Excessive drinking in Louisiana is higher than average

Excessive drinking in Louisiana is slightly higher than the national average, according to statistics from health professionals. They consider excessive drinking to be binge drinking, or having five or more drinks during the same event. That guide is for men. For women, it is slightly lower, at four or more.

They also counted having 15 or more drinks in a single week, for men, or 8 or more for women. This was not known as binge drinking, but as chronic drinking.

In any case, adults were asked how often they had done so, and 18.8% claimed to have done it in the past 30 days. The national average is 18.2%.

It has not always been this way. These statistics were tracked for the first time back in 2012. That year, the national average was 19.8%, while Louisiana clocked in at 17.7%. The state quickly caught up and passed the national numbers in the next few years, though, posting a current high of 19.6% in 2018.

Both binge drinking and chronic drinking can lead to drunk driving. With binge drinking, someone may become intoxicated enough that it impairs their ability to make decisions, so they choose to drive drunk. With chronic drinking, it could just mean that they are frequently under the influence when they drive.

Either way, these drunk drivers pose a threat to everyone that they share the road with across the state. If you get involved in an accident with an intoxicated driver and you suffer serious injuries as a result, make sure you know how to seek compensation for your losses. You can’t rely on the insurance companies to play fair.