Dean Martin: "If You Drink, Don't Drive. Don't Even Putt."

A few years ago, I was charged with drunk driving and spent the night on the floor in a crowded jail cell. I was humiliated and, upon release, embarrassed beyond words. I was pulled over just down the road from my house. It was late morning. I hadn't had a drink since sometime the night before. I had no way of knowing my BAC was above the .08 legal limit. I felt fine. I thought.

I checked out a website this morning (https://www.factretriever.com/drunk-driving-facts) and learned a few things:

• A driver with a BAC of .08 g/dL is 11 times more likely to be in a fatal accident than a driver who has consumed no alcohol.

• Drugs other than alcohol (such as marijuana and cocaine) are involved in about 18% of fatal collisions, usually in combination with alcohol.

• Drinking just three or four beers for a 170-pound male is enough to make him too drunk to drive. For an average-size woman it may take just one to three.

• The country with the highest rate of drunk driving deaths is South Africa at nearly 60%. In the U.S., the rate is 31%.

• In 2012, 28.7 million people admitted to driving under the influence of alcohol. That is more than the entire population of Texas.

• Per capita, Americans consume more alcoholic beverages than they do milk. Does that mean we should be putting missing children's pictures on whiskey labels? Just wondering....

• The 10 worst states for drunk driving are: 1. North Dakota; 2. Montana; 3. Idaho (lived there; love it anyway); 4. Wisconsin; 5. South Carolina; 6. South Dakota; 7. my home state of Pennsylvania; 8. New Mexico; 9. Rhode Island; 10. Vermont.

• Motorcycle riders are nearly twice as likely to be driving drunk than auto drivers.

• The deadliest drunk driving crash in U.S. history happened an hour up Interstate 71 from Louisville, where I now live. The Carrollton bus crash happened on May 14, 1988. Larry Mahoney was driving drunk on the wrong side of the highway and head-on hit a church activity bus carrying 66 people on the way home from Kings Island amusement park. The bus burst into flames, killing 27 people and injuring 34, mostly children. Mahoney served time in prison and now lives in seclusion.