• 01
  • October
    2010

A new study analyzed the 20 most-populated cities to determine who has the highest ratio of drunken driving offenders on the road. The study's rankings were created by determining each city's percentage of drivers who hold a previous DUI/DWI violation.

Phoenix did poorly, placing fourth, only behind San Diego, San Jose and Charlotte. The study, created by insurance.com, utilized data supplied by people seeking car insurance quotes to draw its conclusions. While it's not the most scientific study, it likely provides a good indicator as to where big cities stand in their drunk driving problems.

Why the Poor Ranking?

Insurance.com also presented several possible reasons for the results of the study, the first being the obvious conclusion that the poorly ranked cities have the highest amount of persons who drink alcohol in general. Phoenix is known as a party city; Arizona State University (ASU) is annually recognized as a top party school, ranking sixth this year in Playboy's party school rankings.

Another reason for Phoenix's poor rank may actually be that it is addressing its drunk driving problem. A city making a strong effort in DUI enforcement will presumably net more DUI convictions than a city that is comparatively lax in busting drunk drivers. While it is tough to directly compare each city's efforts, Phoenix has aggressive law enforcement against DUI and probably makes a stronger attempt at busting drunk drivers than most.

A low availability of public transportation is also likely to adversely affect a city's ranking in the study. Phoenix ranked middle-of-the road for use of public transport according to SustainLane, which ranks cities according to their sustainability practices.

Conclusion

Phoenix continues to struggle with its drunk driving issue. The city has a party culture while many areas of Maricopa County don't have public transportation. Couple this with serious law enforcement and aggressive prosecution, and you likely get a significant chunk of the residents carrying DUI convictions.

DUI convictions are serious; they can lead to jail time, thousands of dollars in fines, loss of license and injury to reputation. If you have been charged with driving-under-the-influence you should promptly contact an experienced criminal defense lawyer.

Source: Insurance.com