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Persons using assistive technology might not be able to fully access information in this file. For assistance, please send e-mail to: mmwrq@cdc.gov. Type 508 Accommodation and the title of the report in the subject line of e-mail. Current Trends Update: Alcohol-Related Traffic Fatalities -- United States, 1982-1993Motor-vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death in the United States for persons in all age groups from 1 through 34 years (1). During 1993, 40,115 traffic fatalities occurred; of these, 17,461 were alcohol-related (2). During 1990, the economic impact of alcohol-related crashes was $46.1 billion, including $5.1 billion in medical expenses (3). In 1992, approximately 1% of licensed drivers were arrested for driving while impaired (4). This report uses data from the Fatal Accident Reporting System of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to describe state-level changes in the number and percentage of alcohol-related traffic fatalities (ARTFs) and drivers with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) greater than or equal to 0.01 g/dL who were involved in fatal crashes during 1982-1993. NHTSA defines ARTFs as deaths in which either a driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist had a BAC greater than or equal to 0.01 g/dL. Each year, approximately 80% of ARTFs involve at least one driver or pedestrian with a BAC greater than or equal to 0.10 g/dL, at or above the legal level of intoxication for drivers. Where BAC test results are not available, NHTSA uses statistical models to estimate BACs for drivers and pedestrians (5). In 1993, BAC test results were available for 44.6% of all drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists involved in fatal crashes. From 1982 to 1993, the number of ARTFs in the United States decreased 31%, from 25,165 to 17,461; ARTFs as the percentage of all traffic fatalities decreased from 57.3% to 43.5%. In 1993, the estimated proportion of ARTFs ranged from 28.2% (Maryland) to 58.9% (Texas) Table_1. Compared with 1982, the proportion of ARTFs in 1993 decreased in 47 states and the District of Columbia; in eight states the proportion decreased by 20 percentage points or more. From 1982 to 1993, the number of alcohol-involved drivers in fatal crashes decreased 33%, from 21,780 to 14,589, while the percentage of alcohol-involved drivers in fatal crashes decreased from 38.9% to 27.3% Table_2. In 1993, the percentage of drivers involved in fatal crashes with a BAC greater than or equal to 0.01 g/dL ranged from 14.7% (Maryland) to 43.3% (Montana). From 1982 to 1993, the percentage of alcohol-involved drivers decreased in 49 states and the District of Columbia. Reported by: JC Fell, TM Klein, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Div of Unintentional Injury Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC. Editorial NoteEditorial Note: Alcohol involvement in traffic fatalities is associated with several factors external to a state's traffic safety program. These factors include population demographics (e.g., alcohol involvement generally is higher among young males), urbanization (e.g., alcohol involvement is greater in rural areas), and vehicle mix (e.g., alcohol involvement is highest for motorcycle drivers and lowest for heavy-truck drivers). In addition, the accuracy of estimates for each state is a function of the proportion of drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists in fatal crashes for whom a BAC test result is known: during 1993, test results were known for 45% of these active participants in fatal crashes nationwide, but ranged from 12% to 83% for the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Consequently, these factors and variations constrain the reliability of direct state-to-state comparisons (6). Although lower BACs (0.01-0.09 g/dL) can cause driving impairment associated with an increased risk for fatal crash involvement, the risk is substantially greater for high levels of alcohol (BACs greater than or equal to 0.10 g/dL) (7,8). From 1982 to 1993, the percentage of ARTFs and drivers involved in fatal crashes with a BAC greater than or equal to 0.01 g/dL decreased. Reasons contributing to this decrease in alcohol involvement in fatal crashes may include 1) a greater public awareness of the problem and the increasing social unacceptability of drinking and driving; 2) more effective legislation (e.g., prompt license suspension for persons who drive while intoxicated and lower illegal BAC per se limits * for adults {0.10 g/dL and 0.08 g/dL} and for youth {0.02 g/dL for persons aged less than 21 years}); 3) increased enforcement through sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols, in which police are present at times and places where drinking and driving is known to occur; 4) enactment of laws that have raised the minimum drinking age to 21 years in all states; and 5) decreases in the per capita alcohol consumption in the United States (9). The public health impact and social burden of alcohol-impaired driving underscores the need for additional and intensified efforts by traffic safety, public health, law enforcement, judicial, and citizen activist organizations. NHTSA's "Safe & Sober" Campaign has set goals to reduce alcohol-related traffic fatalities to 43% of total fatalities and increase safety-belt use to 75% by 1996. If these goals are met, an estimated additional 2900 lives and $5.8 billion annually, including $1 billion in health-care costs, may be saved (10). To sustain the decline in ARTFs and driving while impaired, states and communities must continue to adopt legislative and enforcement measures and implement new strategies including stronger sanctions for repeat drinking and driving offenders (e.g., license plate tagging, vehicle impoundment or confiscation, and alcohol ignition interlock devices), graduated licensing systems for beginning drivers (e.g., learner's permit, provisional license with restrictions, and full license), improved enforcement procedures for detecting drinking drivers (e.g., use of passive alcohol sensors at sobriety checkpoints), and better enforcement of safety-belt-use laws because drinking drivers are less likely than others to use safety belts. References
* Driving at or above the illegal BAC limit constitutes a violation of the law, regardless of whether the person exhibits signs of intoxication. Table_1 Note: To print large tables and graphs users may have to change their printer settings to landscape and use a small font size.
