Alcohol-related crashes kill every 22 minutes. One of every 50 drivers is drunk. This number increases to one out of 10 on weekend nights.
According to the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, there are 105,000 annual alcohol-related deaths due to drunk drivers and related injuries or diseases.
Alcohol-related accidents are the leading cause of deaths among young people.
The damage caused by alcohol impaired drivers compares to a Boeing 747 with more than 500 passengers crashing every eight days killing everyone on board.
Drunk drivers are responsible for 50% of highway fatalities. 65 people each day die on our highways due to alcohol.
In 1988, 25,000 Americans were killed in auto accidents involving alcohol. More than 500,000 were injured.
The incidence of intoxication (BAC of 0.08 g/dl or greater) for drivers in fatal crashes in 2003 was highest for motorcycle operators (29% ) and lowest for drivers of large trucks (1%). The incidence of intoxication for drivers of light trucks and passenger car drivers was the same (22%).
About three in every ten Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash some time in their lives.
In 2002, an estimated 17,419 people died in alcohol–related traffic crashes. An average of one every 30 minutes, about 41 percent of 42,815 annual traffic fatalities.
Alcohol-related fatalities are caused primarily by the consumption of beer (80 percent) followed by liquor/wine at 20 percent.
The intoxication rate (.08+ BAC) for male drivers involved in fatal crashes was 25%, compared to 12% for female drivers.
The rate of alcohol involvement in fatal crashes is 61%, more than three times as high at night. For all accidents, alcohol factors in 16% of nighttime accidents, vs. 3% for days.
According to drunk driving statistics from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), an estimated 17,419 people died in the year 2002 in alcohol-related traffic crashes, an average of one every 30 minutes.
Drunk driving statistics say that in 2001, more than half a million people were injured in crashes where police reported that alcohol was present, an average of one person injured approximately every two minutes.
The highest intoxication rates in fatal crashes in 2001 were recorded for drivers 21-24 years old (33 percent), followed by ages 25-34 (28 percent) and 35-44 (25 percent).
Drunk driving statistics report that alcohol-involved crashes accounted for 10 percent of property-damage-only crash costs, 21 percent of nonfatal injury crashes and 46 percent of fatal injury crash costs.
Drunk driving statistics say that for fatal crashes occurring from midnight to three in the morning, 79 percent involved alcohol.
Drunk driving is the nation’s most frequently committed violent crime, killing someone every 30 minutes.
In 2001, 32 percent of all fatal crashes during the week were alcohol-related, compared to 54 percent on weekends.
