VIDEO: How To Spot A Drunk Driver

Spotting A Drunk Driver On The Road

When you see a hazardous or erratic driver on the road, it’s very possible that you could be dealing with a drunk driver. According to MADD, a person is injured in a drunk driving accident every 2 minutes in the United States, and 2 in 3 people on average can expect to be involved in a drunk driving accident during the course of their lives. In the year 2013, one person every 52 minutes lost their life to a drunk driver, and keeping an eye out for erratic drunk driving on the road can save lives.

So, how can you spot a drunk driver on the road? There are signs to look out for. A few clues that could insinuate a driver’s erratic operation of their vehicle may be due to intoxication are:

Repeated fast acceleration or deceleration – If the car seems to rapidly, and chronically, accelerate or decelerate, this type of erratic driving could be a sign of drunk driving.

Zig-zagging – If the driver’s erratic behavior involves zig-zagging all over the road, this could point to intoxication as well. Now, this doesn’t mean the odd swerve, but “driving all over the road” in a constant sort of way.

Drifting into the other lane – Drifting in to the opposite lane, or across multiple lanes, is also a telltale sign that intoxicated driving could be causing the erratic vehicle operation.

Slow response to signals – If a vehicle is driving erratically, but seems to take a while to respond to a green light or a stop sign, it could be a sign of drunk driving.

Driving too slowly – If the car is swerving while driving 10 mph or more under the speed limit, intoxication may be to blame.

If you suspect the hazardous driver around you is an intoxicated driver, what can you do? Pulling over to the side of the road and calling 911, or having a passenger do it, with the license plate number can save multiple lives. By removing the driver from the road, your call to the police can help the driver to get off the road and someplace safe, while the other drivers on the road are made safer as well. A drunk driver, on average, has driven drunk 80 times before they are caught by police, so if you don’t get a drunk driver off the road, it is likely they will do it again.

VIDEO: How To Spot A Drunk Driver