Click here for drunk driving statistics for 2003; 2002; 2001; 2000.

Below are some statistics on drinking and driving in the US.

Drunk driving is no accident.

There were 16,694 alcohol-related fatalities in 2004 – 39 percent of the total traffic fatalities for the year.

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."

Note the last paragraph, and in particular, the last sentence. This would seem to make the statistics below a little misleading since we tend to think that alcohol-related crashes are caused by drunk drivers. But if a sober driver kills an alcohol-impaired pedestrian, it's still considered an alcohol-related crash.  Does this invalidate the drunk driving statistics below? No. The statistics reveal that most fatal alcohol-related crashes do indeed involve drunk drivers and far fewer (12%) of these fatalities involve intoxicated pedestrians or "pedalcyclists".

Of the 16,694 people who died in alcohol-related crashes in 2004, 14,409 (86%) were killed in crashes where at least one driver or nonoccupant had a BAC of .08 g/dL or higher. The legal limit for BAC is currently .08 in all states in the US.

Traffic fatalities in alcohol-related crashes fell by 2.4 percent, from 17,105 in 2003 to 16,694 in 2004. Although this is definitely an improvement, it is still a lot of dead fellow citizens. To put this in perspective, it is equivalent to a fully loaded Boeing 747 crashing, and leaving no survivors, every nine days all year long – over 39 airplanes in total.

The 16,694 fatalities in alcohol-related crashes during 2004 represent an average of one alcohol-related fatality every 31 minutes.

NHTSA estimates that alcohol was involved in 39 percent of fatal crashes and in 7 percent of all crashes in 2004.

In 2004, 21 percent of the children age 14 and younger who were killed in motor vehicle crashes were killed in alcohol-related crashes.

An estimated 248,000 people were injured in crashes where police reported that alcohol was present — an average of one person injured approximately every 2 minutes.

The rate of alcohol involvement in fatal crashes is more than 3 times higher at night than during the day (60% vs. 18%).

The highest percentage of drivers in fatal crashes who had BAC levels of .08 or higher was for males and drivers ages 21 to 24.

The percentages of drivers with BAC levels of .08 or higher in fatal crashes in 2004 were 27% for motorcycle operators, 22% for passenger cars, and 21% for light trucks. The percentage of drivers with BAC levels .08 or higher in fatal crashes was the lowest for large trucks (1%).

In 2004, 85 percent (11,791) of the 13,952 drivers with BAC of .01 or higher who were involved in fatal crashes had BAC levels at or above .08, and 51 percent (7,084) had BAC levels at or above .16. The most frequently recorded BAC level among drinking drivers involved in fatal crashes was .18.

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	16,694	39

Drinking and driving fatalities by state in 2004 (ranked by highest number of alcohol related deaths):

State	Total Fatalities	Alcohol-Related Fatalities
		Number	Percent
California	4,120	1,643	40
Texas	3,583	1,642	46
Florida	3,244	1,222	38
Pennsylvania	1,490	614	41
Illinois	1,356	604	45
New York	1,493	587	39
North Carolina	1,557	553	35
Georgia	1,634	525	32
Tennessee	1,288	519	40
Ohio	1,286	492	38
South Carolina	1,046	464	44
Missouri	1,130	449	40
Alabama	1,154	442	38
Arizona	1,150	435	38
Michigan	1,159	430	37
Louisiana	904	414	46
Virginia	925	359	39
Wisconsin	792	358	45
Mississippi	900	341	38
Kentucky	964	308	32
Indiana	947	299	32
Maryland	643	286	45
Oklahoma	774	278	36
Arkansas	704	276	39
New Jersey	731	270	37
Colorado	665	259	39
Washington	563	246	44
New Mexico	521	211	40
Massachusetts	476	203	43
Oregon	456	199	44
Minnesota	567	184	32
Nevada	395	152	39
Kansas	461	148	32
West Virginia	411	136	33
Connecticut	291	127	44
Iowa	390	110	28
Montana	229	106	46
Idaho	260	93	36
Nebraska	254	92	36
South Dakota	197	86	44
Utah	296	72	24
Maine	194	70	36
Hawaii	142	65	46
New Hampshire	171	59	35
Wyoming	164	59	36
Delaware	134	51	38
Rhode Island	83	42	50
North Dakota	100	39	39
Vermont	98	32	32
Alaska	101	31	31
Dist of Columbia	43	18	41
National	42,636	16,694	39
Puerto Rico	494	248	50

 

Imagine if more people had personal breathalyzers to test themselves before getting behind the wheel.