Have one DUI arrest? 

There’s a good chance you’ll have another

More than 40-percent of American drivers will be involved in an alcohol related accident in their lifetime, according to the latest statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. And many of those accidents will involve habitual drunk drivers.

Several recent national law enforcement studies suggest that about a third of American drivers arrested once for DUI will be arrested again. An investigation by the Denver Post helped solidify that statistic. One-in-three arrested for drunk driving in Colorado have at least one prior DUI, according to The Post.  

The risk of significant bodily harm or death also increases for those who have more than one DUI. A study cited in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that drivers who die in alcohol-related crashes are more likely than other drivers to have previously been arrested for driving under the influence. The study also found that younger drivers between the ages of 21-34 were four times as likely to have been a arrested one or more times. But drivers 35 and older were found to be twelve times as likely to be have been arrested for DUI on one or more occasions. 

Across the U.S., the penalties for second time offenders are getting tougher. In many states drunk drivers convicted for a second time are more frequently sentenced to some jail time. The length of time varies, however some states have no-nonsense policies. In Virginia, for example, a second time offender could face a year in jail along with fines and revocation of their driver’s license. And there’s evidence that along with those tougher sentences, some municipalities are considering unusual approaches to combat habitual drunk driving.

Recently, the city council in Huntington Beach, California debated the idea of putting the mug shots of habitual DUI offenders on the social network site, Facebook.