Fatality Facts 2006

Alcohol

Overview | Age and gender | When alcohol-impaired crashes occurred

Progress has been made during the past 20 years to reduce the proportion of fatally injured drivers with blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) at or above 0.08 percent. Proportions are lower in all age groups and among vehicle drivers. There also has been a substantial decline among those with very high BACs (at or above 0.15 percent), who often are assumed to be "hard-core" drinking drivers. However, progress has stalled in recent years and alcohol-impaired driving is still a major problem.

All states now have enacted a law defining impairment as driving with a BAC at or above 0.08 percent. In addition, all states also have "zero tolerance" laws that prohibit people younger than 21 from driving after drinking. Typically, these laws prohibit driving with a BAC of 0.02 percent or greater. The probability of a fatal crash rises significantly after 0.05 percent BAC and even more rapidly after about 0.08 percent.¹ Among drivers age 35 and older with BACs at or above 0.15 percent on weekend nights, the likelihood of dying in a single-vehicle crash is 382 times higher than it is for nondrinking drivers.¹

The information in this fact sheet is based on data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia with imputations for missing BACs provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation's multiple imputation model.²

The following facts are based on analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).

Overview

The percentage of fatally injured motor vehicle drivers with BACs at or above 0.08 percent declined steadily from the 1980s to the mid-1990s. Since then, little progress has been made. Since 1997 about a third of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers have had BACs of 0.08 percent or above. In 2006, the group of fatally injured drivers with the lowest proportion of BACs at or above 0.08 percent was tractor-trailer drivers (5 percent). In 2006, the group with the highest proportion of BACs at or above 0.08 percent was pedestrians ages 16 and older (37 percent).

Percent of fatally injured people with BACs ≥0.08 percent by type, 1982-2006

Estimated number and percent of fatally injured people with BACs ≥ 0.08 percent, 1982-2006
Year	All drivers			Passenger vehicle drivers			Tractor-trailer drivers			Motorcycle drivers			Pedestrians (age ≥ 16)
	Deaths	Estimated deaths with BACs ≥ 0.08		Deaths	Estimated deaths with BACs ≥ 0.08		Deaths	Estimated deaths with BACs ≥ 0.08		Deaths	Estimated deaths with BACs ≥ 0.08		Deaths	Estimated deaths with BACs ≥ 0.08
	Num	Num	%	Num	Num	%	Num	Num	%	Num	Num	%	Num	Num	%
1982	24,690	12,139	49	19,663	10,023	51	600	97	16	3,723	1,810	49	5,993	2,668	45
1983	24,138	11,543	48	19,337	9,529	49	615	83	13	3,592	1,783	50	5,582	2,486	45
1984	25,589	11,499	45	20,298	9,378	46	720	90	13	3,896	1,834	47	5,755	2,439	42
1985	25,337	10,685	42	20,057	8,674	43	632	69	11	3,896	1,756	45	5,539	2,263	41
1986	26,630	11,409	43	21,503	9,396	44	589	45	8	3,790	1,772	47	5,547	2,242	40
1987	26,833	11,058	41	22,157	9,343	42	559	40	7	3,409	1,499	44	5,597	2,176	39
1988	27,253	11,103	41	22,884	9,580	42	614	52	8	3,139	1,338	43	5,701	2,162	38
1989	26,389	10,637	40	22,554	9,200	41	546	54	10	2,682	1,233	46	5,557	2,186	39
1990	25,750	10,395	40	21,953	8,973	41	436	39	9	2,790	1,235	44	5,488	2,137	39
1991	23,930	9,485	40	20,551	8,242	40	407	28	7	2,404	1,059	44	4,880	1,895	39
1992	22,584	8,452	37	19,573	7,434	38	369	18	5	2,079	873	42	4,734	1,861	39
1993	23,142	8,322	36	20,036	7,328	37	383	17	4	2,120	825	39	4,740	1,856	39
1994	23,691	7,913	33	20,644	7,083	34	388	23	6	1,995	663	33	4,637	1,718	37
1995	24,390	8,307	34	21,456	7,488	35	400	21	5	1,939	664	34	4,783	1,793	37
1996	24,534	8,175	33	21,631	7,336	34	384	20	5	1,881	683	36	4,670	1,804	39
1997	24,667	7,843	32	21,702	7,062	33	427	13	3	1,878	622	33	4,621	1,638	35
1998	24,743	7,834	32	21,627	6,944	32	441	20	4	2,026	716	35	4,597	1,678	37
1999	25,257	7,918	31	21,899	6,994	32	471	14	3	2,223	736	33	4,325	1,646	38
2000	25,567	8,166	32	21,819	7,127	33	457	14	3	2,591	847	33	4,192	1,534	37
2001	25,869	8,252	32	21,862	7,205	33	414	12	3	2,886	853	30	4,368	1,558	36
2002	26,659	8,515	32	22,537	7,381	33	409	25	6	2,952	940	32	4,367	1,584	36
2003	26,779	8,354	31	22,200	7,120	32	435	17	4	3,358	1,010	30	4,298	1,560	36
2004	26,871	8,155	30	21,952	6,952	32	440	14	3	3,593	995	28	4,237	1,528	36
2005	27,491	8,489	31	21,953	7,104	32	479	11	2	4,142	1,141	28	4,458	1,559	35
2006	27,323	8,615	32	21,497	7,123	33	470	22	5	4,386	1,196	27	4,353	1,608	37

