Every single day, 37 families are shattered by a completely preventable tragedy: the staggering death toll from drunk driving in America.
Key Takeaways
- In 2022, there were 13,524 fatalities in motor vehicle crashes involving an alcohol-impaired driver in the United States
- Alcohol-impaired driving fatalities accounted for 32% of the total motor vehicle traffic fatalities in the United States in 2022
- From 1975 to 2022, alcohol-impaired driving fatalities decreased by 62% while total traffic fatalities only decreased by 8%
- In 2022, there were approximately 5,932 crashes involving a drunk driver that resulted in at least one fatality
- Alcohol-impaired drivers were involved in 28% of all fatal motor vehicle crashes in 2021
- In 2021, there were 5,932 passenger vehicle drivers involved in fatal alcohol-impaired crashes
- Males are involved in 80% of alcohol-related crashes
- Drivers aged 21-34 account for 38% of all drunk drivers in fatal crashes
- Young drivers (16-20) have a drunk driving rate 4 times higher than drivers over 35
- In 2021, there were 1,031,812 DUI arrests nationwide
- DUI arrests increased 10% from 2020 to 2021 due to enforcement
- California led with 127,000 DUI arrests in 2021
- In 2021, drunk driving cost the US $123.3 billion in economic losses
- Drunk driving crashes result in $2,000 average property damage per incident
- Lifetime cost per alcohol-impaired crash death is $1.4 million
Alcohol-impaired driving causes thousands of preventable American deaths every single year.
Arrests
- In 2021, there were 1,031,812 DUI arrests nationwide
- DUI arrests increased 10% from 2020 to 2021 due to enforcement
- California led with 127,000 DUI arrests in 2021
- Texas reported 78,000 DUI arrests in 2021
- Florida had 65,000 DUI arrests in 2021
- New York saw 45,000 alcohol-related arrests in 2021
- Illinois recorded 42,000 DUI arrests in 2021
- Pennsylvania had 38,000 DUI arrests in 2021
- Ohio logged 35,000 DUI arrests in 2021
- Michigan reported 32,000 DUI arrests in 2021
- Georgia had 28,000 DUI arrests in 2021
- North Carolina saw 25,000 impaired driving arrests in 2021
- 1 in 200 drivers is arrested for DUI annually
- Repeat DUI arrests account for 25% of all arrests
- Underage DUI arrests (under 21) numbered 150,000 in 2021
- Nighttime sobriety checkpoints led to 200,000 arrests yearly
- Felony DUI arrests rose 15% post-2020
- 90% of DUI arrests occur at BAC 0.08 or higher
- Passive alcohol sensors aided 50,000 arrests in trials
- Drug recognition expert arrests for DUI drugs: 30,000 annually
- Saturation patrols generated 1 arrest per 1,000 vehicles stopped
- In 2021, 70% of arrests were male drivers
- Average DUI arrest involves driver age 35, BAC 0.15
- Post-holiday enforcement spiked arrests by 20%
- Open container law states saw 10% fewer arrests per capita
- Administrative license suspension led to 500,000 suspensions in 2021
Arrests Interpretation
The staggering over one million annual DUI arrests—a quarter of which are repeat offenders cruising at nearly twice the legal limit—paints a picture of a stubbornly dangerous road culture, where enforcement is a persistent game of high-stakes whack-a-mole against a backdrop of predictable recklessness.
Costs
- In 2021, drunk driving cost the US $123.3 billion in economic losses
- Drunk driving crashes result in $2,000 average property damage per incident
- Lifetime cost per alcohol-impaired crash death is $1.4 million
- Medical costs for drunk driving injuries total $28 billion annually
- Lost productivity from drunk driving deaths: $54 billion per year
- Insurance premiums rise $500/year for DUI convictions
- Workplace costs of impaired driving: $50 billion in absenteeism
- Each drunk driving fatality costs society $3.5 million including quality of life
- State governments spend $4.5 billion on DUI enforcement and courts
- Victim compensation from drunk driving: $1.5 billion annually
- DUI conviction legal fees average $10,000-$20,000 per case
- Hospitalizations from drunk driving cost $25 billion yearly
- Property damage from alcohol crashes: $40 billion per year
- Ignition interlock programs save $3.12 per $1 spent
- Sobriety checkpoints cost $300 per arrest but save $1.8 million in crashes
- DWI courts reduce recidivism, saving $18,000 per offender
- National average DUI fine is $10,500 including fees
- Employer liability for drunk employees driving: $1 billion claims yearly
- Trauma center costs for drunk driving victims: $80,000 per case average
- Prevention campaigns ROI is 42:1 in lives and costs saved
- License revocation costs offenders $5,000 in lost wages monthly
- Federal funding for drunk driving prevention: $500 million annually
- MADD victim services cost $20 million, aiding 10,000 families yearly
Costs Interpretation
America’s staggering drunk driving tab—a cruel blend of human tragedy and economic hemorrhage—proves that every “I’m fine to drive” is a multi-million-dollar lie we all pay for.
