California data show Hispanic drivers accounted for 54.1% of DUI arrests in 2021. But arrest statistics alone cannot explain why the disparity exists.
More than half of the people arrested for driving under the influence in California were Hispanic in 2021, according to California Department of Motor Vehicles data.
Hispanic drivers accounted for 54.1% of all DUI arrests that year, making them the largest racial or ethnic group among people arrested for DUI. The DMV says Hispanic drivers have held that position for more than a decade.
The number stands out because Hispanic Californians represented an estimated 38.2% of the state’s population in 2021.
But the statistic raises a more complicated question than simply how many Latino drivers were arrested:
Why is the Hispanic share of DUI arrests so much larger than the group’s share of California’s population?
The available evidence does not point to one simple answer.
What the DMV data show
The 2021 DMV report found that Hispanic drivers represented 54.1% of DUI arrestees. White drivers represented 28.3%, Black drivers 10.1% and Asian drivers 3.3%.
The difference was also visible by gender.
Among men arrested for DUI, 57.5% were Hispanic, compared with 25.6% who were White, 9.5% Black and 3.3% Asian.
Among women, Hispanic drivers represented 42.3% of DUI arrests, compared with 37.8% for White women.
The disparity also varied considerably across California.
Hispanic drivers represented more than half of DUI arrestees in 22 of the state’s 58 counties. The highest shares were recorded in Imperial County at 79.8%, San Benito County at 78.5%, Monterey County at 78.1% and Tulare County at 76.6%.
Those numbers, however, should not be interpreted without considering the demographic makeup of each county.
An arrest share is not the same as an arrest rate
Saying Hispanic drivers accounted for 54.1% of DUI arrests means they represented 54.1% of the people arrested.
It does not, by itself, mean that 54.1% of Hispanic drivers were arrested for DUI or that Hispanic drivers were 54.1% likely to be arrested.
To compare the likelihood of arrest between demographic groups, researchers need a denominator; such as arrests per 100,000 residents or licensed drivers and ideally must account for differences in age, gender and geography.
California research has found that those factors matter.
A study examining DUI arrests across California from 2005 through 2017 found that Hispanic DUI arrest rates were higher than White rates among people ages 18 to 29 and 30 to 39. The researchers also found relationships between DUI arrest rates and factors including the percentage of younger residents, alcohol-outlet density, proximity to the Mexico border and the level of law-enforcement activity. The peer-reviewed study examined arrest data from the California Department of Justice.
That does not provide a single explanation for the disparity. It shows why the comparison is more complicated than simply looking at the percentage of arrests.
Arrests don’t measure every instance of impaired driving
There is another important limitation.
A DUI arrest measures what happened when law enforcement encountered and arrested someone. It does not capture every person who drove after drinking but was never stopped or arrested.
That matters because studies comparing arrest data with measures of self-reported drinking and driving have not always produced the same racial or ethnic pattern.
A 2023 California study of adults ages 18 to 39 in Imperial, Kern, Tulare and Madera counties found that self-reported drinking and driving and lifetime DUI arrests were not higher among Hispanics than Whites after accounting for other factors.
The finding does not prove that Hispanic and White drivers engage in impaired driving at exactly the same rate statewide. The study covered a specific age range and four counties.
But it demonstrates why arrest statistics should not automatically be treated as a direct measurement of impaired-driving behavior.
Could enforcement play a role?
That possibility also deserves examination.
California research has found differences between DUI arrest or conviction patterns and other measures of impaired-driving behavior. Other studies have examined how law-enforcement activity and local characteristics relate to DUI arrest rates.
But a disparity in arrests does not, by itself, prove discriminatory enforcement.
There are several steps between observing a difference and establishing its cause.
A higher arrest rate could reflect differences in driving behavior, differences in where and when people drive, enforcement patterns, demographic composition, local alcohol environments or some combination of those factors.
The available evidence does not allow the DMV’s 54.1% figure to identify which factor accounts for how much of the difference.
Age, gender and geography matter
The DMV data themselves show why demographic context matters.
The median age of Hispanic DUI arrestees in 2021 was 30, compared with 35 for White arrestees and 33 for Black arrestees.
Research also finds substantial differences in DUI arrest rates across age and gender groups. The California study of 2005–2017 arrests, for example, found the Hispanic-White difference was particularly evident among younger adults.
A county where Hispanic residents make up a large share of the population will naturally have a larger potential pool of Hispanic drivers. That means a county’s percentage of DUI arrests cannot be interpreted as a measure of individual DUI risk without additional calculations.
And an arrest is not a conviction
Finally, the DMV’s statistic describes arrests, not convictions.
Someone arrested for DUI has not necessarily been found guilty. A case can ultimately result in a conviction, dismissal, acquittal, reduced charges or another outcome.
That distinction is especially important when demographic statistics are being interpreted.
What the numbers actually tell us
The basic fact is clear:
Hispanic drivers represented 54.1% of California DUI arrests in 2021, substantially above their estimated 38.2% share of the state’s population. The DMV says Hispanic drivers have represented the largest ethnic group among DUI arrestees for more than a decade.
The harder question, why?, cannot be answered by that statistic alone.
Research points to multiple factors that can influence DUI arrest patterns, including age, gender, geography, alcohol environments, driving behavior and law enforcement.
Some studies find differences in DUI-related behavior among Hispanic and White populations. Others find that self-reported drinking-and-driving does not necessarily mirror the disparities found in arrest data.
The evidence therefore supports a clear conclusion about disparity, but not a single conclusion about cause.
What California’s data show is who was arrested.
They do not, by themselves, tell us why the disparity exists.
