North Carolina is the 8th highest rated state for alcohol related crashes.

It can be hard to know when enough is enough and with the warmer weather comes more picnics, games and social events with alcohol.

Every 31 minutes an alcohol related crash kills someone, and the Centers for Disease Control adds every 2 minutes, someone suffers a nonfatal injury because of it. It's one reason police nationwide have cracked down on drunk driving over the past decade. Despite those statistics, police hear all kinds of stories from motorists who are drinking and driving and get pulled over.

There are countless stories of grieving families who've lost someone in an alcohol related accident, and thousands of stories from the people who've caused them about the guilt. The story of how they got there varies of course but what all people who've been convicted of a DWI share is the fact they consumed more alcohol than the legal limit allows.

So how does a situation go from casual drinking to landing a person in jail?

Coleman said, "That's the DWI joke, everyone's only had two beers and been convicted, well that's untrue if they're BAC which is .08 in a hour limit, they've had a lot more than 2 beers, depending on the body weight they've at least had 5 or 6 before they reach that level on the average persons size."

Coleman's advice, designate a driver who won't drink or take a cab, it's information you've likely heard before that will save your license and lives.

Sgt. Coleman also says a big problem he and other Troopers have seen in the past few years is people taking prescription drugs and drinking and driving. He says, the combination can impair someone as if they had been drinking more than the legal limit and that person can be convicted with a D.W.I.