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A: It's hard to say with any certainty. A 2007/08 AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety Survey found that 9% of the people surveyed admitted to driving drunk within the past 30 days. Yet most experts agree this doesn't tell the whole story. Such surveys tend to grossly under-report actual prevalence. Even in anonymous surveys, people tend to under-report bad behavior by a factor of up to 3 or more. For instance, sewer samplings show that illicit drug use is actually about twice what is reported in surveys. And if people brushed their teeth as often as they say they do, using the amount of toothpaste they report, the amount of toothpaste sold in the U.S. would be three-times what it actually is. True numbers are further complicated because many people may drive while intoxicated without considering themselves drunk. A person may be over the legal limit yet not consider themselves drunk, and therefore, isn't going to report it on a survey. Suffice it to say that far too many people drive drunk and endanger the public. Nationwide, drunk driving accounts for around 40% of all traffic fatalities, and in some states that statistic can jump to as much as 80% or more.
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