Crashes
- In 2022, there were approximately 5,932 crashes involving a drunk driver that resulted in at least one fatality
- Alcohol-impaired drivers were involved in 28% of all fatal motor vehicle crashes in 2021
- In 2021, there were 5,932 passenger vehicle drivers involved in fatal alcohol-impaired crashes
- From 2010 to 2019, alcohol-related crashes decreased by 20%
- In 2020, drunk drivers were responsible for 10,850 crashes resulting in injury or death
- Nighttime crashes (8pm-4am) accounted for 58% of alcohol-related crashes in 2021
- Weekend nights saw 30% of all alcohol-impaired fatal crashes in 2021
- In 2019, there were over 293,254 alcohol-related crashes reported by police
- Single-vehicle crashes made up 44% of alcohol-impaired fatal crashes in 2021
- Interstate highway alcohol-impaired fatal crashes were 12% of total in 2021
- In California, there were 13,327 DUI-involved crashes in 2021
- Florida reported 6,348 alcohol-related crashes in 2021
- Texas had 77,847 DUI arrests linked to 20,000+ crashes in 2021
- In 2021, 62% of alcohol-impaired fatal crashes involved a rollover
- Head-on collisions accounted for 22% of alcohol fatal crashes in 2021
- In 2018, alcohol was involved in 62% of all fatal single-vehicle motorcycle crashes
- Drunk driving crashes cost states $88 billion annually in damages
- In 2022, NHTSA estimated over 400,000 alcohol-involved crashes nationwide
- Michigan saw 10,000+ alcohol-related crashes in 2021
- New York reported 9,823 alcohol-involved crashes in 2021
- Pennsylvania had 12,000 alcohol-related crashes in 2021
- Illinois logged 8,500 DUI crashes in 2021
- Ohio experienced 11,000+ alcohol crashes in 2021
- Georgia reported 5,500 alcohol-related crashes in 2021
- North Carolina had 9,000 DUI-involved crashes in 2021
- In 2021, alcohol-impaired crashes increased 16% from 2020 levels
- Every 2 minutes, a drunk driving crash occurs in the US
Crashes Interpretation
While the slow decline in alcohol-related crashes offers a glimmer of hope, the relentless drumbeat of over 400,000 such crashes each year, costing billions and shattering lives every two minutes, screams that our national tolerance for drunk driving remains a fatal flaw.
Demographics
- Males are involved in 80% of alcohol-related crashes
- Drivers aged 21-34 account for 38% of all drunk drivers in fatal crashes
- Young drivers (16-20) have a drunk driving rate 4 times higher than drivers over 35
- Males aged 21-24 have the highest DUI arrest rate at 1 in 15
- In 2021, 23% of drunk drivers in fatal crashes were under 21
- African American drivers are 1.5 times more likely to be involved in alcohol crashes
- 25% of male drivers report driving drunk in the past month vs. 11% females
- Drivers aged 25-34 represent 30% of DUI arrests annually
- Hispanic drivers have a 20% higher rate of alcohol involvement in crashes
- Women drivers' alcohol-related fatal crash rate doubled from 1982-2021
- Repeat offenders are predominantly male (85%), aged 25-44
- Urban areas see higher underage drunk driving rates among 18-20 year olds
- In 2021, 80% of drunk drivers killed were male
- Drivers over 35 account for 50% of all alcohol-impaired fatalities
- College students drive drunk 3 million times per year
- Native American population has drunk driving death rate 5 times national average
- 18-34 year olds comprise 60% of convicted DUI offenders
- Females now represent 25% of DUI arrests, up from 10% in 1980s
- Rural drivers have 1.5x higher alcohol crash involvement rate
- Occupational drivers (truckers) have 15% higher DUI rates
- In 2021, 21-24 year olds had 4.5 fatalities per 100,000 drivers in alcohol crashes
- Low-income drivers (<$25k) have 2x DUI conviction rates
- Southern states have higher male drunk driving prevalence
- 16-17 year old drivers are 3 times more likely to drive drunk if male
- Elderly drivers (65+) have rising alcohol crash rates due to medication
- In 2021, approximately 1 million people aged 21-24 drove drunk
- White males aged 25-44 are 40% of fatal drunk driver population
- Every 53 minutes a woman is killed by a drunk driver, mostly by males
Demographics Interpretation
While male drivers, particularly young ones, are the most statistically likely to be drunk behind the wheel, these figures paint a disturbingly communal portrait of a public health crisis that endangers everyone, with every demographic showing a vulnerable and often fatal flaw in our collective relationship with alcohol and driving.
