does align to the idea stricter penalties and more awareness on the issue worked, where Mother’s Against Drunk Driving was founded in 1980, which began a policy effort to tackle the issue.

There is however not a lot of evidence suggesting stricter penalties directly lower numbers.

Montana has the most DUI fatalities per capita, being 7.4 in every 100,000 people.
New Jersey has the least at 1.4.

New Jersey has a fine of $300-500 for first time offenders.
Montana, which is a lower income state is $600-1,000.

This seems to be due to a mix in increased alcohol issues, along with more reliance on public transit or shorter distance driving in New Jersey and other low DUI states.

Final thoughts

This was just kind of a random breakdown, which just stated facts and can’t say a huge conclusion here.

It is amazing though 15% of men surveyed say they drive drunk at least once a year, but ignoring putting life’s in danger, it also something which could cost a person half their income or more.

Which is a small part of the reason I’ve never actually drank alcohol.