While most female DUI arrests are commonly associated with Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan (the young party-hardy girl type), it is interesting to point out that a lot of women caught driving under the influence are older women, as in mothers and wives.

It seems that no one is too young or too old to be wise enough to not drink and drive.

In fact, in Northern Virginia, the 76-year-old wife of a United States Senator was recently charged with two misdemeanors of driving while under the influence and hit and run.

Republican Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana’s wife, Charlene Lugar was pulled over by an officer from the Fairfax County Police after seeing smoke coming out from under the hood of her car and the damage on the vehicle.

According to the police, the senator’s wife also hit a parked car and left the scene of the accident some two miles from where she was stopped.

The senator and his wife, in a statement said that were deeply sorry and embarrassed over the accident and that it was fortunate that no one got hurt.

A mother from New York was not a lucky as Senator Lugar’s wife. A few months ago, Diane Schuler killed herself, her daughter, her three and three other men in another car in a wrong-way crash.

She was described by family as a loving mother but at the time of the accident, the authorities have reported that she had a 0.19 blood-alcohol level and traces of marijuana in her system.

The DUI figures for female drivers are certainly alarming, not only are the numbers rising (in 2008, 21 percent of female drivers in fatal car accidents had BACs at or above 0.08 percent), the numbers cut across all ages.

While lady drivers aged 21-30 years old whose BACs ranged from 0.08 percent to 0.15 percent and above took the lion’s share for most fatal DUI crashes, the rest of the female age group also marked significant numbers.

It just goes to show, driving under the influence is a crime that can be committed by anyone, even by a 76-year old wife of a United States Senator.