How Many Accidents Are Caused By Drunk Driving? - Halt.org (2023)

FAQs

How many accidents are caused by drunk driving in the US? ›

1. Distracted Driving. Undoubtedly, distracted driving is the number one cause of car accidents. A distracted driver does not have their complete attention on the road, and they may be paying closer attention to a mobile device, passengers, or even a cheeseburger.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that every year about 100,000 police-reported, drowsy-driving crashes result in nearly 800 fatalities and about 50,000 injuries. The real number may be much higher, however, as it is difficult to determine whether a driver was drowsy at the time of a crash.

Nearly 1 in 10 fatal accidents are caused by distracted driving.

Number of drink-drive collisions in 2020

This means that around 5% of all reported road traffic collisions in 2020 involved at least one driver or rider over the legal alcohol limit. In 1979, 8% of reported road collisions were drink-drive related.

Each year, nearly 100,000 traffic crashes can be attributed to drowsy driving, including more than 1,500 deaths and over 70,000 injuries, according to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

According to 2020 NHTSA data, cell phone use or texting while driving was a factor in: 13% of the distracted driving accidents that resulted in fatalities. 9% of distracted driving injury crashes, or about 29,999 accidents in total.

Is drowsy driving the same as drunk driving? ›

However, many drivers do not realize that drowsy driving is just as dangerous as driving drunk. According to the National Sleep Foundation, driving while sleep deprived has similar effects on the body as driving under the influence of alcohol.

80% of car accidents are caused by a driver being distracted. 2% of distracted driving accidents are the result of eating or drinking.

Key Drink Driving Statistics:

90% of drink drivers involved in fatal accidents are male. 33% of all drink drivers involved in fatal accidents are aged between 17-24. 30% of all drink driving fatalities occur between 9pm and 3am, Thurs, Fri & Sat nights. 27% of all fatal crashes in rural areas involve drink drivers.

1. Wyoming. Wyoming leads the nation in drunk driving deaths per 100,000 people, according to the NHTSA.

Twenty-nine people are killed every day in the United States due to crashes involving a drunk driver, which is roughly equivalent to one death every 50 minutes. In a single recent year, 10,497 alcohol-related crash deaths accounted for approximately 28 percent of all traffic deaths in the country.

There are more accidents involving sober drivers because there are FAR more sober drivers than drunk ones. If a out of a 1,000,000 trips only 1,000 of those is done while intoxicated. And there are 5 accidents, 1 in which a driver was intoxicated.

What are the 6 main causes of accidents? ›

Men cause about 6.1 million accidents per year and women cause 4.4 million accidents per year, according to the National Highway Safety Administration. 105.7 million women have driver's licenses, and 104.3 million men have them, according to the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute.

Distracted driving

Being distracted while driving is one of the most common causes of car accidents. It can be anything from texting while driving to fiddling with the radio to simply not paying attention to the road ahead.

What is the Most Common Type of Accident? Motor vehicle accidents such as car crashes and motorcycle wrecks are among the most common type of personal injury accidents, leading to thousands of injuries and deaths each year.

There are many things that can cause a car accident. Some are driver-related, such as drunk driving, reckless driving, distracted driving, and road rage. Other causes of car accidents include vehicle-related problems and environmental conditions. However, in many cases the specific cause of a car accident is unknown.

In controlled studies where researchers were able to measure the amount of sleep deprivation, drunk and drowsy driving both result in a similar amount of crashes.

Health Issues, Medications, and Alcohol Play a Part, Too

Aside from sleep debt and your circadian dips, other factors also set drowsy driving in motion: Health issues: Sleep disorders, like obstructive sleep apnea and narcolepsy, are closely associated with excessive daytime sleepiness.

What percentage of the population has trouble sleeping? According to the National Institutes of Health, 7% to 19% of adults reportedly do not get enough sleep, 40% reportedly fall asleep during the day at least once a month, and 50 to 70 million Americans have chronic sleep disorders.

NHTSA data also reveals that men are more likely to drive drunk than women. Specifically, men are involved in four times the amount of drunk driving accidents as women, and men account for 80% of all drunk driving fatalities.

What percentage of car crashes are due to cell phones? ›

Even while at a stoplight, this behavior can be dangerous, as drivers need to maintain total focus in order to drive safely. 14% of all fatal car crashes involve the improper use of a cellphone while driving, according to recent reports.

Driving while under the influence (DUI) and/or driving while intoxicated/impaired (DWI) are criminal driving offenses in all states.

There is no law that states how many hours a private driver can drive without sleeping. You are required to maintain safe operation of your vehicle. If your lack of sleep was determined to be the cause of an accident, you can be held civilly and criminally liable.

Driving While Sick is as Dangerous as Driving Drunk

Even if you're not taking medication, research shows driving sick can be as bad as driving drunk. When an illness is making you feel woozy and cloudy-headed, your ability to focus can suffer and your reaction time can slow significantly.

More than 50 percent of the combined total of fatal and injury crashes occur at or near intersections.

According to the NHTSA, 80% of all car accidents and up to 65% of near-miss car accidents are due to distracted driving no more than 5 seconds before the crash. Distracted driving may not seem like an egregious departure from safety but it is the leading cause of car accidents.

In a section of the NHTSA website about vehicle automation, they say: The safety benefits of automated vehicles are paramount. Automated vehicles' potential to save lives and reduce injuries is rooted in one critical and tragic fact: 94% of serious crashes are due to human error.

Are most accidents caused by sober drivers? ›

There are more accidents involving sober drivers because there are FAR more sober drivers than drunk ones. If a out of a 1,000,000 trips only 1,000 of those is done while intoxicated. And there are 5 accidents, 1 in which a driver was intoxicated.

Alcoholism Stats

More than 6 percent of adults in the U.S. have an alcohol use disorder, about 1 in 12 men and 1 in 25 women. An additional 623,000 people between the ages of 12 and 17 have alcohol use disorders. About 88,000 people die of alcohol-related causes every year in the United States.

In 2018, two-thirds (66.3%) of adults aged 18 and over consumed alcohol in the past year. Among adults aged 18 and over, 5.1% engaged in heavy drinking (consumption of an average of more than 14 alcoholic drinks per week for men or more than 7 drinks per week for women in the past year).

The 21- to 24-year-old age group has the most drunk driving accidents in the United States, according to recent research from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

North Dakota was the state with the most DUIs, trailed by South Dakota and Wyoming. The four most dangerous states (Wyoming, North Dakota, Montana and Idaho) for drunk driving share the same geographic region.

Unsurprisingly, the most densely populated states in the U.S. consume the most alcohol by volume. California leads the pack with 85.7 million gallons consumed in 2020. Texas, Florida, New York, and Illinois round out the remainder of the top five. Conversely, Wyoming, Alaska, and South Dakota consume the least.

New Jersey had the fewest alcohol-impaired driving fatalities with a rate of 1.4 per 100k people. Minnesota and New York tied for second on this metric with a rate 1.5 and Utah placed third with 1.7.

A drunk driver who has BAC of 0.10 – 0.14 is forty-eight times more likely to get into an accident compared to a normal sober driver. A drunk driver who has BAC of 0.05 to 0.09 is eleven times more likely to get into an accident compared to a normal sober driver.

Is alcohol the main cause of car accidents? ›

Alcohol is a leading cause of traffic fatalities. Drinking and driving kills 28 people a day in the U.S. — about one person every 52 minutes — according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).