Traffic Safety Facts - Research Note DOT HS 810 556

As shown in the Table 1, in the 33 States and the District of Columbia that showed a decrease in their alcohol-related fatality rates, there were 837 fewer alcohol-related fatalities in 2004. This however, was offset by an increase of 426 fatalities for the 17 States that showed an increase in their alcohol-related fatality rates in 2004. In crashes involving at least one driver or motorcycle operator with a BAC of .08 or above, the 32 States and the District of Columbia had 632 fewer fatalities which were offset by an increase of 409 fatalities in States where the rate was flat or higher in 2004 as compared to 2003.

Table 1: Fatalities and Fatality Rates by Categories of Increasing and
Decreasing Rates in 2004 as Compared to 2003

2004 Rates as compared to 2003 Rates	Alcohol-Related Fatalities		Fatalities in Crashes Involving at Least One Driver/Motorcycle Operator with BAC=.08+
2004 Rates as compared to 2003 Rates	Number of States	Change in Fatalities	Number of States	Change in Fatalities
States with Higher/Flat Rates	17	+426	18	+409
States with Lower Rates	33 + D.C.	-837	32+ D.C.	-632
U.S.	-	-411	-	-222
Components may not add to U.S. totals due to independent rounding.

Table 2 (overleaf) depicts the number and rate of fatalities per 100 million VMT in all crashes, alcohol-related crashes and crashes that involved at least one driver or motorcycle operator who had a BAC of .08 or above.

Table 2: Total, Alcohol-Related Fatalities, Fatalities in Crashes Involving at Least One Driver/Motorcycle Operator with a BAC of .08 or Above and the Corresponding Fatality
Rates per 100 Million VMT, 2003-2004

