That’s one person every 32 minutes. That makes it everyone’s problem.
It seems that many people were doing their part to put a stop to this completely preventable epidemic. Alcohol-related traffic fatalities reached a low point in the late 1990s. Research also indicates that 62% of Americans exposed to the now-iconic Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk campaign have personally intervened to stop someone from driving drunk, no doubt saving countless lives.
However, since the late 90’s, alcohol-related driving deaths have been steadily increasing. It seems that though the campaign was very successful, it did not change the behavior of many potential impaired drivers. Many thought the messages to be targeted at overtly drunk drivers, and not them. When decision time came, they would consider themselves merely “buzzed” and get behind the wheel.