Every day, almost 30 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. This amounts to one death every 51 minutes.1 The annual cost of alcohol-related crashes totals more than $59 billion.2
Thankfully, there are effective measures that can help prevent injuries and deaths from alcohol-impaired driving.
How big is the problem?
In 2013, 10,076 people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting for nearly one-third (31%) of all traffic-related deaths in the United States.1
Of the 1,149 traffic deaths among children ages 0 to 14 years in 2013, 200 (17%) involved an alcohol-impaired driver.1
Of the 200 child passengers ages 14 and younger who died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes in 2013, over half (121) were riding in the vehicle with the alcohol-impaired driver.1
In 2012, over 1.3 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics.3 That's one percent of the 121 million self-reported episodes of alcohol-impaired driving among U.S. adults each year.4
Drugs other than alcohol (e.g., marijuana and cocaine) are involved in about 18% of motor vehicle driver deaths. These other drugs are often used in combination with alcohol.5
