A study by the U.S. Department of Transportation has found that the number of
DUI arrests involving women has increased 30 percent.
The data was compiled from national law enforcement records covering the years between 1998 and 2007.
Although the report does not provide an explanation as to why more women are drinking and driving, Laura Dean-Moody, president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, believes the trend could be the result of the increase in pressure many women are feeling.
Other experts speculate that the increase could be attributed to the fact that there are simply more female drivers on the road. Another factor could be the way the female body responds to alcohol as opposed to the male body. Both the absorption rate and the way alcohol is distributed in the body could potentially make the effects of alcohol in women stronger than they are in men.
Furthermore, issues such as whether or not a woman was wearing high heels during a
field sobriety test, and the fact the women tend to weigh less but have a higher ratio of body fat are two other factors that could explain the increase in female DUI arrests.
Although the same study found the number of male DUI arrests decreasing, men still outnumber women by four to one.
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