Alcohol – Impaired Driving

This Traffic Safety Fact Sheet summarizes findings regarding alcohol-impaired driving and related fatalities in 2018. Among the key findings: In 2018 there were 10,511 fatalities in motor vehicle traffic crashes involving drivers with BACs of .08 g/dL or higher, 29 percent of all traffic fatalities for the year; an average of 1 alcohol-impaired-driving fatality occurred every 50 minutes; of the 2018 traffic fatalities among children 14 and younger, 22 percent occurred in alcohol-impaired-driving crashes; the 21 to 24 year old age group had the highest percentage (27%) of drivers with BACs of .08 g/dL or higher in fatal crashes compared to other age groups; the percentage of drivers with BACs of .08g/dL or higher in fatal crashes was highest for motorcycle riders (25%), compared to drivers of passenger cars (21%), light trucks (19%), and large trucks (3%); among the 10,511 alcohol-impaired-driving fatalities, 67 percent (7,051) were in crashes in which at least one driver had a BAC of .15 g/dL or higher.