Drinking and Driving – Statistics and Queries Tell the Story

The statistics concerning drinking and driving are staggering. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2005, 16,885 people in the U.S. died in alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes. This represents 39% of all traffic related deaths. Similar statistics by MADD Canada (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) show that out of 3,010 individuals killed in motor vehicle crashes, 1,157 (38%) of those involved impaired driving.

With well over one million online queries a year, the subject of drinking and driving is clearly of particular interest to many Internet users. This search frequency study examines searches for “drinking and driving” over a one-year period. The results help addictions specialists track fluctuations in drinking and driving occurrences from year to year.

Drunk Driving – State of Florida Cracks Down

One striking aspect of this study is the third most common two-word combination, “florida dui”. With 166,735 queries, this geographic specific search seems out of place among the more general searches topping Graph 1. One possible explanation for the prevalence of Florida searches may be related to recent changes in Florida’s DUI laws, making them some of the toughest in the country. The results of new legislation have lead to a reduction in alcohol-related fatalities in this state. In fact, in 2006, Florida was 8.2% below the national average for alcohol-related traffic fatalities.

California is also working to toughen their drunk driving laws as evidenced by the frequency of “san diego dui” searches at 60,472.

Drinking And Driving - Prevalent Search Topics - Graph 1

(Continued on Graph 3 at the bottom of this page)

Top 30 two and three word combinations




estimated searches/year across all search engines

 0  1300000
drunk driving    1247863
dui lawyer    175741
florida dui    166735
drinking and driving    160987
dui attorney    128717
drunk driving accidents    97212
dui laws    95246
drunk driving statistics    75736
florida dwi    72069
drunk driving attorney    68008
dwi attorney    64430
arizona dui    62968
san diego dui    60472
dui law    53273
mickey rourke dui    49640
florida drunk driving    49373
dui attorneys    49168
dui defense    49048
florida dui lawyer    38849
san diego dui lawyer    38764
against drunk driving    37463
dui lawyers    34637
drunk driving facts    34331
dwi lawyer    33975
drunk driving lawyer    33162
central florida dui    32732
dui dwi    30801
florida dui attorney    30249
driving under the influence    29084
dwi law    28240
0 1300000

Drunk Driving Laws – Understanding the Differences

Another interesting aspect of this investigation is an analysis of the phrases used to search different offences concerning drunk driving laws. Two prevalent searches take precedence, “dui” and “dwi”. DUI stands for “driving under the influence” and DWI stands for “driving while intoxicated” or “driving while impaired”. Graph 2 shows that “dui” appears in a staggering 1,340,028 searches while “dwi” was used in 437,075 searches, a difference of 902,953. In the past, a DUI charge was often a lesser offence, but with the adoption of zero tolerance laws, it is more common that both DUI and DWI charges carry similar penalties.

Drinking And Driving Market Research - Graph 2

Top 100 words used in drinking and driving searches
(Top 1000 can be found at Top 100 drinking and driving exact phrases and top 1,000 concepts/words. - Graph 5)

  estimated searches/year across all search engines     
 0  1600000
driving    1530336
dui    1340028
drunk    1283854
dwi    437075
florida    318487
attorney    286073
lawyer    255009
drinking    184512
laws    154034
accidents    137262
statistics    106246
san    104327
law    98341
diego    96234
massachusetts    82024
central    76830
defense    74643
arizona    74451
oui    72598
attorneys    66922
california    64743
lawyers    57697
orlando    52693
facts    52495
mickey    49640
rourke    49640
crashes    47435
drink    46537
articles    45479
car    44331
county    41772
texas    40923
accident    39484
against    39099
illinois    38412
phoenix    34567
pictures    32149
angeles    31781
teenage    31762
los    31718
influence    30166
mothers    28068
pa    28010
teens    27139
missouri    27007
houston    26705
georgia    23761
arrested    23390
teen    22607
penalties    21717
state    21683
drive    21368
plea    20971
bargain    20790
crash    19539
matt    18963
about    18953
roloff    18928
victims    18912
new    18654
arrest    18483
poems    16943
alcohol    16611
washington    16361
ohio    16073
paris    16064
deaths    15932
stories    14933
videos    13710
pics    12549
maryland    12248
consequences    11223
insurance    11214
how    11010
from    10481
records    10375
stop    10162
jacksonville    9981
school    9878
minnesota    9114
information    8864
lake    8428
city    8409
test    8363
atlanta    8292
oregon    8047
virginia    8040
sutherland    7980
colorado    7958
kiefer    7940
pennsylvania    7924
north    7664
arrests    7423
michigan    7243
stats    7242
mason    7239
tacoma    7103
hilton    7067
indiana    6847
people    6779
0 1600000

Using Technology to Improve Alcohol Addictions Research

Clear Haven Center, a prominent drug and alcohol rehabilitation center just outside Montreal, Quebec, generously sponsors search frequency research. The addiction specialists at Clear Haven use the results of this innovative, technologically advanced research to improve addictions programming and resources.

Drinking And Driving - Prevalent Search Topics, Continued - Graph 3

Top 31 - 100 two and three word combinations
(Top 30 are in Graph 1 above)




estimated searches/year across all search engines

 8,000  29,000
mothers against drunk driving    27652
drunk driving car    27629
drink driving    27363
drunk driving laws    26566
california dui    25165
massachusetts dui    24805
houston dwi    23544
dui accidents    23499
drunk driving crashes    23456
teenage drunk driving    23197
dwi laws    23000
florida drunk driving attorney    22849
illinois dui    22034
phoenix arizona dui    21728
driving drunk    20965
florida dui law    20761
orlando dui    19969
teens drunk driving    19794
central florida dwi    19199
florida dui defense    18876
drunk driving accident    18868
florida dwi law    18327
massachusetts drunk driving    17551
massachusetts drunk driving attorney    17522
pa dui    17369
drinking driving    17152
san diego dui attorney    16824
missouri dwi    16317
matt roloff dui    15778
houston dwi attorney    15713
central florida dui lawyer    15358
drink and drive    14129
arizona dui defense    13878
phoenix arizona dui defense    13585
teen drunk driving    13534
drunk driving defense    13333
dui accident    12569
massachusetts dwi    12528
massachusetts dui lawyer    12412
texas dwi    12078
phoenix dui    11907
massachusetts dui attorney    11866
articles on drunk driving    11849
drunk driving car crash    11714
oui attorney    11686
dui articles    10954
dui statistics    10534
drunk driving pics    10310
massachusetts dwi attorney    10221
orlando dwi    10112
dwi defense    10066
drunk driving law    10059
drunk driving videos    10033
dui attorneys los angeles    9911
dui crashes    9613
arizona dui lawyer    9569
dui school    9561
dui arrest    9532
about drunk driving    9498
orlando dui lawyer    9492
ohio dui    9366
texas dui    9364
dui attorneys california    9185
missouri dui    9172
paris dui    9170
los angeles dui    9150
drunk driving victims    8992
dwi attorneys    8823
dui lawyers california    8449
illinois dwi    8328
8,000 29,000