Drunk Driving Statistics
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When looking at representative data and statistics on drunk driving from the NHTSA’s (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) FARS analysis a little closer, the results are mixed and quite sobering.
Recent metrics used for driving drunk for example, namely the incidence of intoxication (BAC of 0.08 g/dl or greater) for drivers in fatal crashes, which was the highest for motorcycle operators (29 percent) and lowest for drivers of large trucks (1 percent).
The incidence of intoxication for drivers of light trucks and passenger car drivers was the same (22 percent). (Source: NHTSA, 2004).
Other sources report more disturbing statistics on drunk driving:
- Of the general driving age public, 97 percent, an overwhelming majority, sees drinking and driving as a threat to their own personal safety, and 66 percent feel it is extremely important to do something to reduce the problem in terms of where tax dollars should be spent. ( Gallup Organization, 2003)
- In 2001, more than 250,000 people were injured in crashes where police reported that alcohol was present — an average of one person injured approximately every minute. (Blincoe, Seay et al., 2002)
- Beer is the drink most commonly consumed by people stopped for alcohol-impaired driving or involved in alcohol-related crashes. Alcohol-related fatalities are caused primarily by the consumption of beer (80 percent) followed by liquor/wine at 20 percent. (Runge, 2002)
Wendy J. Hamilton, former National President of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) was quoted as saying that MADD is cautiously optimistic about the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) report showing a 2.1 percent decrease in alcohol-related traffic fatalities from 2003 to 2004. “While NHTSA's preliminary FARS data represents a step in the right direction, we caution the country, lawmakers and law enforcement not to become complacent about the serious problem of impaired driving in this country. There is still more that must be done to combat drunk driving.”
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