It’s easy to assume that men and women get intoxicated similarly and are likely to get DUIs at the same rate, but the reality is that one of the two genders is much more likely to drive drunk than the other.
According to statistics, men are more likely to be involved in drunk driving crashes. However, one study found that DUI arrests among men had decreased by 7.5% over the course of a decade compared to DUI arrests among women, which increased by a shocking 28.8%. Even with that gap narrowing, though, men are still more likely to offend than women.
Male DUI offenses happen at a rate of around 3 to 1 compared to women. Why? Researchers have a few ideas. Some possible causes could be that:
- More women are driving today than in the past
- Alcohol is metabolized differently in men and women
- Law enforcement changes were made
Weight, hormones and enzymes affect male and female rates of DUIs, too. Women usually metabolize alcohol more slowly than men, so they get drunk faster and stay that way for longer.
Remember that alcohol and impairment is also impacted by:
- Sleep, or a lack of sleep
- Stress
- Medications
- Illnesses
- Genetics
- Food intake
- Drinking history
It’s interesting to see that men still offend more often, particularly when noting that women are more likely to be affected by alcohol and to have higher BACs than men after drinking the same amount of alcohol.
What can both genders do to avoid DUIs in their future?
No matter who you are, it’s important to remember that driving with any amount of alcohol in your system is a bad idea. If you have alcohol in your blood and make driving mistakes, you could be arrested and charged even if your blood alcohol concentration is under the 0.08% legal limit.
It’s not worth the risk to get behind the wheel when you could be intoxicated or have alcohol in your system. If you’re stopped by the police and arrested, you’ll want to do what you can to defend yourself and protect your rights while dealing with the charges.