The specific level of risk for a DUI depends, of course, on each specific person. A person who always has a designated driver or uses ride-sharing services will not get arrested. The same is true for someone who doesn’t drink at all, perhaps because they are underage. You can control your own risk.
That said, looking at the statistics makes it clear that college students, as a group, have higher arrest risks than any other age group.
For instance, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration tracks fatal accident statistics, and they record how often intoxication plays a role and how old the intoxicated drivers are. The 2018 statistics showed that alcohol played a role in roughly 24% of crashes that involved drivers who were under the legal drinking age, between 15 years old and 20 years old.
That was not the highest age group, but it was close. The highest total could still impact college students, though, as it was the 21-to-24 age group, which came in at 27%. The next highest was 25-34, which came in at 26%. Some graduate students could fall into this group, though most are done with college at this point.
So, since the highest total and the third-highest could both impact college students and lead to arrests, it is clear that they need to know what defense options they have. Plus, the statistics above only relate to accidents. Many students get pulled over and arrested without ever coming close to getting involved in an accident. These situations may seem less serious on the outside, but they can still drastically impact a young person’s future and the course their life takes.