Is it Sexist?

Since New Year’s is so associated with heavy drinking and partying, the U.S. Dept. of Transportation put out a new public service ad discouraging people from getting behind the wheel after drinking. The commercial shows three different law enforcement officers pulling over three impaired drivers. In each case, the cop asks, “Sir, have you been drinking this evening?”

There are many ways to keep people from driving drunk. This is just one weapon in the arsenal. So, where’s the problem?

Some feel that due to the police only pulling over men in this advert, that the Department of Transportation is being sexist.

To that I say…check the data. The vast majority of drunk drivers are men between 21 and 34. They are also Caucasian or Hispanic. Typically, those who get pulled over for impaired driving have a blood alcohol concentration of .15 or higher (roughly twice the presumptive legal limit).

Would it hurt the U.S. DOT to show a woman getting cuffed for DWI? Nope. Nor would it hurt to show an African American, a transvestite, a midget or a couple of conjoined twins. The truth is, there is no demographic exempt from drunk driving. And I applaud the DOT for showing the most common offender-after all, it’s probably that same demographic that’s watching the adverts, too.


21-35 year old men are the most common impaired drivers.