Drunk Driving Statistics – This Happens Too Often

Statistics in the USA

In the United States, drunk driving is the leading cause of criminal death. Approximately 40% of all motor vehicle related fatalities are alcohol-related! More than 17,000 people are the victims of drunk driving accidents each year. If you do the math, it turns out that alcohol-related car crashes kill someone every 31 minutes and injure someone every two minutes.Overall, there was a 3.7% decline in drunk driving deaths from 2006 to 2007. 32 states had decreases in the number of DUI/DWI fatalities, but 18 (plus Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico) had increases.

National Drunk Driving Car Crash Statistics (2007)

The following stats represent total state-by-state auto accident fatalities in 2007 and the percentage of deaths in car crashes that involved a driver who had .08% blood-alcohol content or higher.

State	Deaths	Pct.	State	Deaths	Pct.	State	Deaths	Pct.
Alabama	1,110	35%	Kentucky	864	24.3%	North Dakota	111	47.7%
Alaska	84	35.7%	Louisiana	985	37.4%	Ohio	1,257	31%
Arizona	1,066	31.5%	Maine	183	36%	Oklahoma	754	29%
Arkansas	650	28%	Maryland	614	29%	Oregon	455	33%
California	3,974	29%	Massachusetts	417	35%	Pennsylvania	1,491	33.5%
Colorado	554	30.7%	Michigan	1,088	28%	Rhode Island	69	36%
Connecticut	277	36.5%	Minnesota	504	31.3%	South Carolina	1,066	43.4%
Delaware	117	42.7%	Mississippi	884	34.2%	South Dakota	146	30.8%
D.C.	44	34%	Missouri	992	34%	Tennessee	1,210	32.2%
Florida	3,214	27.7%	Montana	277	38.3%	Texas	3,363	38.4%
Georgia	1,641	27%	Nebraska	256	30%	Utah	299	17%
Hawaii	138	32.6%	Nevada	373	31.6%	Vermont	66	33.3%
Idaho	252	27.8%	New Hampshire	129	26.4%	Virginia	1,027	32.3%
Illinois	1,249	34.7%	New Jersey	724	27.5%	Washington	568	34.3%
Indiana	898	25.6%	New Mexico	413	32.2%	West Virginia	431	33%
Iowa	445	23.8%	New York	1,333	28.8%	Wisconsin	756	41.4%
Kansas	416	27.4%	North Carolina	1,675	29%	Wyoming	150	32.7%

Drinking – Not Just for Spring Break, Anymore!

We all know about, excuse me, have heard about *ahem* the wild parties and heavy drinking that goes on at some colleges or during college Spring Break parties. But guess what? That’s right, parents. Drinking is becoming more common, and at a younger age, than ever before. I found this fairly alarming list from the great people at SADD:

Underage Drinking

In 2005, about 10.8 million persons ages 12-20 (28.2% of this age group) reported drinking alcohol in the past month. Nearly 7.2 million (18.8%) were binge drinkers, and 2.3 million (6.0%) were heavy drinkers. (1)
Three out of every four students (75%) have consumed alcohol (more than just a few sips) by the end of high school. (2)
The rate of current alcohol use among youths ages 12-17 declined from 17.6% in 2004 to 16.5% in 2005. Youth binge drinking also declined during that period, from 11.1% to 9.9%. (1)
In 2005, more males than females ages 12-20 reported current alcohol use (28.9% vs. 27.5%), binge drinking (21.3% vs. 16.1%), and heavy drinking (7.6% vs. 4.3%). (1)
Young adults ages 18-22 enrolled full-time in college were more likely than their peers not enrolled full time to use alcohol in the past month, to binge drink, and to drink heavily. (1)
About two fifths of students (41%) have consumed alcohol (more than just a few sips) by 8th grade. (2)
More than half (58%) of 12th graders report having been drunk at least once in their life. One fifth (20%) of 8th graders report having been drunk at least once in their life. (2)
Adults age 21 or older who had first used alcohol before age 21 were more likely than adults who had their first drink at age 21 or older to be classified with alcohol dependence or abuse (9.6% vs. 2.1%). (1)
In 2005, 85.6% of youths ages 12-17 reported that they strongly or somewhat disapprove of peers having one or two drinks of an alcoholic beverage nearly every day. (1)

