The History of DUI Laws in the United States – 1930 to 1960

The end of prohibition in 1933 brought alcohol back to American living rooms and restaurants. In addition, the gradual end of the Great Depression meant more average Americans were able to buy automobiles, often for the first time. This combination increased the number of alcohol-related accidents and re-focused America's attention on the problem of drinking and driving.

One of the most notable such accidents of that era involved best-selling author Margaret Mitchell, whose Civil War era novel, "Gone with the Wind" had earned her more than $1 million in royalties. Ms. Mitchell was crossing the street near her Atlanta home in 1949 when she was struck by an off-duty taxi driver motoring down the wrong side of the street. She died of her injuries several days later. The driver later admitted to having had several drinks.

Measuring Blood Alcohol Levels

The first DUI laws in the United States prohibited driving drunk, but left it up to the arresting officers to determine what "drunk" meant. It wasn't until 1938—more than 30 years after the first DUI laws were enacted--that legal blood alcohol levels were set. The first breathalyzer, called the "drunk o meter," was created by Indiana University professor Rolla N. Harger in 1931. This early, balloon-like device would change color if a person's breath contained alcohol. (The present-day breathalyzer test was invented in 1954 by an Indiana State Police Captain.)

This era also saw the American Medical Association get involved in drinking, driving and public safety. They created a Committee to Study Problems of Motor Vehicle Accidents in 1938. This committee was partially responsible for setting the legal blood alcohol level at .15 and below. Indiana took this information and enacted the first Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) law in 1939.

As the "Mad Men" era of the 1950s and 1960s ended and with it much of the "glamor" of excessive drinking, organizations like MADD and SADD began to have political clout. In addition, DUI laws began to become more stringent as public opinion shifted to favor such laws. In our next post, we'll look at how DUI laws changed from 1960 to 1990.

This is the second post of a four-part series on the history of DUI laws in the United States and their enforcement. Last time, we talked about how DUI laws began in this country. We hope you'll visit again over the next few weeks as we discuss how DUI laws in the United States have evolved over the past decades.

The Early History of DUI Laws in the United States

Alcohol-related traffic accidents account for more than 40 percent of all traffic fatalities in the United States, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA.) To help combat this alarming statistic, all 50 U.S. states have laws against driving under the influence of alcohol or other controlled substances (DUI). Sometimes also called DWI (driving while intoxicated) or OVI (operating a vehicle while intoxicated), these laws first started to appear in the early part of the 20th century. Today, nearly one in every ten criminal arrests in the United States is for DUI, according to the NHTSA.

History of DUI Laws

The problem of driving while intoxicated is nearly as old as the automobile itself and is not specifically an American problem. In fact, the first DUI arrest occurred in London in 1897, according to History.com, when George Smith ran his cab into the side of a building. (He pled guilty and was fined 25 shillings.) In the United States, Massachusetts was the first state to enact a DUI statute, in 1907.

They were followed by California and New York State in 1910. The other 45 states (at that time) followed soon after that. Early laws prohibited driving while intoxicated, but didn't define what that meant. It wasn't until nearly twenty years later that the first blood alcohol limit was set.

Prohibition and DUI Enforcement

Prohibition in the United States, which lasted between 1920 and 1933, helped to reduce (but not eliminate completely) driving under the influence in the United States. Perhaps even more effective at controlling the problem in this era was the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression that followed. This forced many Americans to give up their cars or put off buying one for more than a decade.

The repeal of the Volstead Act in 1933 ended prohibition and made drinking alcohol legal again in the United States. As more and more Americans became able to afford an automobile, the problem of drunk driving began to rear its ugly head again. In our next post, we'll look at how DUI laws changed in the prosperous post-World War II era.

This is the first post of a four-part series on the history of DUI laws in the United States and their enforcement. We hope you'll visit again over the next few weeks as we discuss how DUI laws in the United States have evolved over the past decades.