I think it's considerably more common than people would think. Probably the only way someone gets caught is getting in an accident where police are there immediately or if they're swerving and a cop sees them. It's probably just more convenient and less expensive (think hotel or taxi costs) for them to drive and they probably think they're doing no harm and can easily navigate well enough not to crash the whip.
Yes, it’s incredibly common. In fact, whenever I hear someone specifically railing against it, I assume that person has done it plenty. There’s a certain “guilty register” people often hit when discussing it, going a little overboard or protesting too much, as Shakespeare put it.
That said, it’s also wild to think about how in the old days, it was considered no big deal whatsoever
A realistic assessment of it is: “it’s a dangerous activity that you shouldn’t do because of the potential gravity of the harm you might cause, but which (for better or worse) comes with a relatively low chance of actually causing that harm, so people do it anyway.”