History Main / DrunkDriver

* ''Seris/{{Mindhunter}}'': Tench is shown to get behind the wheel after a long night at a police bar many times.

On television, tends to be a shortcut for declaring a character TheAlcoholic, or that TheAlcoholic is heading OffTheWagon. Also happens frequently after a WildTeenParty as AnAesop.

* In RealLife, pretty much every cast member on ''Series/{{Lost}}'' who has been arrested for drunk driving has "coincidentally" died on the show. Hmmmmmmmmmm.

* ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' features a character killed in an accident with a drunk driver. This causes problems for those still alive because the character in question was the subject of an investigation and the previous government was fond of MakeItLookLikeAnAccident-style murders to remove political opponents. So even though the accident was legitimate, no one would ever believe it.

* In ''Literature/TheBabySittersClub'', Abby and Anna Stevenson's father was killed in a crash with a drinking driver prior to their arrival in the series. Also, the book ''Mary Anne and the Memory Garden'' is based around the girls grieving for a classmate when she dies as a result of an accident involving drunk driving.
* According to the narrator of Honoré Beaugrand's 19th-century short story ''La Chasse-galerie'', the Devil is happy to lend lonely ''voyageurs'' a flying canoe in which to travel from their logging camp to their hometown New Year's Eve party on the other side of Quebec, provided they don't mention God or crash into any church steeples while paddling it. This proves trickier than expected when you're drinking and flying.
* The events of ''Literature/GirlWaitsWithGun'' are set off by a drunk driver veering into a horse-drawn carriage and the owners' efforts to secure compensation.
* ''Literature/{{Safehold}}'': A minor character joined LaResistance after learning that the carriage accident that killed his children and crippled his wife was a case of drunk carriage driving, covered up by the Inquisition because the drunk in question happened to [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections be a distant relative of an important churchman]].

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Unfortunately a very serious issue [[TooDumbToLive for those who are stupidly drunk enough.]] Not only they will end up hurting themselves with a possible chance of death, but they will also [[AccidentalMurder accidentally kill passengers]] if they happen to collide into a sturdy object. In fact, driving under influence is considered illegal by many countries in the world and has many consequences for drunk driving, which may involve heavy fines, lengthy loss of driving privileges, and having to attend mandatory boring seminars on the dangers of drunk driving.
* The driver of [[UsefulNotes/DianaPrincessOfWales Lady Diana Spencer]], Henri Paul (who died with her in the car accident in Paris on August 31, 1997), had three times the authorized dose of alcohol per liter of blood that's permitted by French law according to the autopsy, though there were other things that factored in the accident as well.
* More Navy test pilots died driving under the influence than died in plane crashes. This is in part because two time-honored traditions of test pilots were 1) buying extremely powerful sports cars and 2) taking them for a spin in the desert after hitting the bar. (See Tom Wolfe's ''The Right Stuff''.)
* In the United States, most states have adopted a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08 (i.e. 0.08 grams of alcohol for every 100 milliliters of blood) as the legal definition of intoxication. While alcohol can affect different people differently (based on factors such as age, gender, weight, etc.), and some people do have much higher tolerances than others, it is the law in these states that anyone who drives with a BAC above 0.08 is guilty of drunk driving, with no exceptions. Note that some states may also impose penalties for driving with a BAC higher than zero but lower than 0.08, or for showing signs of impairment while doing so.[[note]]Some states will also tack on extra charges to those who are ''really'' drunk, for example New York charges anyone testing above 0.18 with aggravated DUI. One state calls this "Extreme DUI", which makes it sound like you were so drunk that you drove your car [[Wrestling/ExtremeChampionshipWrestling through a flaming table]]. Most states also have "zero tolerance" laws for drivers under 21 where ''any'' amount of alcohol in your blood (the cutoff is ''0.02'') will result in a suspended license. It is also a crime in itself to refuse any sort of alcohol test.[[/note]]
* The UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague considers DUI charges to be part of its drug policy (rather than the "personal conduct policy", which covers most arrests) and suspends players for 3 games if they're convicted. After a rash of [=DUIs=] going into the 2020s, most notably Raiders WR Henry Ruggs killing a woman (and her dog) after plowing into her SUV ''at 155 miles per hour''[[note]]Her actual cause of death was ''being burned alive''. Ruggs' girlfriend, who was a passenger in his Corvette, was also seriously injured[[/note]] while drunk off his ass, a lot of people are calling for much harsher penalties from the league.
* Statistically, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texting_while_driving texting while driving]] is just as dangerous as driving after drinking four beers. In some studies, driving distracted makes response time even ''worse'' than if the driver had been intoxicated. Operating any vehicle with anything less than your undivided sober attention is [[AndThatsTerrible a very, very bad idea]].
** Driving while exhausted has a similar effect on one's attention, which is why it's always a good idea to rest up before driving and to pull over if you get too tired.
* A statistic of an insurance company blames alcohol for about 10% of all traffic accidents (the number strongly varies by country, though).
* Reddit has had threads discussing on [[https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/9zsxb4/comment/eacdo01/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 what's the quickest way someone ruin their life]], and drunk driving appears with depressing frequency. If they're lucky, they'd be caught and charged with a DUI. If they're unlucky, they die. If they're ''really'' unlucky, [[FateWorseThanDeath they'd get permanent disability and live in constant pain for the rest of their lives.]]
-->'''OP:''' He drove home. Or tried to. Hit a tree on a road with a speed limit of 30. Police said he must have been going 70. They think he passed out.\\
He’s not smart anymore. He’s Forrest Gump now. Which means he’s still smart enough to know he’s dumb, and remember what life used to be like. He can walk, but he know he’ll never play sports. He gets upset when he forgets names. He’s never going to be independent, and he knows it. He’s attempted suicide at least once since the accident.\\
'''Reply:''' That’s so sad. To be stupid enough to not be able to do normal things, while being smart enough to realize you're stupid and can’t do normal stuff you used to do. [[FateWorseThanDeath Damn that’s mental torture right there.]]
[[/folder]]

* Unfortunately a very serious issue [[TooDumbToLive for those who are stupidly drunk enough.]] Not only they will end up hurting themselves with a possible chance of death, but they will also [[AccidentalMurder accidentally kill passengers]] if they happen to collide into a sturdy object. In fact, driving under influence is considered illegal by many countries in the world and has many consequences for drunk driving.

