Millions driving under the influence
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From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.
Driving under the influence seems to be frighteningly common. HHS' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reviewed state-by-state survey data on people who were asked about drunken and drugged driving during a year. Researcher Pete Delany:
``About 13.2 percent of the population 16 or older drove under the influence of alcohol. And about 4.3 percent of the population drove under the influence of drugs.'' (11 seconds)
This works out to about 30 million people driving drunk and about 10 million driving impaired by illicit drugs. The survey found that the rates were somewhat lower than they had been in the past few years. But Delany says they're still far too high. Thousands of people die each year because of drunken or drugged driving.
Learn more at hhs.gov.
HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.