Laura Allahverdi thought nothing of getting into the driver's seat one evening in October 2004 after having two vodka cranberries. 

"I didn't feel intoxicated at all," says the 29-year-old life coach, who waited two hours after drinking before leaving the bar. Heading home in Suffolk County, N.Y., she was surprised when a police officer pulled her over. When he requested that she take a Breathalyzer test, Allahverdi complied-and learned that she'd registered a blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) of a little over 0.08, the legal limit nationwide. 

"He handcuffed me and put me in his car," she says. "I couldn't believe it." Just two drinks cost her a night in jail and an automatic license-suspension.

Like Allahverdi, you'd probably never dream of getting behind the wheel if you were drunk. Yet the number of women arrested for driving while intoxicated increased by 31.5 percent between 2000 and 2009.