Small Town vs. Big City

It’s easy to assume that big cities would have more of an issue with drunk driving than small towns. The odds are that cities have a higher population which translates into more people and more chances for accidents to occur. Also, there are typically (depending on what part of town you are in) more bars within a set range than there are in smaller towns. That said, this writer grew up in a small town and there was definitely no shortage of drinking and other problems among my peers. Have you read the story about the Ransdell Family yet? Those boys were friends of mine. The small town mentality, unfortunately, is that there’s nothing else to do so we might as well get stupid. That’s my personal quote, feel free to use it. So many times, I heard stories about people obtaining alcohol and “going camping” with the sole goal being to get drunk. Why? There was nothing else to do. The truth is that it doesn’t matter at all where you live, be it bustling metropolis or Podunk, USA. Alcohol can find its way into the hands of anyone that really wants to get it. The job for parents and other wary adults is to keep an eye out for those that are being irresponsible and to take action to prevent any problems.

International Statistics

There seems to be a few years of lag time between gathering of drunk driving statistics in foreign countries and their release to the world. There are many news stories, but not a lot on recent facts – this page will be updated as current statistics are released.

Some countries are just recently getting on board by implementing drunk driving laws. The Road Traffic Safety Law of the People’s Republic of China is a law which was passed by the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China on October 28, 2003. It was initiated by Decree No. 8 of the President of the PRC, Hu Jintao, and took effect on May 1, 2004. This occured on all parts of mainland China (but not in Hong Kong and Macau which have their own judicial systems). It is the People’s Republic of China’s first-ever law on road traffic safety. It was intended to address an alarmingly high traffic fatality rate, which is four or five times greater than other nations.

On average, 3,000 people are killed or seriously injured each year in drink-drive collisions in Great Britain. Nearly one in six of all deaths on the road involve drivers who are over the legal alcohol limit. Drinking and driving occurs across a wide range of age groups but particularly among young men aged 17-29 in both casualties and positive breath tests following a collision. When the Government first published statistics in 1979, 1,640 people were killed in drink-related crashes. The latest provisional figures, from 2003, show that some 560 people were killed in crashes in which a driver was over the legal limit.

News that the increase in the annual Victorian road toll has been slight is no cause for celebration. Every road death is unnecessary. The road toll for 2004 was the second lowest on record, up slightly on the previous year. Victoria has the lowest road death rate in Australia on a per-capita basis. But the trends suggest there is no room for complacency. Double the number of cyclists were killed last year. There was a 20% jump in pedestrian deaths and the number of women killed increased by almost one-third.

The Traffic Police mounted a six-hour traffic blitz on (2004) New Year’s Eve between 11pm and 5 am in Singapore. From road blocks set up along five different roads in several parts of the island, 176 motorists were caught, including 139 for speeding and 11 motorists who were stopped for driving under the influence of alcohol. The Traffic Police says it has noted that more people have been injured or killed on the roads on the first three days of the New Year holiday. It has appealed to motorists to be patient and cautious while driving during this period.

South Africa indicates that its death toll is holding steady compared to last year. About 1,200 people have lost their lives to drunk driving. But the image on Ugandan roads is still very gloomy. In the last 10 years the rate of accidents on roads have gone up by 96 per cent while deaths due to accidents have increased by 55 per cent. This year alone, every month between 120 and 150 deaths occurred countrywide and up to 5,010 people had serious injuries. During the last week of December, 2004 37 people were killed and 63 others were injured in 97 different road accidents in Zimbabwe. According to the Korea Insurance Development Institute on Sunday, out of 725,796 car accidents on which insurance claims were made during the 2003 fiscal year — from April 1, 2003 until March 31, 2004 — 24,036 accidents (3.3 percent) resulted from drunk driving. The percentage of accidents involving serious offences such as hit and runs and driving without a license was highest in North Gyeongsang province with 21.1 percent, followed by Jeju and Gangwon provinces with 20.9 and 20.2 percent, respectively.

The list goes on and on from countries around the world. As more recent statistics come in, this site will be updated with that new information. Come back often to see what’s new!