Drunk Driving
Highway death statistics show 17,448 fatalities in alcohol-related
motor vehicle crashes in 2001. (National Commission Against Drunk
Driving. 2002. Fatalities in Motor Vehicle Traffic Crashes:
2001. Washington, DC.)
There are approximately 600,000 people injured each year as a
result of drunk driving. (National Commission Against Drunk Driving.
April 2002. Preliminary Highway Death Statistics for 2001 Show
Fight Against Drunk Driving has Stalled. Washington, DC.)
Between 1994 and 2001, 40 percent of all highway deaths and 42
percent of all highway injuries were the result of drunk driving.
(Ibid.)
One in 10 Americans, or approximately 25 million people, reported
driving under the influence of alcohol in 2001, nearly 3 million
more than the previous year. (National Household Survey on Drug
Abuse [NHSDA.]. November 2002. Drugged Driving. Rockville,
MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services Administration.)
More than 10 million 12 to 20 year olds reported drinking alcohol
in 2000, of which 19 percent were "binge" drinkers and
6 percent were" heavy" drinkers. (Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. September 2002. National
Household Survey on Drug Abuse. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services.)
In 2001, over 8 million persons reported driving under the influence
of illegal drugs during the past year. (Ibid.)
Illegal drugs are used by approximately 10 to 22 percent of drivers
involved in all motor vehicle crashes. (Ibid.)
Driving under the influence of drugs is more frequent among whites
(3.9 percent) than among Native Americans (3.8 percent), Hispanics
(2.9 percent), blacks (2.8 percent), or Asians (1.0 percent). Males
are more than twice as likely as females to drive under the influence
of illegal drugs. (Ibid.)
A recent national survey on driving after alcohol consumption
found that 23 percent of youths between the ages 16 and 20 reported
driving within two hours of use: 31 percent of the males and 14
percent of the females. More than one-third of the youths had a
blood alcohol content greater than 0.8g/dl. (Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA]. 1998. Driving
After Drugs or Alcohol Report. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services.)
Even people driving boats with a BAC at half the legal drinking
limit, are four times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash
than people driving boats that are sober. (Smith, G., Keyl, P.,
Hadley, J., et al. December 2001. "Recreational Boating Fatalities." Journal
of the American Medical Association. 286. [23])
Drunk drivers are 13 times more likely to cause a fatal crash
than sober drivers, particularly between the hours of 1 a.m. and
3 a.m. when as many as 25 percent of drivers are estimated to have
been drinking. Drivers that have been drinking and driving during
these hours of the early morning cause nearly 60 percent of the
fatal crashes. (Levitt, S. and Porter, J. 2001. "How Dangerous
are Drunk Drivers?" Journal of Political Economy. 109.
[6])
In 2000, fatally injured drivers with BAC levels of 0.10 or greater
were 6 times more likely to have had a prior DUI conviction than
fatally injured sober drivers. (National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration [NHTSA]. 2001. Traffic Safety Facts, 2000: Alcohol. Washington,
DC: U.S. Department of Transportation.)
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