While there may still be some type of stigma associated with getting a DUI, more Tennessee residents should come to realize that virtually any driver can face these types of charges. Many a professional person who has stopped for happy hour with colleagues on the way home from work, for example, has experienced a drunk driving arrest. This is just one example of a situation in which a very responsible person can end up with a criminal record. You may even personally know someone who has had a DUI or perhaps you have been arrested yourself. Just how common is this in Tennessee?
Overall, records from the Federal Bureau of Investigation show that more than 1.16 million drivers in the U.S. were arrested for suspected drunk driving in 2013. Another study conducted by Project Know took a look at DUI records across all 50 states. The data gives an interesting window into some regional differences about how many DUIs are given out in each state.
Tennessee ranked number 12 for the most number of DUIs. The data showed that 48.7 out of every 10,000 drivers are arrested for drunk driving in the state. Two neighboring states were even higher on the list. North Carolina took the number seven spot and Kentucky the number five spot with 52.9 and 59.8 arrests per 10,000 drivers, respectively. Missouri, Georgia and Arkansas were eighteenth, thirty-second and thirty-fourth. Alabama had the least arrests of all states with 0.5 per 10,000 drivers.
To learn more about white collar crime charges, please feel free to visit the drunk driving charge page of our Tennessee criminal defense website.
