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Alcohol-impaired crashes are those that involve at least one driver or a motorcycle operator with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 grams per deciliter or above, the legal definition of impaired driving. According to NHTSA 10,142 people died in alcohol-impaired crashes in 2019. Alcohol-impaired crash fatalities accounted for 28 percent of all crash fatalities.
Alcohol is a major factor in traffic crashes. Based on data from the U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 10,142 people died in alcohol-impaired crashes in 2019. These crashes involve at least one driver or motorcycle operator with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 grams per deciliter or above, the legal definition of impaired driving in most states. According to NHTSA, alcohol-impaired crash fatalities accounted for 28 percent of all crash fatalities in 2019, the lowest proportion on record.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation estimates 1,024,508 drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics in 2019. The arrest rate works out to one arrest for about every 222 licensed drivers in the United States.
All states and the District of Columbia except Utah define impairment as driving with a BAC (blood alcohol concentration) at or above 0.08 grams per deciliter. In Utah the BAC limit was lowered to 0.05 in 2018. Law enforcement officials have been able to measure BAC accurately for decades, and the results obtained from testing devices is accepted in almost all jurisdictions in the United States.
Campaigns against alcohol-impaired driving especially target drivers under the age of 21, repeat offenders and 21-to 34-year-olds, the age group that is responsible for more alcohol-related fatal crashes than any other. Young drivers are those least responsive to arguments against impaired driving, according to NHTSA.
To make sellers and servers of liquor more careful about to whom and how they serve drinks, 42 states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws or have case law holding commercial liquor servers legally liable for the damage, injuries and deaths an alcohol-impaired driver causes. Thirty-eight states have enacted laws or have case law that permit social hosts who serve liquor to people who subsequently are involved in crashes to be held liable for any injury or death.
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(1) Alcohol-impaired driving crashes are crashes that involve at least one driver or a motorcycle operator with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 grams per deciliter or above, the legal definition of alcohol-impaired driving in most states.
Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
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(1) Alcohol-impaired driving crashes are crashes that involve at least one driver or a motorcycle operator with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 grams per deciliter or above, the legal definition of alcohol-impaired driving in most states.
Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
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(1) Alcohol-impaired driving crashes are crashes that involve at least one driver or a motorcycle operator with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 grams per deciliter or greater, the legal definition of alcohol-impaired driving.
Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
(As of January 2021)
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(1) Ignition interlock devices analyze a driver's breath for alcohol and disable the ignition if a driver has been drinking. States identified mandate the devices on offenders' vehicles.
(2) Administrative license suspension, on-the-spot drivers license suspension or revocation if blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is over the legal limit or the driver refuses to take a BAC test.
(3) Mandatory penalty for violation of the implied consent law, which means that drivers who refuse to take a breath alcohol test when stopped or are arrested for alcohol-impaired driving or if BAC is over the legal limit will have their license revoked or suspended.
(4) Prohibits unsealed alcohol containers and alcohol consumption in motor vehicle passenger compartments for all occupants. Counts only laws meeting federal requirements.
(5) No option for driving during suspension.
(6) In four counties.
(7) State does not require interlocks except under certain conditions; see IIHS website.
(8) State has no administrative license suspension for first test failure.
Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety; Governors Highway Safety Association.