DWI Among Women Jumps 29%

As of 2004, 20% of all arrests were of females
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 7, 2011 8:36 AM CST
DWI Among Women Jumps 29%
Trooper David Casillas, from the Florida Highway Patrol, talks to a driver at a DUI checkpoint December 15, 2006 in Miami.   (Getty Images)

The career of ex-FAA chief Randy Babbitt might be the latest casualty of a drunken-driving arrest, but a new report shows that DWI has an increasingly female face. The number of women arrested on suspicion of DWI shot up 29% between 1998 and 2007—up from making up only 9% of all arrests 30 years ago to 20% by 2004. And as the Washington Post notes, female drunk drivers are older and more educated, but earn less than men who are busted. Perhaps most tellingly, however: They're likely the primary caregivers to children, leading blogger Janine D'Arcy to wonder if "mothering and drinking may be a more common problem than we realize." The summary of the report by the Traffic Injury Research Foundation is here (PDF).

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