Women are closing the gender gap in one more area. According to a new study, the number of women being arrested for DUI has increased substantially over the past few years. The study by the Traffic Injury Research Foundation shows that the number of DUI arrests involving women has increased by a staggering 36% over the last 10 years alone.

The trigger for the study, which was funded by the Century Council, an association of distillers, seems to have been the 2009 New York DUI accident involving Diane Schuler, the woman who drove the wrong way under the influence of alcohol and crashed her car, killing herself, four children in her car and 3 other people. The accident, which received a lot of national media attention, really spotlighted the fact that little attention is paid to prevent women from driving under the influence in this country.

Another intriguing fact that emerged from the study was the profile of the average female drunk driver. These aren't young college-age women binge-drinking with a group of friends. The average female arrested for DUI in the United States is better educated than the average male drunk driver. Not only is she more educated, she's also older than the average male drunk driver. Additionally, these women are the primary caregivers for their children, and hold low-paying jobs. Some experts have tied an increase in alcohol use and drunk driving among women with the stresses of parenting.

Men continue to comprise the majority of DUI arrests in the United States, but the gender gap is definitely narrowing. Not only that, California DUI lawyers are also concerned about the fact that binge drinking among women is on the increase. According to statistics, approximately 39% of young women in the country now routinely engage in binge drinking, an increase of 30% in 3 decades.

The feds have begun to take note. This month, the Department of Transportation’s annual focus on drunk driving is expected to target women drivers.

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