Risk Magnets: Vehicles Most Likely To Be Piloted By Drunk Drivers

The good news is the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that alcohol-impaired driving fatalities dropped by 5.3 percent during 2019 to their lowest level since 1982, when the agency began reporting DUI incidents. The bad news is that 10,142 motorists and passengers still lost their lives at the hands of drunk drivers, which accounts for nearly 30 percent of all motor vehicle deaths.

And though we’ve all been advised to remain at home and avoid gatherings with those outside our households because of COVID-19 concerns, there are sure to be those who will skip out anyway later this week to celebrate New Year’s Eve. Statistically speaking, December 31 is by far the deadliest evening of the year when it comes to drunk driving. We could well assume that those taking the risk to go out and party would be most prone to imbibe, which could make their actions doubly deadly. The message here is clearly to stay home and stay safe on both fronts.

And here’s another caution: As it turns out, those who take the wheel of certain vehicles are statistically more prone to be driven by those under the influence than others. That’s according to the data-science experts at the online insurance marketplace Insurify.com who reviewed over 2.7 million auto policy applications, which include motorists’ recent driving records, to determine which models garner the largest proportions of DUI citations.

Among the top 10 vehicles in this regard, six are pickup trucks, though the nation’s top-selling model, the Ford F-150 is not among them. Most of the models noted are current, while a few, like the Dodge Dakota pickup, are currently out of production but remain on the road in significant numbers. Drivers of all 10 vehicles on the list are more than twice as likely to be caught driving drunk than the national average. Oddly enough, the remaining four—all passenger cars—also appeared on the website’s list of those preferred by the nation’s rudest drivers, based on various moving violations received, excluding DUIs. 

The models Insurify.com says are the least likely to be piloted by impaired drivers, by the way, are the Toyota RAV4 and Hyundai Santa Fe SUVs and the Toyota Sienna minivan.

Here’s Insurify.com’s list of the 10 most DUI-prone models, and the number of drivers who were issued violations per 1,000 vehicles:

1. Ram 2500 (45.3 per 1,000)
2. Chevrolet S-10 (35.9 per 1,000)
3. BMW 4 Series (31.7 per 1,000)
4. Audi A4 (31.1 per 1,000)
5. Dodge Dakota (30.5 per 1,000)
6. Subaru WRX (30.0 per 1,000)
7. BMW 7 Series (29.0 per 1,000)
8. Ford Ranger (28.9 per 1,000)
9. Chevrolet Silverado (28.3 per 1,000)
10. GMC Sierra (28.0 per, 1,000)

You can read the full report here.