Drunk Driving by the Numbers

Chambers, Matthew; Liu, Mindy; Moore, Chip · 2012 · ROSA P / United States. Department of Transportation. Bureau of Transportation Statistics

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Summary

This report, published by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics, quantifies the prevalence, consequences, and regulatory landscape of alcohol-impaired driving and boating in the United States. The study addresses the significant public safety issue of drunk driving, which results in thousands of deaths, injuries, and billions in economic costs annually. It aims to provide a statistical overview of alcohol-related incidents across highway, pedestrian, cyclist, and recreational boating contexts, while also examining alcohol enforcement within the transportation workplace. The analysis relies on data from multiple federal agencies, including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Coast Guard. The report synthesizes statistics from 2001 to 2010, with specific emphasis on 2010 data for prevalence and fatalities. It examines trends in alcohol-related fatalities, the demographic breakdown of impaired driving episodes, and the impact of legislative changes, such as the adoption of 0.08 blood alcohol concentration limits. Additionally, it reviews alcohol testing results for safety-sensitive transportation employees, including pilots and transit operators, using data from the Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Transit Administration. The findings reveal that in 2010, an estimated 112 million alcohol-impaired driving episodes occurred, with men accounting for 81 percent of these incidents. Alcohol-related highway crashes caused 13,365 deaths and cost approximately $37 billion. Despite these figures, the percentage of total highway fatalities involving alcohol decreased from 50.6 percent in 1990 to 42 percent in 2009, coinciding with the universal adoption of 0.08 BAC laws. Vulnerability varies by user type; in 2010, alcohol was involved in 47.2 percent of pedestrian fatalities, compared to 39.9 percent of vehicle occupant fatalities and 33.8 percent of pedal cyclist fatalities. In recreational boating, alcohol was a contributing factor in 22.9 percent of fatalities in 2010. Within the transportation workforce, alcohol testing showed a decline in random positive rates for transit employees from 0.25 percent in 1995 to 0.15 percent in 2008, though alcohol was present in 7 percent of pilot fatalities between 2004 and 2008. The report concludes that while drunk driving remains a major cause of death and economic loss, awareness campaigns and strict enforcement measures, such as Zero Tolerance Laws and standardized BAC limits, appear to be having a positive impact on reducing the proportion of alcohol-related fatalities. The data underscores the heightened vulnerability of pedestrians and the continued risks associated with alcohol impairment in both highway and marine environments. Furthermore, the low positive rates in workplace testing suggest that regulatory enforcement in the transportation sector is effective, although the presence of alcohol in pilot fatalities highlights ongoing risks in aviation.

Key finding

Alcohol-related highway crashes caused 13,365 deaths in 2010, and the alcohol-related share of all highway fatalities fell from 50.6 percent in 1990 to 42 percent in 2009.

Methodology

dataset

Provenance

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Topics

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• alcohol
• dui enforcement