Bingeing and driving

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Ted Pestorius with HHS HealthBeat reported:

There is a good chance you've been driving on the road with binge drinkers who have consumed 10 or more drinks.

A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says more than 1 in 10 people who binged drove during or just after doing so. The CDC compared data from 2003 and 2004 in 18 states. Dr. Robert Brewer says about half of the binge-and-drive crew had been drinking at a bar, club or restaurant. All had at least five rinks, and a quarter had 10 or more.

According to Dr. Brewer it's not just teens and college students. Driving after binge drinking was actually common across all age groups. And it was actually slightly more common among binge drinkers who were age 55 and older. The study was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.