Your support helps us to tell the story
Drunk driving kills about one person every 39 minutes – which adds up to over 11,000 lives needlessly lost every year across the country.
But some cities have a higher risk of drunk drivers on the road.
LendingTree, an online lending marketplace site, analyzed tens of millions of insurance quotes from the largest 50 cities to calculate those with the highest DUI rates.
The top list was entirely made up of California and North Carolina cities.
Raleigh, North Carolina took the top spot as the city with the most drunk driving – at 1.46 DUIs per 1,000 drivers – while Sacramento came in second at 1.31, and Los Angeles came in third at 1.12. San Jose and Bakersfield, at fourth and fifth place, were the only other cities with a DUI rate above 1.
California took up a whopping eight spaces in the top 10. Charlotte, at ninth place, was the only other North Carolina city in the top 10.
The analysis noted it is unclear why California and North Carolina hold the cities with the most drunk driving, but their temperate climates may be a contributing factor. “In warmer areas, there may be a greater temptation to imbibe away from your home than in areas with cooler or more severe climates,” LendingTree auto insurance expert and licensed insurance agent Rob Bhatt said.
“It could also be that law enforcement officials in these states keep a closer eye on impaired drivers — or more readily report them,” the report said.
The city with the least drunk driving was Detroit, Michigan, at 0.02 DUIs per 1,000 drivers. Washington, D.C. and Oklahoma City ranked as the second and third safest cities.
“While causes are difficult to ascertain, each city is at least occasionally subject to intense winter weather, which may support Bhatt’s point,” the analysis noted.
Among the other findings of the report: Gen Z drivers were the most likely to get a DUI, with a rate of 0.39 per 1,000 drivers, while millennials trailed at 0.32 and baby boomers came last at 0.18. Each successive generation had a lower DUI rate, with the exception of the silent generation, at 0.22.
While Generation Z – who drink 20 percent less than millennials – are less likely to take a swig from a bottle, they are more likely to drive while intoxicated, get into car accidents, and receive citations.
The data “seems consistent with the tendency for younger drivers to be bigger risk-takers than older drivers. Today’s boomers are the Gen Z drivers of yesteryear,” Bhatt said in the report.
And among the car brands with the most DUI rates, Cadillacs had the most drunk driving, with Buicks and Fords rounding out the second and third spots.
