Alcohol-Related Crashes and Fatalities

A motor vehicle crash is considered to be alcohol-related if at least one driver or nonoccupant (such as a pedestrian or pedalcyclist) involved in the crash is determined to have had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .01 gram per deciliter (g/dL) or higher. Thus, any fatality that occurs in an alcohol-related crash is considered an alcohol-related fatality. The term “alcohol-related” does not indicate that a crash or fatality was caused by the presence of alcohol.

Traffic fatalities in alcohol-related crashes fell by 0.2 percent, from 16,919 in 2004 to 16,885 in 2005. The 16,885 alcohol-related fatalities in 2005 (39% of total traffic fatalities for the year) represent a 5-percent reduction from the 17,732 alcohol-related fatalities reported in 1995 (42% of the total).

The 16,885 fatalities in alcohol-related crashes during 2005 represent an average of one alcohol-related fatality every 31 minutes.

In 2005, all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico had by law created a threshold making it illegal per se to drive with a BAC of .08 g/dL or higher. Of the 16,885 people who died in alcohol-related crashes in 2005, 14,539 (86%) were killed in crashes where at least one driver or nonoccupant had a BAC of .08 g/dL or higher. Of the 14,539 people killed in such crashes, 71 percent were drivers or nonoccupants with BAC levels at or above .08 g/dL. The remaining 29 percent were drivers or nonoccupants with either no BAC or BAC below .08 g/dL, or were passengers.

Table 1
Fatalities by Person Type in Crashes Involving at Least One Driver or Nonoccupant with BAC .08 g/dL or Higher, 2005

NHTSA estimates that alcohol was involved in 39 percent of fatal crashes and in 7 percent of all crashes in 2005. The national rate of alcohol-related fatalities in motor vehicle crashes in 2005 was 0.57 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.

Injuries and Arrests

An estimated 254,000 persons were injured in crashes where police reported that alcohol was present — an average of one person injured approximately every 2 minutes.

In 2004, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program estimated that over 1.4 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics. This is an arrest rate of 1 for every 139 licensed drivers in the United States. (2005 data not yet available.)

Table 2
Traffic Fatalities by Age and Highest BAC in the Crash, 2005

Table 3
Fatal Crashes Involving at Least One Driver or Nonoccupant with BAC

Children

In 2005, 21 percent of the children age 14 and younger who were killed in motor vehicle crashes were killed in alcohol-related crashes.

In 2005, a total of 414 (21%) of the fatalities among children age 14 and younger occurred in crashes involving alcohol. Of those 414 fatalities, more than half (224) of those killed were passengers in vehicles with drivers who had been drinking, with BAC levels of .01 g/dL or higher. An additional 96 children were killed as passengers in vehicles with drivers who had not been drinking.

Another 48 children age 14 and younger who were killed in traffic crashes in 2005 were pedestrians or pedalcyclists who were struck by drivers with BAC .01 g/dL or higher.

Nonoccupants

More than one-third (34%) of all pedestrians age 16 and older killed in traffic crashes in 2005 had BAC levels .08 g/dL or higher. By age group, the percentages ranged from a low of 9 percent for pedestrians age 65 and older to a high of 46 percent for those age 21 to 24.

Table 4
Nonoccupants With BAC .08 g/dL or Higher Killed in Motor Vehicle Crashes by Age Group, 1995 and 2005

Alcohol involvement — either for the driver or for the pedestrian — was reported in nearly one half (44 percent) of the traffic crashes that resulted in pedestrian fatalities. Of the pedestrians involved, 32 percent had a BAC of .08 g/dL or higher. Of the drivers involved in fatal crashes, only 11 percent had a BAC of .08 g/dL or higher, less than one-half the rate for the pedestrians. In 5 percent of the crashes, both the driver and the pedestrian had a BAC of .08 g/dL or higher.

Time of Day and Day of Week

The rate of alcohol involvement in fatal crashes is more than 3 times higher at night as during the day (59% versus 18%). For all crashes, the alcohol involvement rate is 5 times higher at night (16% versus 3%).

In 2005, 30 percent of all fatal crashes during the week were alcohol-related, compared to 52 percent on weekends. For all crashes, the alcohol involvement rate was 5 percent during the week and 12 percent during the weekend.

Table 5
Percentage of Drivers with BAC .08 g/dL or Higher Killed in Motor Vehicle Crashes by Time of Day and Day of Week, 1995 and 2005

Figure 1
Drivers Involved in Fatal Crashes with BAC Levels .08 g/dL or Higher by Age Group, 2005

Table 6
Drivers in Fatal Crashes with BAC .08 g/dL or Higher by Age, Gender, and Vehicle Type, 1994 and 2004

Drivers

In fatal crashes in 2005, the highest percentage of drivers with BAC levels .08 g/dL or higher was for drivers ages 21-24 (32%), followed by ages 25-34 (28%) and 35-44 (23%).

The percentages of drivers with BAC levels .08 g/dL or higher in fatal crashes in 2005 were 27 percent for motorcycle operators, 22 percent for passenger cars, and 21 percent for light trucks. The percentage of drivers with BAC levels .08 g/dL or higher in fatal crashes was the lowest for large trucks (1%).

Safety belts were used by only 28 percent of fatally injured drivers with BAC levels .08 g/dL or higher, compared to 44 percent of fatally injured with BAC levels between .01 g/dL and .07 g/dL and 56 percent of fatally injured drivers with no alcohol (BAC = .00 g/dL).

Drivers with BAC levels .08 g/dL or higher involved in fatal crashes were 9 times more likely to have a prior conviction for driving while impaired (DWI) than were drivers with no alcohol (BAC = .00 g/dL) (9% and 1%, respectively).

In 2005, 85 percent (11,921) of the 14,068 drivers with BAC .01 g/dL or higher who were involved in fatal crashes had BAC levels at or above .08 g/dL, and 52 percent (7,330) had BAC levels at or above .16 g/dL. The most frequently recorded BAC level among drinking drivers involved in fatal crashes was .17 g/dL.

Figure 2
Previous Driving Records of Drivers Involved in Fatal Crashes, by Blood Alcohol Concentration, 2005

Figure 3
Distribution of BAC Levels for Drivers Involved in Fatal Crashes with BAC .01 or Higher

Table 7 - Traffic Fatalities by State and Highest Blood Alcohol Concentration in the Crash, 2005

Table 8 - Traffic Fatalities by State and Highest Driver Blood Alcohol Concentration in the Crash, 2005

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