SubTrope of AlcoholInducedIdiocy and AesopCollateralDamage. Compare and contrast with FellAsleepDriving, which is another form of distracted driving (albeit people who engage in that trope are usually treated much more sympathetically). Also compare DrivesLikeCrazy, except this one tends not to be PlayedForLaughs, unless the incident was ''incredibly'' absurd (to the point of NoodleIncident) and either no one was killed or injured or only the drunk driver was in a KarmicDeath. [[note]]''You'' try treating this lightly without such - the MoralGuardians will be seeking your head on a pike![[/note]] It may be that this is a cause of RunningOverThePlot.

* [[TooDumbToLive Win a free one-way trip to the afterlife if you drive drunk and crash!]] [[AccidentalMurder You can even bring some friends with you!]]

* In the United States, most states have adopted a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08 (i.e. 0.08 grams of alcohol for every 100 milliliters of blood) as the legal definition of intoxication. While alcohol can affect different people differently (based on factors such as age, gender, weight, etc.), and some people do have much higher tolerances than others, it is the law in these states that anyone who drives with a BAC above 0.08 is guilty of drunk driving, with no exceptions. Note that some states may also impose penalties for driving with a BAC higher than zero but lower than 0.08, or for showing signs of impairment while doing so.[[note]]Some states will also tack on extra charges to those who are ''really'' drunk, for example New York charges anyone testing above 0.18 with aggravated DUI. One state calls this "Extreme DUI", which makes it sound like your car was [[Wrestling/ExtremeChampionshipWrestling thrown through a flaming table]]. Most states also have "zero tolerance" laws for drivers under 21 where ''any'' amount of alcohol in your blood (the cutoff is ''0.02'') will result in a suspended license. It is also a crime in itself to refuse any sort of alcohol test.[[/note]]

* In Film/Courageous, [[spoiler: Adam’s daughter is killed by a drunk driver.]] This is a big turning point in the movie.

* In ''Film/ItsAWonderfulLife'', at the DarkestHour, George goes straight from Martini's to his car and drives into a tree.
* ''Film/DaylightsEnd'': When the zombies first appeared, Drew was in jail for driving drunk due to depression over his wife and son leaving him. He seems sober and reliable during the movie itself.
* A 1939 short film called "Film/DrunkDriving," part of MGM's "Crime Does Not Pay" series, is one of the earliest movies to pivot on the hazards of drunk driving. A foolish man drives drunk and causes an accident which kills three and causes his wife to lose both her legs.

* Coy Buckman from ''Film/{{Cannonball}}'' was in jail for a drunk driving accident that killed a girl. He's just gotten out when the film opens and is trying to get his racing career back on track. [[spoiler:It turns out that his mechanic was actually driving in the accident and Buckman only took the heat for him.]]
* ''Film/{{Dope}}'': Lily, while high on molly, drives all over the place, including over curbs, as Malcolm tries to rein her in.

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* As seen in the page image, ''Webcomic/OutAtHome''.

* Music/SteelyDan's [[Music/{{Aja}} "Deacon Blues"]]:

* Somewhat subverted in ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' [=JD=] was walking his motor scooter home after a night at the bar because he was aware that he was too drunk to ride it, but he also had the key in the ignition so he could listen to music, and since that counted as a DUI, the cop that spotted him arrested him on a technicality.

Prior to TheEighties, this trope was often a source for comedy, even in a by-the-book CopShow like ''Series/AdamTwelve'' when the cops pull them over. (The stock joke is someone suffering from AlcoholInducedIdiocy trying to say "SorryOciffer...") However, a greater awareness of the deadly menace of motorists driving under the influence have now made it a source of AnAesop for a VerySpecialEpisode and placed jokes about it solidly in DudeNotFunny territory. As a result, impaired drivers are going to hit someone and have a car accident, or be chased down by heroes and/or the police to prevent it. If it's a near miss, it's a ScareEmStraight.

* The Jack Webb-produced ''Series/AdamTwelve'' and ''Series/{{Emergency}}'' both had episodes where the main characters dealt with drivers under the influence and drunk drivers who had caused car wrecks.

SubTrope of AlcoholInducedIdiocy and AesopCollateralDamage. Compare and contrast with FellAsleepDriving, which is another form of distracted driving (albeit people who engage in this are usually treated much more sympathetically). Also compare DrivesLikeCrazy, except this one tends not to be PlayedForLaughs, unless the incident was ''incredibly'' absurd (to the point of NoodleIncident) and either no one was killed or injured or only the drunk driver was in a KarmicDeath. [[note]]''You'' try treating this lightly without such - the MoralGuardians will be seeking your head on a pike![[/note]] It may be that this is a cause of RunningOverThePlot.

SubTrope of AlcoholInducedIdiocy and AesopCollateralDamage. Also, compare DrivesLikeCrazy, except this one tends not to be PlayedForLaughs, unless the incident was ''incredibly'' absurd (to the point of NoodleIncident) and either no one was killed or injured or only the drunk driver was in a KarmicDeath. [[note]]''You'' try treating this lightly without such - the MoralGuardians will be seeking your head on a pike![[/note]] It may be that this is a cause of RunningOverThePlot.