Drunk Driving Statistics

 

Drunk driving statistics cover a wide range of information from those who drink and drive to fatal car accidents caused by drunk driving. Driving involves multiple tasks, the demands of which can change continually. To drive safely, one must maintain alertness, make decisions based on ever-changing information present in the environment, and execute maneuvers based on these decisions. Drinking alcohol impairs a wide range of skills necessary for carrying out these tasks.

 

Progress has been made in reducing drunk driving statistics. The percent of alcohol-related crash fatalities has declined from 43.6 percent of the total number of traffic crash fatalities in 1986 to 37.4 percent in 1992. Advances in technology (i.e., automobile engineering and road design), less public acceptance of drinking drivers, decreases in per capita consumption, and a growing willingness by the States to adopt public policies aimed at preventing alcohol-related injuries and deaths and enforce legal sanctions against drinking drivers may all be factors in this decline. Newer policies, such as the mandated "zero tolerance" for underage youth, have been shown to reduce crashes in this vulnerable age group. There has been increased attention to prevention programs that impact and affect adult behavior such as server training, the designated driver concept, and intervention and education programs in secondary schools and colleges. These programs have demonstrated some effectiveness in reducing drunk driving statistics alcohol-related driving fatalities.

 

While we have made progress in drunk driving statistics, drinking and driving still claims about 15,000 lives annually. A variety of public policies including law enforcement, prevention, and treatment efforts aimed at decreasing this unacceptably high rate are being implemented by the individual States. Findings from research can provide information on which of these efforts, individually or in combination, are most effective in reducing drunk driving statistics. For example, although license revocation combined with treatment has been shown to be effective in preventing repeat drinking and driving offenses, we do not yet know specifically which types of treatment are the most effective with which types of offenders.

 

* Drunk driving statistics: A driver with a BAC of .08 g/dL is 11 times more likely to be in a fatal accident than a driver who has consumed no alcohol.

* Drunk driving statistics: According to one poll, over 80% of American drivers have heard of the term BAC or blood alcohol content, but only 27% of drivers can correctly identify the legal BAC limit for their state.

* Drunk driving statistics: According to one study, a first-time drunk-driving offender has already driven drunk more than 80 times before being arrested.

* Drunk driving statistics: According to the law in all 50 U.S. states, a driver is considered to be legally drunk when his or her blood alcohol content (BAC) level is at or above .08 grams per deciliter (g/dL).

* Drunk driving statistics: An alcohol-related collision is more than twice as likely to occur on the weekend than during the week. Roughly 31% of drivers involved in fatal crashes on the weekend are legally drunk, as opposed to just 15% during the week.

* Drunk driving statistics: Approximately 75% of fatal crashes occurring between midnight and 3 a.m. involve alcohol.