Drunk Driving Statistics
I found these drunk driving
statistics through a variety of
resources. Including the Center
for
Disease Control, MADD, Alcohol
Alert, and the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
- Alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes
kill someone every 31
minutes and nonfatally
injure someone every two minutes(NHTSA 2006).
- During 2005, 16,885 people in the U.S. died in alcohol-related motor
vehicle crashes, representing 39% of all
traffic-related deaths (NHTSA 2006).
- In 2005, nearly
1.4 million drivers were arrested for driving
under the influence of alcohol or narcotics (Department of Justice 2005). That’s
less than one percent of the 159 million
self-reported episodes of alcohol–impaired driving among U.S. adults each year
(Quinlan et al. 2005).
- The rate of alcohol
impairment among drivers involved in fatal crashes was four times higher at night than during the
day.
- In 2006, more than 8,200 (55%) of the drivers involved in fatal crashes
who had been drinking had a BAC of
.15 or greater.
-
As in previous years, in 2006, males comprise a majority, about 81
percent, of all drivers involved in fatal crashes with a BAC=.08+.
Alcohol related deaths in the US since 1982:
|
|
Total fatalities
|
Alcohol related fatalities
|
|
|
Year
|
Number
|
Number
|
Percent
|
|
1982
|
43,945
|
26,173
|
60
|
|
1983
|
42,589
|
24,635
|
58
|
|
1984
|
44,257
|
24,762
|
56
|
|
1985
|
43,825
|
23,167
|
53
|
|
1986
|
46,087
|
25,017
|
54
|
|
1987
|
46,390
|
24,094
|
52
|
|
1988
|
47,087
|
23,833
|
51
|
|
1989
|
45,582
|
22,424
|
49
|
|
1990
|
44,599
|
22,587
|
51
|
|
1991
|
41,508
|
20,159
|
49
|
|
1992
|
39,250
|
18,290
|
47
|
|
1993
|
40,150
|
17,908
|
45
|
|
1994
|
40,716
|
17,308
|
43
|
|
1995
|
41,817
|
17,732
|
42
|
|
1996
|
42,065
|
17,749
|
42
|
|
1997
|
42,013
|
16,711
|
40
|
|
1998
|
41,501
|
16,673
|
40
|
|
1999
|
41,717
|
16,572
|
40
|
|
2000
|
41,945
|
17,380
|
41
|
|
2001
|
42,196
|
17,400
|
41
|
|
2002
|
43,005
|
17,524
|
41
|
|
2003
|
42,643
|
17,013
|
40
|
|
2004
|
42,518
|
16,919
|
39
|
|
2005
|
43,443
|
16,885
|
39
|
|
2006
|
42,532
|
15,829
|
37
|
*According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
"A motor vehicle crash is considered to be alcohol-related if at least one driver or
non-occupant (such as a pedestrian or pedalcyclist) involved in the crash is determined to have had a blood alcohol
concentration (BAC) of .01 gram per deciliter (g/dL) or higher. Thus, any fatality that occurs in an
alcohol-related crash is considered an alcohol-related fatality. The term 'alcohol-related' does not indicate that
a crash or fatality was caused by the presence of alcohol."
So drunk driving statistic for alcohol related accidents are calculated for anyone with a BAC over .01.
For a 180 pound person that would be about 1/2 a beer. And we know
that statistics can lie. Unfortunately, we also know
that 55% of alcohol related
fatalities have BACs of .15 or over. We also know that a total of 15,829 alcohol-related fatalities were recorded
in the US in 2006. Of those, 13,470 were drunk drivers
(BACs above
.08). And that approximately 275,000 persons are
injured or disfigured yearly by alcohol-impaired drivers. One third of these are children. These problems are not being
exaggerated. Drunk driving statistics clearly show that drunk
driving kills and injures people.
Raging Alcoholic
|