TABLE 1. Motor-vehicle crash fatalities * , by state and by the highest blood alcohol
concentration (BAC) + , 1993, and the percentage point difference in the proportion of alcohol-involved
fatalities, 1982 to 1993 -- United States
=================================================================================================================
1993
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
BAC=0.00 g/dL BAC=0.01-0.09 g/dL BAC>=0.10 g/dL
--------------- ------------------- -------------- Change from
State No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) Total Fatalities 1982 to 1993
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama 595 (57.1) 71 ( 6.9) 376 (36.1) 1,042 -12.8
Alaska 68 (57.6) 3 ( 2.2) 47 (40.2) 118 -12.4
Arizona 401 (50.1) 68 ( 8.5) 332 (41.4) 801 - 6.4
Arkansas 317 (54.4) 57 ( 9.8) 209 (35.8) 583 -15.4
California 2,403 (57.7) 406 ( 9.8) 1,354 (32.5) 4,163 -16.7
Colorado 329 (58.8) 31 ( 5.5) 200 (35.7) 559 -21.1
Connecticut 192 (56.2) 23 ( 6.8) 126 (37.0) 342 -24.5
Delaware 57 (51.7) 9 ( 7.9) 45 (40.4) 111 -17.6
District of Columbia 32 (56.8) 7 (12.3) 18 (30.9) 57 -16.5
Florida 1,468 (55.7) 203 ( 7.7) 964 (36.6) 2,635 - 2.3
Georgia 839 (60.2) 129 ( 9.2) 426 (30.6) 1,394 -18.8
Hawaii 59 (44.3) 19 (14.2) 56 (41.6) 134 - 5.6
Idaho 114 (50.3) 21 ( 9.4) 91 (40.3) 227 5.7
Illinois 763 (54.8) 118 ( 8.5) 511 (36.7) 1,392 -13.4
Indiana 556 (62.5) 75 ( 8.4) 258 (29.1) 889 -11.0
Iowa 255 (55.6) 50 (10.8) 154 (33.6) 459 - 2.6
Kansas 280 (65.4) 31 ( 7.2) 117 (27.4) 428 -10.5
Kentucky 550 (63.2) 67 ( 7.7) 254 (29.2) 871 -17.0
Louisiana 396 (45.1) 113 (12.8) 370 (42.1) 879 0.4
Maine 110 (59.5) 16 ( 8.7) 59 (31.8) 185 - 9.1
Maryland 477 (71.8) 48 ( 7.2) 140 (21.0) 665 -26.2
Massachusetts 258 (54.4) 52 (10.9) 165 (34.7) 475 -13.9
Michigan 792 (56.3) 122 ( 8.7) 493 (35.0) 1,408 -15.9
Minnesota 326 (60.5) 42 ( 7.7) 171 (31.7) 538 -15.1
Mississippi 427 (52.5) 82 (10.0) 304 (37.4) 813 - 8.9
Missouri 454 (47.9) 101 (10.7) 392 (41.4) 947 2.0
Montana 81 (41.5) 18 ( 9.3) 96 (49.2) 195 - 7.3
Nebraska 147 (57.9) 36 (14.3) 71 (27.9) 254 - 5.8
Nevada 135 (51.3) 31 (11.9) 97 (36.9) 263 -18.0
New Hampshire 74 (60.9) 9 ( 7.6) 38 (31.5) 121 -19.3
New Jersey 501 (63.6) 76 ( 9.6) 211 (26.7) 788 -19.7
New Mexico 179 (41.6) 44 (10.3) 207 (48.1) 431 - 5.2
New York 1,186 (66.6) 146 ( 8.2) 449 (25.2) 1,781 -13.7
North Carolina 875 (63.0) 97 ( 7.0) 417 (30.0) 1,389 -23.1
North Dakota 44 (48.9) 5 ( 5.6) 40 (45.5) 89 -13.0
Ohio 959 (64.7) 107 ( 7.2) 416 (28.1) 1,482 -21.2
Oklahoma 402 (59.8) 57 ( 8.5) 213 (31.7) 671 -15.9
Oregon 307 (58.6) 54 (10.2) 164 (31.2) 524 -21.4
Pennsylvania 842 (55.1) 110 ( 7.2) 577 (37.8) 1,529 -13.4
