Most Ohio residents have likely heard about Uber, a ride-sharing app service that is popular in numerous cities across the country. The company has long held that the availability of its service has reduced drunken driving, but a recent study shows that is not the case.
The study, which was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, investigated data from 100 metropolitan cities throughout the United States. The researchers used controls for other state laws that could impact fatalities from drunken driving in order to get a clearer picture. The researchers looked at drunken driving fatalities that happened on weekends and holidays separately from the total number of drunken driving fatalities. No statistically significant difference was found with the introduction of Uber’s ride-sharing service on the number of alcohol-related fatalities.
According to the study’s authors, people who are intoxicated may simply not want to spend money for a ride home from a ride-sharing service. They may avoid doing so because they are not thinking rationally or because they believe their chance of getting arrested for drinking and driving is low.
If a person has the ability to take a taxi or to use a ride share service in order to get home after they have been drinking, it is a good idea to spend the money to do so. If a person opts to drink and drive and is charged with a drunken driving offense, the person may want to get help from a criminal defense attorney who has experience with defending against such charges. A lawyer may be able to attack the manner in which the testing was done. He or she may also be able to challenge the constitutionality of the stop or to negotiate a plea to a lesser offense.
