Growing Problem: Women Driving Drunk

A tragic car accident in New York is putting the spotlight on the apparently increasing number of women getting behind the wheel of cars while drunk. What's more, authorities say, many of those women have their kids in the car with them.

In the northern New York City suburb of Westchester County last month, eight people, including four kids, were killed in a head-on crash on a parkway.

The driver, who authorities say was drunk and had the main ingredient of marijuana in her system, had five youngsters in the car with her.

"I think this is a growing trend. I think it is very alarming," Westchester Police Commissioner Commissioner Thomas Belfiore told CBS News Correspondent Bianca Solorzano.

He says what was once unheard of is now becoming more common. "Our officers are encountering more women while they are driving drunk and, in many instances, with their children in the car," Belfiore observed.

Drinking while under the influence is no longer just a male problem, Solorzano notes, pointing to federal government statistics: In more than half the country, the number of women arrested for Driving Under the Influence rose nearly 29 percent from 1998 to 2007.

Debbie Weir of Mother's Against Drunk Driving says pressure could be a factor. "Generally," Weir says, "the stress on women is at an all time high and is increasing. More women are working, more women are running errands for their family, taking their children, carpooling."

Another possible factor in the trend: an increase in binge drinking, according to Promises Treatment Centers CEO Dr. David Sack.

The Transportation Department's annual crackdown on drunk driving begins later this month and the focus, reports Solorzano, will be on female drivers.

"The risks are so great, the potential outcomes are so horrific, that there's no good reason to do it," sums up Belfiore.