The percentage of fatally injured drivers with BACs of 0.15 percent or higher has declined 36 percent since 1982 but with little change since 1997. The proportion of driver deaths involving BACs at or above 0.15 percent in 2006 was 24 percent for passenger vehicles and 16 percent for motorcycles. A higher percentage of pedestrians (29 percent) had BACs at or above 0.15 percent than did any group of drivers.

Estimated number and percent of fatally injured people with BACs ≥ 0.15 percent, 1982-2006
Year	All drivers			Passenger vehicle drivers			Tractor-trailer drivers			Motorcycle drivers			Pedestrians (age ≥ 16)
	Deaths	Estimated deaths with BACs ≥ 0.15		Deaths	Estimated deaths with BACs ≥ 0.15		Deaths	Estimated deaths with BACs ≥ 0.15		Deaths	Estimated deaths with BACs ≥ 0.15		Deaths	Estimated deaths with BACs ≥ 0.15
	Num	Num	%	Num	Num	%	Num	Num	%	Num	Num	%	Num	Num	%
1982	24,690	8,660	35	19,663	7,328	37	600	59	10	3,723	1,136	30	5,993	2,077	35
1983	24,138	8,240	34	19,337	6,969	36	615	57	9	3,592	1,115	31	5,582	1,945	35
1984	25,589	8,203	32	20,298	6,864	34	720	59	8	3,896	1,136	29	5,755	1,886	33
1985	25,337	7,521	30	20,057	6,269	31	632	44	7	3,896	1,085	28	5,539	1,732	31
1986	26,630	8,077	30	21,503	6,783	32	589	26	4	3,790	1,144	30	5,547	1,730	31
1987	26,833	7,968	30	22,157	6,854	31	559	23	4	3,409	966	28	5,597	1,735	31
1988	27,253	8,114	30	22,884	7,126	31	614	32	5	3,139	862	27	5,701	1,688	30
1989	26,389	7,774	29	22,554	6,847	30	546	39	7	2,682	791	29	5,557	1,706	31
1990	25,750	7,631	30	21,953	6,670	30	436	24	6	2,790	824	30	5,488	1,697	31
1991	23,930	7,014	29	20,551	6,192	30	407	20	5	2,404	697	29	4,880	1,512	31
1992	22,584	6,258	28	19,573	5,569	28	369	12	3	2,079	590	28	4,734	1,474	31
1993	23,142	6,104	26	20,036	5,494	27	383	10	2	2,120	505	24	4,740	1,499	32
1994	23,691	5,849	25	20,644	5,326	26	388	17	4	1,995	411	21	4,637	1,355	29
1995	24,390	6,018	25	21,456	5,495	26	400	11	3	1,939	415	21	4,783	1,394	29
1996	24,534	5,925	24	21,631	5,383	25	384	14	4	1,881	440	23	4,670	1,433	31
1997	24,667	5,668	23	21,702	5,158	24	427	11	2	1,878	400	21	4,621	1,329	29
1998	24,743	5,692	23	21,627	5,127	24	441	15	3	2,026	449	22	4,597	1,332	29
1999	25,257	5,678	22	21,899	5,108	23	471	10	2	2,223	440	20	4,325	1,292	30
2000	25,567	5,801	23	21,819	5,138	24	457	4	1	2,591	539	21	4,192	1,204	29
2001	25,869	5,976	23	21,862	5,328	24	414	10	2	2,886	522	18	4,368	1,232	28
2002	26,659	6,146	23	22,537	5,463	24	409	15	4	2,952	564	19	4,367	1,267	29
2003	26,779	6,010	22	22,200	5,258	24	435	11	3	3,358	609	18	4,298	1,254	29
2004	26,871	5,837	22	21,952	5,089	23	440	9	2	3,593	614	17	4,237	1,195	28
2005	27,491	6,073	22	21,953	5,220	24	479	7	1	4,142	684	17	4,458	1,246	28
2006	27,323	6,107	22	21,497	5,199	24	470	11	2	4,386	712	16	4,353	1,272	29

