Alcohol-Related Crash Facts

Crash Facts

2004 ALCOHOL-RELATED CRASH FACTS

In Illinois, there were 604 people killed in alcohol-related crashes, which is 45.0 percent of the 1,356 total motor vehicle crash fatalities.
Nationally, 16,694 lives were lost in alcohol-related crashes. This is the equivalent of:
- one alcohol-related fatality every 31 minutes
- one alcohol-related fatality injury 2 minutes
39% of the fatal traffic crashes were alcohol-related.
The greatest single cause of death for people between the ages of 3 and 33 is traffic crashes.
All 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have .08 BAC per se laws. The State of Minnesota was the final state to adopt a .08 BAC per se law on August 1, 2005.
Approximately 1.4 million drivers were arrested in 2003 for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics. This is one in every 135 licensed drivers in the United States. (2004 numbers were not available at print time)
85 percent of the 13,952 drivers with a BAC .01 or higher, who were involved in fatal crashes, had BAC levels at or above .08 and 51 percent had BAC levels at or above .16.
The most frequently recorded BAC level among drinking drivers involved in fatal crashes is .18