Subways tend to get pretty sloppy and slurry at night, especially after bars in New York yell "last call!" Luckily, the collective morning-after hangover is usually the biggest price people pay for such a night out.
However according to a new study, such precarious, alcohol induced trips often have deadly consequences.
The study, conducted by doctors from the New York City Medical Examiner's Office, ruled 76 of subway fatalities occurring between January 2003 and May 2007 as accidental. Of those 76, 42 percent had been drinking and most deaths started at 4AM, coincidentally the closing time for most city bars.
About 90 percent of those who died were males.
Last year, the New York City Health Department said that alcohol related visits to the emergency room jumped from 22,000 to almost 74,000 from 2003-2009 for New Yorkers.
The health department launched a campaign encouraging New Yorkers to drink less in a series of anti-binge drinking ads placed in subway trains. The ads featured intoxicated individuals with messages including "Two drinks ago, you could still get yourself home" and "Two drinks ago, you would have walked away."
New Yorkers' increased drinking habits coincide with a larger pattern demonstrated by the rest of the country. In October, it was reported that binge drinking was costing Americans $224 billion a year citing loss of workplace productivity, healthcare costs, and court fines.