More Statistics on Drunk Driving in the US
inking and driving are so prevalent in today’s society, that many public and private agencies collect statistics on drunk driving to help illustrate the need for alcohol abuse prevention resources, treatment and prosecution legislation at both the national and state levels.
These involved agencies work with law enforcement and other transportation sources to evaluate crash occurrences and to publish public information on drunk driving. Some of the recent findings of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) show that between 2003 and 2004, there were 17,013 alcohol-related fatalities in the United States alone.
Additional information from this agency indicates drunk drivers caused over $1.2 billion in property damage in 2002. The Bureau of Justice estimates in 1996, out of 5.3 million convicts in the penal system, over 35% of them had been drunk when their crimes were committed.
The National Commission Against Drunk Driving (NCADD) has evaluated drunk driving statistics for many years and determined 41% of all traffic crashes are alcohol related.
The biggest statistic for every driver to consider is that three out of ten drivers will be involved in an alcohol related traffic crash during their lifetime. This is serious information that must be considered when anyone uses a motor vehicle to travel, whether that person is the driver or not.
Nearly 600,000 Americans are injured in these crashes every year, and every 30 minutes, someone dies as a result.
Through the intervention of Washington DC agencies, social service organizations and education, drunk driving seems to be decreasing. But it must be taken into account if that number is decreasing; it may be due to more people in general getting a driver’s license and not attributed to less people driving while drunk.
Driving defensively by watching the surrounding motorists is no guarantee an accident will not occur, but it is an active way to avoid the possibility of being involved.
See state by state statistics on drunk driving here
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