Rhode Island 35 (46.9) 8 (11.0) 31 (42.1) 74 -13.1
South Carolina 610 (72.1) 37 ( 4.4) 199 (23.5) 846 -31.0
South Dakota 81 (57.6) 7 ( 5.1) 52 (37.3) 140 -17.8
Tennessee 649 (55.4) 101 ( 8.6) 422 (36.0) 1,171 -17.8
Texas 1,248 (41.1) 325 (10.7) 1,464 (48.2) 3,037 - 9.6
Utah 206 (67.9) 21 ( 7.0) 76 (25.1) 303 - 6.1
Vermont 61 (55.8) 9 ( 8.4) 39 (35.8) 110 -20.1
Virginia 481 (54.8) 87 ( 9.9) 310 (35.3) 878 - 7.6
Washington 327 (49.5) 47 ( 7.1) 287 (43.4) 661 -12.9
West Virginia 245 (57.0) 23 ( 5.3) 161 (37.6) 429 - 7.9
Wisconsin 392 (54.9) 54 ( 7.6) 268 (37.5) 714 -16.5
Wyoming 69 (57.5) 6 ( 4.6) 45 (37.9) 120 -12.9
Total 22,654 (56.5) 3,479 ( 8.7) 13,982 (34.9) 40,115 -13.8
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Fatalities include all occupants and nonoccupants who died within 30 days of a motor-vehicle crash on a public
roadway.
+ BAC distributions are estimates for drivers and nonoccupants involved in fatal crashes. Numbers of fatalities
involved are rounded to the nearest whole number.
Source: Fatal Accident Reporting System, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
=================================================================================================================
Return to top. Table_2 Note: To print large tables and graphs users may have to change their printer settings to landscape and use a small font size.
TABLE 2. Drivers involved in fatal motor-vehicle crashes, by state and by blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of
driver * , 1993, and the percentage point difference in the proportion of alcohol-involved drivers, 1982 to 1993
-- United States
===================================================================================================================
1993
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BAC=0.00 g/dL BAC=0.01-0.09 g/dL BAC>=0.10 g/dL
-------------- ------------------ --------------- Change from
State No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) Total fatalities 1982 to 1993
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama 971 (71.6) 63 ( 4.6) 322 (23.7) 1,356 - 9.8
Alaska 89 (73.1) 4 ( 3.7) 28 (23.2) 122 -14.8
Arizona 707 (69.2) 70 ( 6.8) 245 (24.0) 1,021 - 4.0
Arkansas 550 (70.6) 56 ( 7.1) 174 (22.3) 780 -15.4
California 4,026 (74.5) 363 ( 6.7) 1,017 (18.8) 5,406 -13.8
Colorado 531 (72.3) 34 ( 4.7) 169 (23.0) 735 -17.2
Connecticut 319 (68.9) 26 ( 5.7) 118 (25.4) 463 -18.3
Delaware 125 (72.8) 6 ( 3.3) 41 (23.9) 172 -18.6
District of Columbia 62 (76.0) 8 ( 9.8) 12 (14.3) 81 -13.2
Florida 2,799 (75.0) 198 ( 5.3) 736 (19.7) 3,734 - 4.6
Georgia 1,450 (76.6) 117 ( 6.2) 326 (17.2) 1,896 -15.6
