How Many People Die from Drunk Driving Every Year?
Getting behind the wheel under the influence of alcohol is no fun, and a drunk driver can seriously injure or kill a pedestrian or occupant of a vehicle. Nearly 25% of all fatal crashes involve an alcohol-impaired driver.
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It’s no secret that drunk driving is an issue, and while there’s been a small decrease in the number of people killed by drunk drivers over the past few years, the number of fatalities remains high. The United States is one of the top five countries in the world for DUI. The average drunk driver gets behind the wheel after about 80 times before being arrested.
While many different factors go into calculating the total number of people who die from drunk driving, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration reported that 11,654 people were killed in such crashes in 2020. A statistic is a significant number, considering that it represents about one percent of all traffic deaths nationwide. These numbers were boosted by an increase in the number of vehicles on the road. The number of people who are injured in these accidents has also increased.
The most common demographic of drunk driving victims are the young, aged 18-24. This age group represented almost 23% of all drunk drivers in 2017. Teenagers account for about 15% of all drunk drivers. These young drivers were more likely to have a blood alcohol content (BAC) level of 0.08% or higher.
The most common time for a drunk driving accident to occur is at night. During the summer months, accidents are especially likely to occur. In addition to alcohol-impaired drivers, another culprit is no-driver crashes, which are characterized by a lack of any driver present. In addition to this, drunk driving statistics show that motorcycle riders are more likely to die in a crash than other vehicle occupants.
In terms of the actual number of deaths, there isn’t a single data point, but the statistics show that it’s more likely to be a female than a male. The likelihood of an intoxicated driver causing a crash is also higher for the male gender. The odds of a crash occurring in a given year is nearly twice as high for a male as a female.
The best way to determine the actual numbers is to look at the data from each state. The most notable number is the number of DUI deaths. The statistic comes from a study of more than 34,000 fatal traffic accidents. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 2/3 of all drivers will be involved in a drunk driving accident at some point in their lifetime.
The number of DUIs that occurred in the United States in the year before the study was roughly 17,000, which equates to roughly 32 people dying each day. The statistics indicate that the number of DUI fatalities has decreased by about 14% over the past few years, but that the total number of fatalities remains high.