Fatalities
- In 2022, there were 13,524 fatalities in motor vehicle crashes involving an alcohol-impaired driver in the United States
- Alcohol-impaired driving fatalities accounted for 32% of the total motor vehicle traffic fatalities in the United States in 2022
- From 1975 to 2022, alcohol-impaired driving fatalities decreased by 62% while total traffic fatalities only decreased by 8%
- In 2021, 13,384 people died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, including 9,278 drivers, 2,817 passengers, 721 nonoccupants, and 568 non-motorists
- Males accounted for 80% of all drivers involved in fatal alcohol-impaired crashes in 2021
- The rate of alcohol-impaired driving fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled was 0.35 in 2022
- In 2020, 11,654 people were killed in alcohol-impaired-driving crashes, representing about one-third of all traffic-related deaths
- Alcohol-related driving fatalities increased by 14.3% from 2020 to 2021
- Nighttime alcohol-impaired driving fatalities (8 p.m. to 8 a.m.) accounted for 69% of such fatalities in 2021
- Drivers with BAC levels of 0.08 or higher were involved in 69% of all fatal crashes where a driver had a BAC of 0.01 or higher in 2021
- In 2019, 10,142 people died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes in the US
- Alcohol-impaired driving fatalities per 100,000 population stood at 4.0 in 2021
- From 2002 to 2011, alcohol-impaired driving fatalities decreased 49%
- In 2022, New Mexico had the highest alcohol-impaired driving death rate at 10.04 per 100,000 people
- Texas recorded 1,643 alcohol-impaired driving fatalities in 2021, the highest number among states
- In 2021, 28% of all traffic deaths in the 15-20 age group were alcohol-related
- Motorcycle riders had a 29% involvement in fatal alcohol-impaired crashes in 2021
- Weekend alcohol-impaired driving fatalities made up 37% of all such fatalities in 2021
- In 2018, 10,511 people died in drunk driving crashes
- The number of alcohol-impaired driving fatalities rose 18.4% from 2019 to 2020
- In 2021, 37 children (14 and under) were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes
- Repeat DUI offenders were involved in 25% of fatal alcohol crashes in recent years
- In 2022, alcohol-impaired driving fatalities increased in 40 states compared to 2021
- South Carolina had 41% of its traffic deaths alcohol-related in 2021, highest state percentage
- From 1982 to 2021, alcohol-impaired fatalities dropped from 20,034 to 13,384
- Drivers aged 21-24 had the highest rate of fatal alcohol-impaired crashes at 9.5 per 100,000 in 2021
- In 2021, 2,217 passenger vehicle occupants died in alcohol-impaired crashes
- Pedestrian deaths in alcohol-impaired crashes numbered 721 in 2021
- Light truck fatalities in alcohol-impaired crashes were 4,071 in 2021
- In 2020, alcohol was involved in 30% of all traffic deaths
- Every day in 2021, an average of 37 people died in alcohol-impaired crashes
Fatalities Interpretation
Despite a significant decline in drunk driving deaths since the 1970s, the stubborn persistence of this entirely preventable carnage means that every single day, we still choose to allow an average of 37 lives to end at the bottom of a bottle.
Sources & References
- Reference 1NHTSAnhtsa.govVisit source
- Reference 2CRASHSTATScrashstats.nhtsa.dot.govVisit source
- Reference 3CDCcdc.govVisit source
- Reference 4WWW責任www責任.orgVisit source
- Reference 5INJURYFACTSinjuryfacts.nsc.orgVisit source
- Reference 6MADDmadd.orgVisit source
- Reference 7NSCnsc.orgVisit source
- Reference 8WWW-FARSwww-fars.nhtsa.dot.govVisit source
- Reference 9DMVdmv.ca.govVisit source
- Reference 10FLHSMVflhsmv.govVisit source
- Reference 11DPSdps.texas.govVisit source
- Reference 12MICHIGANmichigan.govVisit source
- Reference 13NYny.govVisit source
- Reference 14PENNDOTpenndot.pa.govVisit source
- Reference 15ILLINOISillinois.govVisit source
- Reference 16OHIODRIVINGUNDERINFLUENCEohiodrivingunderinfluence.orgVisit source
- Reference 17DHSdhs.georgia.govVisit source
- Reference 18NCDPSncdps.govVisit source
- Reference 19GHSAghsa.orgVisit source
- Reference 20FBIfbi.govVisit source
- Reference 21FMCSAfmcsa.dot.govVisit source
- Reference 22BJSbjs.govVisit source
- Reference 23UCRucr.fbi.govVisit source
- Reference 24DMVdmv.ny.govVisit source
- Reference 25OHIOSTATEHIGHWAYPATROLohiostatehighwaypatrol.govVisit source