Age and gender

Among fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers in 2006, a higher proportion of males than females had BACs at or above 0.08 percent at every age. Overall 38 percent of males and 22 percent of females had BACs at or above 0.08 percent. The percentage was highest among males ages 21-40.

Estimated number and percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers with BACs ≥ 0.08 percent by driver age and gender, 2006
Age	Male			Female			Total*
	Drivers killed	Estimated drivers killed with BACs ≥ 0.08		Drivers killed	Estimated drivers killed with BACs ≥ 0.08		Drivers killed	Estimated drivers killed with BACs ≥ 0.08
	Num	Num	%	Num	Num	%	Num	Num	%
0-15	47	9	19	24	4	18	71	13	18
16-20	2,134	661	31	876	150	17	3,010	811	27
21-30	3,886	2,106	54	1,241	421	34	5,131	2,528	49
31-40	2,300	1,186	52	969	337	35	3,270	1,524	47
41-50	2,239	938	42	1,011	275	27	3,251	1,213	37
51-60	1,726	505	29	802	129	16	2,529	634	25
61-70	1,137	195	17	528	38	7	1,665	233	14
>70	1,645	124	8	895	30	3	2,541	156	6
Total*	15,138	5,732	38	6,348	1,386	22	21,497	7,123	33
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Among fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers in 2006, 28 percent of males and 15 percent of females had BACs at or above 0.15 percent.

Estimated number and percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers with BACs ≥ 0.15 percent by driver age and gender, 2006
Age	Male			Female			Total*
	Drivers killed	Estimated drivers killed with BACs ≥ 0.15		Drivers killed	Estimated drivers killed with BACs ≥ 0.15		Drivers killed	Estimated drivers killed with BACs ≥ 0.15
	Num	Num	%	Num	Num	%	Num	Num	%
0-15	47	4	8	24	3	11	71	7	9
16-20	2,134	412	19	876	83	9	3,010	495	16
21-30	3,886	1,539	40	1,241	291	23	5,131	1,830	36
31-40	2,300	910	40	969	252	26	3,270	1,163	36
41-50	2,239	753	34	1,011	213	21	3,251	966	30
51-60	1,726	386	22	802	94	12	2,529	479	19
61-70	1,137	139	12	528	26	5	1,665	165	10
> 70	1,645	72	4	895	14	2	2,541	86	3
Total*	15,138	4,221	28	6,348	976	15	21,497	5,199	24
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Since the 1980s the proportion of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers with BACs at or above 0.08 percent declined more among 16-20 year-olds than among older drivers, but these declines ended in 1995.

Percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers with BACs ≥0.08 percent by driver age, 1982-2006

Estimated number and percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers with BACs ≥ 0.08 percent by driverage,1982-2006
Year	16-20			21-30			>30
	Drivers killed	Estimated drivers killed with BACs ≥ 0.08		Drivers killed	Estimated drivers killed with BACs ≥ 0.08		Drivers killed	Estimated drivers killed with BACs ≥ 0.08
	Num	Num	%	Num	Num	%	Num	Num	%
1982	3,456	1,826	53	6,243	3,948	63	9,861	4,208	43
1983	3,326	1,681	51	6,053	3,859	64	9,844	3,943	40
1984	3,441	1,595	46	6,411	3,885	61	10,337	3,860	37
1985	3,227	1,260	39	6,262	3,659	58	10,441	3,713	36
1986	3,636	1,495	41	6,695	3,974	59	11,042	3,887	35
1987	3,630	1,315	36	6,802	3,975	58	11,579	4,016	35
1988	3,788	1,358	36	6,819	3,991	59	12,145	4,203	35
1989	3,536	1,225	35	6,475	3,675	57	12,401	4,272	34
1990	3,397	1,198	35	6,152	3,510	57	12,274	4,238	35
1991	3,021	1,044	35	5,623	3,183	57	11,801	3,993	34
1992	2,697	829	31	5,122	2,759	54	11,639	3,823	33
1993	2,805	795	28	5,065	2,658	52	12,038	3,851	32
1994	2,990	800	27	4,975	2,484	50	12,522	3,771	30
1995	2,983	725	24	5,081	2,585	51	13,246	4,155	31
1996	3,026	769	25	4,989	2,475	50	13,478	4,070	30
1997	3,034	773	25	4,772	2,272	48	13,773	4,001	29
1998	3,094	767	25	4,577	2,222	49	13,839	3,930	28
1999	3,261	849	26	4,653	2,260	49	13,870	3,866	28
2000	3,250	844	26	4,706	2,268	48	13,743	3,997	29
2001	3,247	823	25	4,735	2,358	50	13,790	4,005	29
2002	3,452	873	25	4,938	2,462	50	14,006	4,020	29
2003	3,260	858	26	4,852	2,308	48	13,957	3,930	28
2004	3,175	815	26	4,970	2,372	48	13,689	3,743	27
2005	2,985	734	25	5,067	2,492	49	13,809	3,852	28
2006	3,010	811	27	5,131	2,528	49	13,256	3,760	28

