Any San Jose DUI lawyer will tell you that there has been an increase in the number of women being pulled over and arrested for DUI in the state over the last few years. A new study confirms this fact. According to data by Traffic Injury Research Prevention, over the past decade, there has been an increase of 36% in the number of women arrested for DUI nationwide. The research also presents a profile of the average female DUI arrest in the United States. The average female driver arrested for drunk driving in the country is educated, has a job and is the primary caregiver for her children.

The results of the study are intriguing, especially since it seems to delve into the role of parenting stresses on female DUI. The study was inspired by a fatal DUI–related accident in New York in 2009, in which a mother driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, drove the wrong way on a highway, and crashed her car into another vehicle. She was driving with 4 children in her car. That accident triggered plenty of debate about the growing number of mothers, who may think nothing of driving with their children after having a couple of drinks. Even a few drinks could show up on a breath test, if you are pulled over by an officer.

Additionally, San Jose DUI lawyers must warn that in California, having a child in the car when you're driving under the influence can make you eligible for a penalty enhancement. Any person, male or female, who is arrested for DUI, and has a child below the age of 14 in the vehicle, can also be sentenced for child endangerment. That could mean additional jail time.