Hawaii 110 (60.9) 21 (11.9) 49 (27.2) 180 - 3.5
Idaho 180 (66.5) 20 ( 7.2) 71 (26.3) 271 - 0.9
Illinois 1,375 (72.5) 114 ( 6.0) 408 (21.5) 1,897 -10.0
Indiana 977 (77.7) 65 ( 5.2) 215 (17.1) 1,257 -10.7
Iowa 464 (72.7) 46 ( 7.2) 128 (20.1) 638 - 4.0
Kansas 452 (78.1) 29 ( 5.0) 98 (17.0) 579 - 7.3
Kentucky 906 (77.2) 54 ( 4.6) 214 (18.2) 1,174 -12.0
Louisiana 702 (64.6) 106 ( 9.8) 278 (25.6) 1,086 - 1.3
Maine 160 (71.0) 17 ( 7.6) 48 (21.4) 225 - 4.1
Maryland 729 (85.3) 37 ( 4.4) 88 (10.3) 855 -20.5
Massachusetts 431 (67.6) 56 ( 8.8) 151 (23.7) 638 - 9.5
Michigan 1,426 (72.9) 130 ( 6.6) 400 (20.5) 1,956 -13.2
Minnesota 554 (73.7) 42 ( 5.6) 156 (20.8) 752 - 9.6
Mississippi 682 (66.8) 86 ( 8.4) 252 (24.7) 1,020 - 5.8
Missouri 821 (65.1) 107 ( 8.5) 333 (26.4) 1,261 2.0
Montana 122 (56.6) 17 ( 8.1) 76 (35.2) 215 - 5.9
Nebraska 246 (72.8) 36 (10.7) 56 (16.6) 338 - 4.7
Nevada 248 (71.6) 29 ( 8.2) 70 (20.2) 347 -16.0
New Hampshire 109 (72.9) 9 ( 6.3) 31 (20.8) 149 -13.0
New Jersey 812 (78.1) 69 ( 6.6) 159 (15.3) 1,040 -14.1
New Mexico 316 (61.9) 41 ( 8.1) 153 (30.0) 511 - 5.7
New York 1,895 (80.7) 117 ( 5.0) 337 (14.3) 2,349 -10.0
North Carolina 1,463 (78.7) 81 ( 4.4) 314 (16.9) 1,858 -17.2
North Dakota 79 (63.7) 7 ( 5.4) 38 (31.0) 124 -11.3
Ohio 1,554 (77.6) 95 ( 4.7) 354 (17.7) 2,003 -17.1
Oklahoma 663 (74.0) 54 ( 6.0) 178 (19.9) 895 - 9.8
Oregon 512 (75.0) 43 ( 6.3) 128 (18.8) 683 -19.8
Pennsylvania 1,558 (71.9) 116 ( 5.3) 492 (22.7) 2,166 -12.0
Rhode Island 57 (61.2) 9 ( 9.6) 27 (29.2) 93 - 9.1
South Carolina 898 (82.6) 30 ( 2.8) 159 (14.6) 1,087 -20.0
South Dakota 122 (73.4) 9 ( 5.4) 35 (21.2) 166 -18.0
Tennessee 1,137 (71.6) 94 ( 5.9) 357 (22.5) 1,587 -16.7
Texas 2,443 (60.7) 383 ( 9.5) 1,198 (29.8) 4,024 -11.5
Utah 305 (80.4) 19 ( 5.1) 55 (14.5) 379 - 7.3
Vermont 99 (69.9) 9 ( 6.4) 34 (23.7) 142 -14.6
Virginia 828 (71.2) 84 ( 7.3) 250 (21.5) 1,162 - 6.3
Washington 546 (65.5) 46 ( 5.5) 241 (29.0) 833 -11.0
West Virginia 3,384 (71.4) 24 ( 4.5) 129 (24.0) 537 - 6.6
Wisconsin 664 (68.9) 60 ( 6.2) 239 (24.9) 963 -13.5
Wyoming 98 (70.3) 5 ( 3.6) 36 (26.0) 140 - 8.7
Total 38,754 (72.7) 3,362 ( 6.3) 11,227 (21.0) 53,343 -11.6
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ BAC distributions are estimates for drivers involved in fatal crashes. Numbers of drivers involved are rounded
to the nearest whole number. Driver(s) may or may not have been killed.
Source: Fatal Accident Reporting System, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
===================================================================================================================
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