State	2003						2004
	Total		Alcohol-Related		In Crashes Involving at least one Driver /MC Operator with BAC=.08+		Total		Alcohol-Related		In Crashes Involving at least one Driver /MC Operator with BAC=.08+
	Number	Rate	Number	Rate	Number	Rate	Number	Rate	Number	Rate	Number	Rate
Alabama	1,004	1.71	414	0.71	341	0.58	1,154	1.95	442	0.75	367	0.62
Alaska	98	1.98	37	0.75	29	0.59	101	2.02	31	0.62	28	0.56
Arizona	1,118	2.07	471	0.87	342	0.63	1,150	2.01	435	0.76	322	0.56
Arkansas	640	2.09	252	0.82	190	0.62	704	2.22	276	0.87	219	0.69
California	4,224	1.31	1,629	0.50	1,149	0.36	4,120	1.25	1,643	0.50	1,154	0.35
Colorado	642	1.48	252	0.58	203	0.47	665	1.45	259	0.56	194	0.42
Connecticut	298	0.95	137	0.44	115	0.37	291	0.92	127	0.40	106	0.34
Delaware	142	1.57	61	0.67	46	0.51	134	1.44	51	0.55	39	0.42
Dist of Columbia	67	1.87	35	0.98	25	0.70	43	1.15	18	0.48	11	0.29
Florida	3,169	1.71	1,287	0.69	907	0.49	3,244	1.65	1,222	0.62	865	0.44
Georgia	1,603	1.47	483	0.44	355	0.32	1,634	1.45	525	0.47	392	0.35
Hawaii	133	1.43	71	0.76	48	0.52	142	1.46	65	0.67	46	0.47
Idaho	293	2.05	106	0.74	83	0.58	260	1.77	93	0.63	76	0.52
Illinois	1,454	1.36	637	0.60	489	0.46	1,356	1.24	604	0.55	467	0.43
Indiana	833	1.15	261	0.36	204	0.28	947	1.30	299	0.41	236	0.32
Iowa	443	1.42	145	0.47	114	0.37	390	1.24	110	0.35	86	0.27
Kansas	469	1.64	199	0.69	166	0.58	461	1.58	148	0.51	118	0.40
Kentucky	928	1.99	277	0.59	223	0.48	964	2.04	308	0.65	256	0.54
Louisiana	940	2.13	410	0.93	336	0.76	904	2.03	414	0.93	312	0.70
Maine	207	1.39	75	0.50	65	0.44	194	1.30	70	0.47	58	0.39
Maryland	650	1.19	287	0.52	187	0.34	643	1.16	286	0.52	209	0.38
Massachusetts	462	0.86	215	0.40	156	0.29	476	0.87	203	0.37	164	0.30
Michigan	1,283	1.27	485	0.48	340	0.34	1,159	1.12	430	0.42	329	0.32
Minnesota	655	1.18	266	0.48	212	0.38	567	1.00	184	0.33	160	0.28
Mississippi	872	2.33	321	0.86	278	0.74	900	2.28	341	0.86	302	0.77
Missouri	1,232	1.81	493	0.72	394	0.58	1,130	1.64	449	0.65	359	0.52
Montana	262	2.41	127	1.17	103	0.95	229	2.04	106	0.95	97	0.87
Nebraska	293	1.54	121	0.64	95	0.50	254	1.32	92	0.48	75	0.39
Nevada	368	1.91	180	0.93	121	0.63	395	2.04	152	0.79	107	0.55
New Hampshire	127	0.96	51	0.39	36	0.27	171	1.29	59	0.45	50	0.38
New Jersey	733	1.05	279	0.40	195	0.28	731	1.00	270	0.37	191	0.26
New Mexico	439	1.92	206	0.90	144	0.63	521	2.18	211	0.88	153	0.64
New York	1,493	1.11	540	0.40	395	0.29	1,493	1.08	587	0.43	419	0.30
North Carolina	1,553	1.66	528	0.56	403	0.43	1,557	1.62	553	0.58	425	0.44
North Dakota	105	1.41	53	0.71	46	0.62	100	1.32	39	0.51	34	0.45
Ohio	1,274	1.17	466	0.43	370	0.34	1,286	1.15	492	0.44	391	0.35
Oklahoma	671	1.47	260	0.57	212	0.46	774	1.67	278	0.60	223	0.48
Oregon	512	1.46	207	0.59	158	0.45	456	1.28	199	0.56	145	0.41
Pennsylvania	1,577	1.48	621	0.58	496	0.47	1,490	1.38	614	0.57	512	0.47
Rhode Island	104	1.24	59	0.71	50	0.60	83	0.98	42	0.50	37	0.44
South Carolina	969	2.01	490	1.02	389	0.81	1,046	2.11	464	0.94	369	0.74
South Dakota	203	2.38	97	1.14	82	0.96	197	2.24	86	0.98	74	0.84
Tennessee	1,193	1.73	443	0.64	370	0.54	1,288	1.82	519	0.73	420	0.59
Texas	3,821	1.71	1,771	0.79	1,405	0.63	3,583	1.55	1,642	0.71	1,264	0.55
Utah	309	1.29	47	0.20	36	0.15	296	1.20	72	0.29	65	0.26
Vermont	69	0.83	29	0.35	21	0.25	98	1.25	32	0.41	19	0.24
Virginia	943	1.23	367	0.48	281	0.37	925	1.17	359	0.46	279	0.35
Washington	600	1.09	261	0.47	203	0.37	563	1.01	246	0.44	203	0.36
West Virginia	394	1.96	148	0.74	118	0.59	411	2.02	136	0.67	103	0.51
Wisconsin	848	1.42	388	0.65	324	0.54	792	1.31	358	0.59	296	0.49
Wyoming	165	1.79	63	0.68	46	0.50	164	1.77	59	0.64	51	0.55
U.S.	42,884	1.48	17,105	0.59	13,096	0.45	42,636	1.44	16,694	0.56	12,874	0.43
Puerto Rico	495	2.65	235	1.26	157	0.84	494	2.53	248	1.27	173	0.89
Source: NHTSA’s NCSA FARS 2003 (Final), 2004 (ARF) Files, FHWA

Conclusions

The alcohol-related fatality rate has been steadily declining since reaching a near-time high of 0.63 in 2000. In 2004, the alcohol-related fatality rate declined to 0.56 fatalities per 100 million VMT from 0.59 fatalities per 100 million VMT in 2003. Impaired driving laws have been enacted in all 50 States and the District of Columbia that make it illegal for a driver or a motorcycle operator with a BAC of .08 or above to drive a vehicle. The fatality rate in crashes that involved at least one driver or motorcycle operator with a BAC of .08 or above also declined from 0.45 fatalities per 100 million VMT in 2003 to 0.43 fatalities per 100 million VMT in 2004.

In 2004, South Dakota had the highest alcohol-related fatality rate of 0.98 in the Nation while Utah had the lowest rate of 0.29 in the Nation. In 2003, Montana had the highest rate of alcohol-related fatalities in the Nation at 1.17 while Utah had the lowest rate at 0.20. In crashes involving at least one driver or motorcycle operator with a BAC of .08 or above, Montana had the highest fatality rate of 0.87 in 2004 while Vermont had the lowest fatality rate of 0.24. Correspondingly, in 2003, South Dakota had the highest rate of 0.96 while Utah had the lowest rate of 0.15.

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