When alcohol-impaired crashes occurred

Alcohol involvement in fatal crashes peaks at night. Between 9pm and 6am, 58 percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers in 2006 had BACs at or above 0.08 percent, compared with 18 percent during other hours.

Estimated number and percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers with high BACs by nighttime vs. other times, 2006
Time of day	Drivers killed	Estimated drivers killed with BACs ≥ 0.08		Estimated drivers killed with BACs ≥ 0.15
Time of day	Num	Num	%	Num	%
9pm-6am	7,744	4,488	58	3,332	43
Other hours	14,209	2,615	18	1,888	13
Total	21,953	7,104	32	5,220	24

Estimated number and percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers with high BACs by time of day, 2006
Time of day	Drivers killed	Estimated drivers killed with BACs ≥ 0.08		Estimated drivers killed with BACs ≥ 0.15
Time of day	Num	Num	%	Num	%
Midnight-3am	2,958	2,014	68	1,504	51
3am- 6am	1,939	997	51	698	36
6am-9am	2,479	301	12	198	8
9am-noon	2,280	189	8	124	5
Noon-3pm	2,942	331	11	245	8
3pm-6pm	3,465	640	18	453	13
6pm-9pm	2,836	1,033	36	778	27
9pm-midnight	2,847	1,477	52	1,130	40
Total*	21,953	7,104	32	5,220	24
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Forty-five percent of passenger vehicle drivers fatally injured on weekends (6 pm Friday to 6 am Monday) in 2006 had BACs at or above 0.08 percent, compared with 24 percent at other times.

Estimated number and percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers with high BACs by weekend vs. other times, 2006
	Drivers killed	Estimated drivers killed with BACs ≥ 0.08		Estimated drivers killed with BACs ≥ 0.15
	Num	Num	%	Num	%
Weekend	8,803	3,972	45	2,931	33
Other times	13,150	3,132	24	2,289	17
Total	21,953	7,104	32	5,220	24

Alcohol involvement is highest in nighttime (9 pm to 6 am) single-vehicle crashes, in which 66 percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers in 2006 had BACs at or above 0.08 percent. Only 28 percent of the fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers involved in nighttime single-vehicle crashes had no alcohol in their blood. Changes in nighttime single-vehicle crashes often are used to measure the changing role of alcohol in highway crashes and crash deaths.

Estimated number and percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers by BAC, time, and crash type, 2006
		Drivers killed	Estimated drivers killed with BACs = 0		Estimated drivers killed with 0.0 1≤ BACs ≤ 0.07		Estimated drivers killed with BACs ≥ 0.08		Estimated driverskilled with BACs ≥ 0.15
		Num	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%
Single vehicle	Night	5,268	1,472	28	293	6	3,503	66	2,625	50
Single vehicle	Day	5,631	3,648	65	249	4	1,733	31	1,262	22
Multiple vehicle	Night	2,486	1,379	55	136	5	971	39	694	28
Multiple vehicle	Day	7,880	6,822	87	276	4	782	10	514	7

References

¹Zador, P.L.; Krawchuck, S.; and Voas, R.B. 2000. Alcohol-related relative risk of driver fatalities and driver involvement in fatal crashes in relation to driver age and gender: an update using 1996 data. Journal of Studies on Alcohol 61:387-95.

²Subramanian, R. 2002. Transitioning to multiple imputation — a new method to impute missing blood alcohol concentration (BAC) values in FARS. Report no. DOT HS-809-403. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Transportation.